BMC Health Services Research

http://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com

List of Papers (Total 19,104)

Using routine health information data for research in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review

Routine health information systems (RHISs) support resource allocation and management decisions at all levels of the health system, as well as strategy development and policy-making in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Although RHIS data represent a rich source of information, such data are currently underused for research purposes, largely due to concerns over data...

Facilitators and “deal breakers”: a mixed methods study investigating implementation of the Goal setting and action planning (G-AP) framework in community rehabilitation teams

High quality goal setting in stroke rehabilitation is vital, but challenging to deliver. The G-AP framework (including staff training and a stroke survivor held G-AP record) guides patient centred goal setting with stroke survivors in community rehabilitation teams. We found G-AP was acceptable, feasible to deliver and clinically useful in one team. The aim of this study was to...

Factors associated with low-acuity hospital admissions in a public safety-net setting: a cross-sectional study

Given system-level focus on avoidance of unnecessary hospitalizations, better understanding admission decision-making is of utility. Our study sought to identify factors associated with hospital admission versus discharge from the Emergency Department (ED) for a population of patients who were assessed as having low medical acuity at time of decision. Using an institutional...

Integrated delivery of family planning and childhood immunisation services in routine outreach clinics: findings from a realist evaluation in Malawi

Family planning (FP) needs among postpartum women in low- and middle-income countries remain largely unmet. Integrating FP with childhood immunisation services could partially reduce this unmet need by creating multiple opportunities for timely contact with FP services during the 12 months following childbirth. A realist evaluation of an intervention integrating FP and childhood...

Transnationalism and care of migrant families during pregnancy, postpartum and early-childhood: an integrative review

Migrant families’ transnational ties (i.e., connections to their countries of origin) may contribute to their hardships and/or may be a source of resiliency. A care approach that addresses these transnational ties may foster a positive identity and give coherence to experiences. We conducted an integrative review to determine what is known about transnational ties and the care of...

Delivering exceptionally safe transitions of care to older people: a qualitative study of multidisciplinary staff perspectives

Transitions of care are often risky, particularly for older people, and shorter hospital stays mean that patients can go home with ongoing care needs. Most previous research has focused on fundamental system flaws, however, care generally goes right far more often than it goes wrong. We explored staff perceptions of how high performing general practice and hospital specialty...

Role of Interprofessional primary care teams in preventing avoidable hospitalizations and hospital readmissions in Ontario, Canada: a retrospective cohort study

Improving health system value and efficiency are considered major policy priorities internationally. Ontario has undergone a primary care reform that included introduction of interprofessional teams. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between receiving care from interprofessional versus non-interprofessional primary care teams and ambulatory care...

The experiences of individuals with cervical spinal cord injury and their family during post-injury care in non-specialised and specialised units in UK

Individuals with acute cervical spinal cord injury require specialised interventions to ensure optimal clinical outcomes especially for respiratory, swallowing and communication impairments. This study explores the experiences of post-injury care for individuals with cervical spinal cord injury and their family members during admissions in specialised and non-specialised units in...

Patient experiences with technology enabled care across healthcare settings- a systematic review

Healthcare services are facing extensive challenges due to the increased proportion of elderly persons and persons with chronic disease. Technology enabled care (TEC) is a collective term for telecare, telehealth, telemedicine, mobile (m)-, digital- and electronic (e) health services. TEC is increasingly seen as a solution to many of the challenges facing the health sector...

Sociodemographic characteristics associated with the utilization of maternal health services in Cambodia

Cambodia is a Southeast Asian country and has one the highest rates of maternal and child mortality with inadequate use of maternal healthcare services in the region. The present study aimed to analyse the progress made in terms of using maternal healthcare services since 2000. Two rounds of Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS 2000 and DHS 2014) were used in the study. Sample...

How can we improve specialist health services for children with multi-referrals? Parent reported experience

Children with combined mental and somatic conditions pose a challenge to specialized health services. These cases are often characterized by multi-referrals, frequent use of health services, poor clinical and cost effectiveness, and a lack of coordination and consistency in the care. Reorganizing the health services offered to these children seems warranted. Patient reported...

Introducing enhanced recovery after surgery in a high-volume orthopaedic hospital: a health technology assessment

The number of patients undergoing joint arthroplasty is increasing worldwide. An Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) pathway for hip and knee arthroplasty was introduced in an Italian high-volume research hospital in March 2018. The aim of this mixed methods observational study is to perform a health technology assessment (HTA) of the ERAS pathway, considering 938 procedures...

An empirical study on the determinants of health care expenses in emerging economies

Emerging countries continue to suffer gravely from insufficient healthcare funding, which adversely affects access to quality healthcare and ultimately the health status of citizens. By using panel data from the World Development Indicators, the study examined the determinants of health care expenditure among twenty-two (22) emerging countries from the year 2000 to 2018. The...

