Bmc Health Serv Res
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Bmc Health Serv Res · Jan 2013
Developing process guidelines for trauma care in the Netherlands for severely injured patients: results from a Delphi study.
In organised trauma systems the process of care is the key to quality. Nevertheless, the optimal process of trauma care remains unclear due to lack of or inconclusive evidence. Because monitoring and improving the performance of a trauma system is complex, this study aimed to develop consensus-based process guidelines for trauma care in the Netherlands for severely injured patients. ⋯ In this Delphi study, a large expert panel agreed on a set of guidelines describing the optimal process of care for severely injured trauma patients in the Netherlands. In addition to time intervals and appropriate actions, these guidelines emphasise the importance of team competence and interdisciplinary processes in trauma care. The guidelines can be seen as a description of a best practice and a new field standard in the Netherlands. The next step is to implement the guidelines and monitor the performance of the Dutch trauma system based on the guidelines.
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Bmc Health Serv Res · Jan 2013
Comparative StudyComparison of legislation, regulations and national health strategies for palliative care in seven European countries (Results from the Europall Research Group): a descriptive study.
According to EU policy, anyone in need of palliative care should be able to have access to it. It is therefore important to investigate which palliative care topics are subject to legislation and regulations in Europe and how these are implemented in (national) health care plans. This paper aims to deliver a structured overview of the legislation, existing regulations and the different health care policies regarding palliative care in seven European countries. ⋯ Although all included European countries have policies on palliative care, countries largely differ in the presence of legislation and regulations on palliative care as well as the included topics. European healthcare policy recommendations should support palliative care access across Europe.
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Bmc Health Serv Res · Jan 2013
Observational StudyHealthcare provision for HIV co-infected tuberculosis patients in rural Zambia: an observational cohort study at primary care centers.
Linkage of healthcare services for tuberculosis (TB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remains a major challenge in resource-limited settings. Our operational research aimed to evaluate the linkage between TB and HIV services in a rural area of Zambia, and to explore factors associated with the enrolment of TB/HIV co-infected patients in HIV care services. ⋯ HIV testing for TB patients has been successfully scaled up. However referrals of co-infected patients still remain a challenge due to poor linkage between TB and HIV healthcare services. Committed healthcare workers, a well-organized health services system and patient education are urgently required to ensure a higher rate of referral of TB/HIV co-infected patients for appropriate care.
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Bmc Health Serv Res · Jan 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialText-messaging versus telephone reminders to reduce missed appointments in an academic primary care clinic: a randomized controlled trial.
Telephone or text-message reminders have been shown to significantly reduce the rate of missed appointments in different medical settings. Since text-messaging is less resource-demanding, we tested the hypothesis that text-message reminders would be as effective as telephone reminders in an academic primary care clinic. ⋯ Text-message reminders are equivalent to telephone reminders in reducing the proportion of missed appointments in an academic primary care clinic and are more cost-effective. Both types of reminders are well accepted by patients.
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Bmc Health Serv Res · Jan 2013
Assessing the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ), German language version in Swiss university hospitals--a validation study.
Improving patient safety has become a major focus of clinical care and research over the past two decades. An institution's patient safety climate represents an essential component of ensuring a safe environment and thereby can be vital to the prevention of adverse events. Covering six patient safety related factors, the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ) is a validated and widely used instrument to measure the patient safety climate in clinical areas. The objective of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of the German language version of the SAQ. ⋯ The German language version of the SAQ demonstrated acceptable to good psychometric properties and therefore shows promise to be a sound instrument to measure patient safety climate in Swiss hospital wards. However, the low item content validity and large number of missing responses for several items suggest that improvements and adaptations in translation are required for select items, especially within the perception of management scale. Following these revisions, psychometric properties should reassessed in a randomly selected sample and hospitals and departments prior to use in Swiss hospital settings.