BACKGROUND Depression is under-diagnosed and under-treated in most areas of the US. New York City is currently looking to close gaps in identifying and treating depression through the adoption of a screening and collaborative care model deployed throughout the city. METHODS We examine the cost-effectiveness of universal two-stage screening with the 2- and 9-item Patient Health Questionnaires ...

This paper focuses on recent experience in setting up an endoscopy unit in a large regional hospital. The mix of endoscopy in three smaller hospitals, draining into the large hospital endoscopy unit, has enabled the authors to comment on practical and achievable steps towards creating best practice endoscopy in the regional setting. The challenges of using what is available from an infrastructu...

Referring patients to other physicians is one of the most fundamental and frequently performed tasks in clinical practice. In 2009, referrals to other physicians weremadeduringalmost 1 in 10ambulatoryvisits in the United States for a total of more than 100 million referrals.1 Despite the routine nature of referrals, there is significant variation in how and when physicians choose to ask for spe...

Unexplained recurrent miscarriage (RM) can be a challenging and frustrating condition for both patients and clinicians. For the former, there is no diagnosis available for consolation, while for the latter there is little evidence-based treatment to offer. However, the majority of these patients have an excellent prognosis without the need for any treatment. Epidemiological associations suggest...

The costs of computed tomographic colonography (CTC) are not yet established for screening use. In our study, we estimated the threshold costs for which CTC screening would be a cost-effective alternative to colonoscopy for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening in the general population. We used the MISCAN-colon microsimulation model to estimate the costs and life-years gained of screening persons ...

BACKGROUND In countries with scarce specialized Human resource for health, patients are usually referred. The other alternative has been mobilizing specialists, clinical specialist outreach. This study examines whether clinical specialist outreach is a cost effective way of using scarce health expertise to provide specialist care as compared to provision of such services through referral system...

Allosensitized children listed with a requirement for a negative prospective crossmatch have high mortality. Previously, we found that listing with the intent to accept the first suitable organ offer, regardless of the possibility of a positive crossmatch (TAKE strategy), results in a survival advantage from the time of listing compared to awaiting transplantation across a negative crossmatch (...

background to estimate the total annual cost due to chronic hepatitis b (chb)-related diseases imposed on each patient and his/her family in iran.   methods economic burden of chb-related diseases (chb, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma) were examined. in this retrospective study, 100 iranian patients were identified to obtain their socioeconomic status, utilization (direct and indirect c...

introduction: hospitals as important sector of health care system has special location in health economic science. increasing of the operational costs in hospital and limitation in financing cause that hospital as an economic firm use cost analysis and prepare effective using of resource and boost productivity. therefore this study was conducted to calculate daily- patient hotel cost in hospita...

BACKGROUND Patients' access to their medical records, along with electronic messaging, offers an efficient means of information transition between patients and their caregivers. Easier access to information and interaction with health care professionals may reduce use of other services while increasing patients' activation in the management of their own health. Patient portals may therefore hav...