OBJECTIVE Collecting unnecessary data when assessing quality of care wastes valuable resources. We evaluated three approaches for estimating quality-measure adherence and determined minimum visit data required to achieve accurate estimates. DESIGN We abstracted medical records for calculating physician-level pain screening rates as: visit-specific, using single-visit data for each patient; vi...

The notable rise in survival rates of Cuban children has presented new challenges in the search for continued improvement of their welfare and quality of life. These advances can be achieved only to the extent that preventive care and health promotion are also improved. This article describes the design of a strategy for comprehensive care of children and adolescents based on better quality of ...

Evidence from Tanzania shows that households gather information about health care episodes experienced by their neighbors and that this information is used to improve their understanding of the quality of health care providers in their area, leading them to choose better providers when they suffer from illnesses that are responsive to quality, and improving health outcomes. We show that househo...

BACKGROUND Continuous care (one anaesthesiologist per patient) and anaesthesiologist empathy at the preoperative visit could affect patient anxiety and satisfaction. We tested both unproven issues in a population at increased risk of anxiety and dissatisfaction. METHODS In this single-blinded single-centre study, 136 women undergoing gynaecologic day-care surgery were sequentially randomized ...

OBJECTIVES To demonstrate improvements in validated quality-of-life measures for otitis media and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and an objective score for pediatric reflux obtained by fiberoptic laryngoscopy after treatment with antireflux precautions and therapy in children diagnosed as having either recurrent acute otitis media or otitis media with effusion and GERD. DESIGN Prospec...