BACKGROUND Consumers and policy makers are increasingly interested in measuring treatment quality. We developed a standardized approach to measuring the quality of outpatient care for schizophrenia and used it to evaluate routine care. METHODS We randomly sampled 224 patients in treatment for schizophrenia at 2 public mental health clinics. Appropriate medication management was defined accord...

OBJECTIVE The objective was to provide a synthesis of the results of the research and discourse lines on main dimensions of patient-centered care in the context of chronic disease management in family medicine, building on Stewart et al.'s model. METHODS We developed search strategies for the Medline, Embase, and Cochrane databases, from 1980 to April 2009. All articles addressing patient-cen...

Body work is a key element of home healthcare. Recent restructuring of health and social care services means the home is increasingly a key site of long-term care. While there is a growing literature on the social dynamics between care recipients and their family caregivers, less is known about the formal work dynamic between paid care workers and care recipients and family caregivers. Drawing ...

Support of patient self-management is a key component of effective chronic illness care and improved patient outcomes. Self-management support goes beyond traditional knowledge-based patient education to include processes that develop patient problem-solving skills, improve self-efficacy, and support application of knowledge in real-life situations that matter to patients. This approach also en...

fasting is a common practice among people with diabetes (pwd). as healthcare providers we are in a position to assist those who choose to fast to manage their diabetes effectively. diabetes self-management education for pwd is needed both prior and during the time of fasting to best metabolic control.

The author presents information on patient-centered care for early pregnancy loss, approaches to management, medication regimens, and patient follow-up.

The article is proposing a base plan for the future Patient Care Information Systems in a changing health care environment where it is necessary to assure quality patient care services and reducing cost and where new technology trends give the opportunities to develop clinical applications and services patient focused according to new business objectives. Keywords—Health care management, planni...