• Morton et al. examined the records of their practice patients who attended Emergency Departments in a twelve month period. Only 25% saw their GP before attending and 95% of these needed specialist interventions. On the other hand 75% of patients self-referred and only 33% of these required specialist intervention. • Cox et al. provide the first ever analysis of Specialist Palliative Care (SPC...

complementary and alternative medicine (cam) is frequently used in portugal and it contributes to the improvement of people’s health. cam and western medicine (wm) are taken as complements both in the diagnosis and the treatment stage. the portuguese health system is able to generate certified cam professionals but the provision of cam care and services is not included in the national health sy...

INTRODUCTION The Swiss health care system is characterized by its decentralized structure and high degree of local autonomy. Ambulatory care is provided by physicians working mainly independently in individual private practices. However, a growing part of primary care is provided by networks of physicians and health maintenance organizations (HMOs) acting on the principles of gatekeeping. TOW...

Aims and Objectives: To identify, define and quantify criteria which are common to integrated care models. To build a framework with these criteria which will enable the evaluation of prospective integrated care activities. Methods: Identification and clustering of criteria necessary andyor inherent in integrated care models and projects. Literature review on the development of common criteria ...

OBJECTIVES To describe models of integrated care used in the United States, assess how integration of mental health services into primary care settings or primary health care into specialty outpatient settings impacts patient outcomes and describe barriers to sustainable programs, use of health information technology (IT), and reimbursement structures of integrated care programs within the Unit...

A complex system is one, where the parts or actors cannot fulfil the over-all aims without co-operation. Relations between people working in them at all levels create the systems and structures in all complex organisations. Interdependency between units and parts as well as the complementary role of each of them are important features (Scott 1961) w5, 29x. The need of frequent communication bet...

AIMS to describe contribution of geriatric medicine to the development of integrated care for older people and to suggest future directions for the further development of integrated care for older people. METHODS literature review and case studies. RESULTS geriatricians have made a significant contribution to the development of integrated care for older people. The feasibility of this appro...

BACKGROUND It is known that interprofessional collaboration is crucial for integrated care delivery, yet we are still unclear about the underlying mechanisms explaining effectiveness of integrated care delivery to older patients. In addition, we lack research comparing integrated care delivery between hospitals. Therefore, this study aims to (i) provide insight into the underlying components 'r...