PURPOSE This study compared in-hospital mortality within 30 days of admission, lengths of stay, and inpatient charges among patients with heart failure admitted to public and private hospitals in South Korea. MATERIALS AND METHODS We obtained health insurance claims data for all heart failure inpatients nationwide between November 1, 2011 and May 31, 2012. These data were then matched with ho...

INTRODUCTION Malaria remains a real problem of public health. Its hospital care generates important expenditures for affected households. The present study aimed to estimate direct and indirect costs of severe child malaria in reference hospitals in Kinshasa. METHODOLOGY This prospective study included 1,350 children under 15 years of age suffering from severe malaria. The study was performed...

A group of consumers of private hospital services and their carers collaborated with staff of a Melbourne private hospital and with industry representatives to develop a consumer-driven performance report on cardiac services. During the development process participating consumers identified situational and structural barriers to their right to be informed of costs, to choice and to quality care...

OBJECTIVES To study private costs and other determinants of access to healthcare for childhood fevers in rural Tanzania. METHODS A case-control study was conducted in Tanzania to establish factors that determine access to a health facility in acute febrile illnesses in children less than 5 years of age. Carers of eligible children were interviewed in the community; cases were represented by p...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the satisfaction rate of hospital managerial/clinical teams (HMCTs) including principles (chief executives), managers, supervisor pharmacists and head nurses from services presented by private sectors directing 10 pharmacy departments in hospitals affiliated to Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences.This study is an observational and descriptive stu...

INTRODUCTION We conducted a study to determine whether hospital type (county [ie, safety-net] vs private) affects health care access (appendiceal perforation [AP] rates), treatment (laparoscopic appendectomy [LA] rates), and outcomes in children with appendicitis. METHODS A review of cases involving children who had appendicitis between 1998 and 2007 was performed. Data from county and privat...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the satisfaction rate of hospital managerial/clinical teams (HMCTs) including principles (chief executives), managers, supervisor pharmacists and head nurses from services presented by private sectors directing 10 pharmacy departments in hospitals affiliated to Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences.This study is an observational and descriptive stu...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the quality of birth care based on the World Health Organization guidelines. METHODS A case-control study was carried out in a public and a private maternity hospitals contracted by the Brazilian Health System in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from October 1998 to March 1999. The sample comprised 461 women in the public maternity hospital (230 vaginal deliveries and...