OBJECTIVE This study tested the hypothesis that reductions in acute public-sector psychiatric inpatient capacity in a major urban area would be associated with negative impacts on patients and the community. METHODS The impact of two discrete service changes that reduced acute inpatient capacity by 50% in a single public-sector general hospital setting was examined. Indicators of impact were ...

OBJECTIVE In China, despite a high coverage rate, health insurance is not used for all illness episodes. Our goal is to identify subjects' characteristics associated with insurance utilization and the association between utilization and medical expenditure. METHODS A survey was conducted in January and February of 2012. 2093 middle-aged and elderly subjects (45 years old and above) were surve...

For the purposes of funding and policy development, the Victorian Department of Human Services expects Victorian health care institutions to capture patient data at all levels. These data can be extracted from hospital information systems and potentially offer a business role within a health service organisation. However, there are many issues to be addressed at the organisational level in orde...

Background One of the objectives of the health transformation plan (HTP) in Iran is to reduce out-of-pocket (OOP) payments for inpatient services and eradicate informal payments. The HTP has three phases: the first phase (launched in May 5, 2014) is focused on reducing OOP payments for inpatient services; the second phase (launched in May 22, 2014) is focused on primary healthcare (PHC) and the...

This study examined the rate of admission to public shelters between 1990 and 1992 among persons who received Medicaid-reimbursed inpatient and outpatient psychiatric services and inpatient substance abuse services in Philadelphia between 1985 and 1993. Results show that 7.5 percent of such persons were admitted to public shelters during the three-year period, nearly 2.7 times the rate of shelt...

Beginning in 1984, the long-term trend of increasing utilization of inpatient hospital care by Medicare enrollees reversed. As Medicare patients increasingly received care in outpatient hospital facilities, ambulatory surgical centers, and physicians' offices, the structure of charges for physicians' services changed significantly. Medical services by physicians in inpatient hospitals declined ...