OBJECTIVES We determined the effect of a targeted education and support intervention on the rate of readmission or death and hospital costs in patients with heart failure (HF). BACKGROUND Disease management programs for patients with HF including medical components may reduce readmissions by 40% or more, but the value of an intervention focused on education and support is not known. METHODS...

BACKGROUND This study investigated the variations in the clinical efficacy and drug cost following the introduction of the Asthma Prevention and Management Guidelines in Japan (JGL2003). METHODS The medical charts of fifty outpatients treated continuously for asthma, aged 16-50 years, from October 2002 to October 2004 at Showa University Hospital were analyzed for physicians' compliance with ...

Although the total number of new drugs (new chemical entities) approved has gradually decreased over the past decade, the proportion that are expensive biological agents has grown dramatically. In particular, the number of new biological agents registered for treating cancer—so called targeted therapies or personalised medicine—is increasing, and the costs of these treatments are rising too, wi...

PURPOSE The purpose of this process improvement project was to introduce and evaluate the efficacy of fast-tracking ambulatory surgical patients in a community hospital. DESIGN An observational pre-post design was used, in which patient data from a reference period (pre-fast-tracking) was compared with patient data collected during an implementation period (post-fast-tracking). METHODS Anes...

0102 There has been a recent and dramatic rise in global funding for HIV/AIDS, from US$2.1 billion in 2001 to US$6.1 billion in 2004 [1], thanks to several new funding mechanisms (Box 1). These funds, coupled with reduced drug costs, make it feasible to roll out antiretroviral therapy (ART) even in resource-poor settings. Nevertheless, the total number of people living with HIV rose in 2004 to ...

Background Implant price has been identified as a significant contributing factor to high costs associated with revision total knee arthroplasty (rTKA). The goal of this study is to analyze the cost of implants used in rTKAs and to compare this pricing with 2 alternative pricing models. Methods Using our institutional database, we identified 52 patients from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 20...

background among all pediatric cancers acute lymphoblastic leukemia (all) is highly prevalent, butthe overall cost of all management is not well-known, there is a need to assess the berlin-frankfurt-munster (bfm) protocol commonly used in all management in iran. so, the aim of this study was to estimate direct and indirect costs of all treatment among children based on the all-bfm protocol from...