AIMS The study aims to determine the direct costs and comparative cost-effectiveness of latest-generation dual-source computed tomography (DSCT) and invasive coronary angiography for diagnosing coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients suspected of having this disease. METHODS The study was based on a previously elaborated cohort with an intermediate pretest likelihood for CAD and on compleme...

In service oriented architectures, Quality of Service (QoS) is a key issue. Service requestors evaluate QoS at run time to address their service invocation to themost suitable provider. Thus, QoS has a direct impact on the providers’ revenues. However, QoS requirements are difficult to satisfy because of the high variability of Internet workloads. This paper presents a self-managing technique t...

Steel bridges that are under severe chloride exposure due to deicing salts or marine environmental effects require frequent maintenance and repair activities to extend their service life and maintain an adequate performance level. In addition to the direct maintenance cost, these maintenance actions may lead to indirect costs associated with traffic delays and environmental effects that can sig...

Free riding in a multichannel supply chain occurs when one retail channel engages in the customer service activities necessary to sell a product, while another channel benefits from those activities by making the final sale. Although free riding is, in general, considered to have a negative impact on supply chain performance, certain recent industry practices suggest an opposite view: a manufac...

BACKGROUND NHS Direct, introduced in 1998, has provided 24/7 telephone-based healthcare advice and information to the public in England and Wales. National studies have suggested variation in the uptake of this service amongst the UK's diverse population. This study provides the first exploration of the barriers and facilitators that impact upon the uptake of this service from the perspectives ...

Manufacturers of consumer goods are trying to establish a direct link to consumers and to strengthen their competitive position by offering additional services. Even for simple services like a free warranty extension, manufacturers often rely on old-fashioned mailin coupons and have to encourage consumers to reach out to them over inefficient channels. We suspect that the transaction costs for ...

The aim of this study is to compare accessibility of vision-impaired (VI) patients to other eyecare centres before attending the mobile and stationary hospitals. Under a cross-sectional study design, VI patients were consecutively enrolled if they visited one of the three Impact Foundation Hospitals--one mobile and two stationary hospitals. The cost and service output of all hospitals were also...

conclusions chronic hepatitis c-related liver diseases impose a substantial economic burden on patients, families and the society. the current study provides useful information on cost of treatment and work loss for different disease states, which can be further used in cost-effectiveness evaluations. results the total annual cost per patient for chronic hepatitis c, cirrhosis and hepatocellula...

A vehicle routing problem is a significant problem that has attracted great attention from researchers in recent years. The main objectives of the vehicle routing problem are to minimize the traveled distance, total traveling time, number of vehicles and cost function of transportation. Reducing these variables leads to decreasing the total cost and increasing the driver's satisfaction level. O...