Toward health system strengthening in low- and middle-income countries: insights from mathematical modeling of drug supply chains

Global health priority setting increasingly focuses on understanding the functioning of health systems and on how they can be strengthened. Beyond vertical programs, health systems research should examine system-wide delivery platforms (e.g. health facilities) and operational elements (e.g. supply chains) as primary units of study and evaluation. We use dynamical system methods...

Costs and effectiveness of a culturally tailored communication training program to increase cultural competence among multi-disciplinary care management teams

Several studies have demonstrated that cultural competence improves patient-provider communication, which promotes adherence to established care plans and improves patient satisfaction and health outcomes. However, there is very little data available regarding the costs associated with the development and implementation of cultural competence training, or the cost-effectiveness...

A case study of an influenza vaccination program for health care workers in Vietnam

In 2017, the Vietnam Ministry of Health conducted a demonstration project to introduce seasonal influenza vaccination to health care workers. A total of 11,000 doses of influenza vaccine, single-dose prefilled syringes, were provided free to HCWs at 29 selected hospitals, clinics, and research institutes in four provinces: Hanoi, Khanh Hoa, Dak Lak and Ho Chi Minh City. Before...

Mobile X-ray outside the hospital: a scoping review

For several years mobile X-ray equipment has been routinely used for imaging in patients too unwell within the hospital, when transportation to the radiology department was inadvisable. Now, mobile X-ray examinations are also used outside the hospital. The literature describes that fragile patients may benefit from mobile X-ray, but we need to provide insights into the breadth...

Examining healthcare professionals’ beliefs and actions regarding the physical health of people with schizophrenia

People with schizophrenia have a higher premature mortality risk compared with the general population mainly due to cardiovascular disease (CVD). Despite this, people with schizophrenia are less likely to access physical health services or have their physical health investigated and monitored. To examine the beliefs and actions of mental health professionals regarding the...

Contextual factors favouring success in the accreditation process in Colombian hospitals: a nationwide observational study

To identify context factors associated with and predicting success in the hospital accreditation process, and to contribute to the understanding of the relative relevance of context factors and their organizational level in the success of QI initiatives. Analytical study of cases and controls in a sample of hospitals of medium and high complexity in Colombia. Cases (n = 16) are...

The experiences of the process of planning, starting and organizing a culturally specific nursing home for Finnish-speaking older persons: a qualitative study

Globally there are growing multicultural and multilingual societies. As a result of extensive international migration, the number of elderly migrants has increased and will further increase in the future. This makes it necessary for elderly healthcare services to meet elderly migrants’ healthcare needs concerning language and cultural barriers. To our knowledge, previous research...

Exploring links between resilience and the macro-level development of healthcare regulation- a Norwegian case study

The relationship between quality and safety regulation and resilience in healthcare has received little systematic scrutiny. Accordingly, this study examines the introduction of a new regulatory framework (the Quality Improvement Regulation) in Norway that aimed to focus on developing the capacity of hospitals to continually improve quality and safety. The overall aim of the...

Absences from work among healthcare workers: are they related to influenza shot adherence?

The coverage for influenza vaccination among healthcare workers (HCWs) is inadequate in many countries despite strong recommendations; is there evidence that influenza vaccination is effective in preventing absenteeism? Aim of the study is to evaluate the influenza vaccination coverage and its effects on absences from work among HCWs of an Italian academic healthcare trust during...

A realist evaluation approach to explaining the role of context in the impact of a complex eHealth intervention for improving prevention of cardiovascular disease

Reduction of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a worldwide health priority and innovative uses of technology-based interventions may assist patients with improving prevention behaviours. Targeting these interventions to recipients most likely to benefit requires understanding how contexts of use influence responsiveness to the intervention, and how this interaction favours or...

Challenges in health service delivery under public-private partnership in Tanzania: stakeholders’ views from Dar es Salaam region

Public-private partnership in the health sector was introduced to improve the delivery of health services in Tanzania. Contrary, the expected outcomes have not been fully realised. This study aimed at investigating challenges encountered in implementing public-private partnership institutional arrangements in health service delivery in Kinondoni Municipality, Dar es Salaam...

Acute neurological care in north-east Germany with telemedicine support (ANNOTeM): protocol of a multi-center, controlled, open-label, two-arm intervention study

Both diagnosis and treatment of neurological emergencies require neurological expertise and are time-sensitive. The lack of fast neurological expertise in regions with underserved infrastructure poses a major barrier for state-of-the-art care of patients with acute neurological diseases and leads to disparity in provision of health care. The main purpose of ANNOTeM (acute...