An Integrated Rehabilitation Model: An Ideal Framework for Limiting Health Care Costs

The financial crisis has caused a severe limitation of resources for the public health service and rehabilitation. The proposal of integrated diagnosis and treatment in rehabilitation, involving the introduction of new therapeutic models alongside orthodox models, could lead to a reduction in health care costs through better patient compliance. In rehabilitative assistance in health care, the limiting of financial resources can be simplified, given its multifaceted nature and the need to integrate clinical experience with research. In addition, the phases of rehabilitative recovery do not focus on organ damage, but improved participation and the reduction of disability. For this reason, we have considered incorporating narrative based medicine (NBM) and Psycho-Neuro-Immuno-Endocrinology (PNEI) in the rehabilitation process through an empathetic approach, taking evidence based medicine (EBM) into account, thus creating a “framework” of reference. Managing patients through this “framework” would be a move towards an integrated model of care that could lead to a reduction in health care costs, given the aging population and the rise in patients with chronic pain. The decision to modify health care in rehabilitative assistance through a new “framework” will require time, organizational capacity and experimentation, but may represent the appropriate response for an improved quality of life for patients and a better allocation of resources.

Downsizing Health Care in the Community

This study reviewed recent changes in health care utilization in the health care providers of Syracuse, New York. The data indicated the largest decline in the numbers of inpatient volumes involved adult surgery and orthopedics. Numbers of inpatient discharges for this service declined by more than 2900 discharges for the combined Syracuse hospitals. The data also indicated that adult medicine discharges declined by more than 2600 during this time. For Diagnosis Related Groups with discharge differences of 30 or more, adult medicine discharges declined by 451 in neurology, 943 in respiratory medicine, and 625 in circulatory medicine. It was estimated that the value of the inpatient discharges amounted to approximately $1,740,000 in adult surgery and more than $1,560,000 for adult medicine. The savings that were achieved in this process related to staffing, pharmaceuticals, and testing.

Estimating the Future of Health Care at the Community Level

Developments in health care in the United States are changing the delivery of services for providers and payors. This study focused on inpatient hospital discharges in the Syracuse hospitals and other services. It demonstrated that, during the past five years, numbers of inpatient adult medicine discharges had increased while adult surgery discharges had declined. This information suggested that adult medicine discharges could be expected to increase and approach levels of five years ago. It also suggested adult surgery discharges could be expected to remain at previous levels or decline. This information indicated that the combined emergency department visits declined from 238,000 to 202,000 between 2019 and 2020, then increased from 218,000 to 228,000 visits between 2021 and 2023. These developments will probably result in greater efficiency at the community level. With a decline in numbers of inpatient beds, providers will be able to focus on the more efficient management by reducing numbers of staff as well as fewer pharmaceuticals and testing.

A Study Protocol on the Evaluation of Referral Strategies for Inflammatory Arthritis in Primary Care Patients at the Level of Healthcare Organization, Patient Relevant Outcomes and Costs

Background: Considering the importance of getting the right patient at the right location to maintain and optimize quality of life of inflammatory arthritis patients, appropriate referral by general practitioners is essential. This study aims to assess the effect and cost effectiveness of different referral strategies for inflammatory arthritis in primary care patients. Methods: This study follows a cluster randomized controlled trial design. General practitioners from primary care centers in Southwest-The Netherlands are randomly assigned to either one of the two strategic interventions for referring adult patients who are in the opinion of the general practitioner suspected of inflammatory arthritis: 1) Standardized digital referral algorithm based on existing referral models PEST, CaFaSpA and CARE;2) Triage by a rheumatologist in the local primary care center. These interventions will be compared to a control group, e.g. usual care. The primary outcome is the percentage of patients diagnosed with inflammatory arthritis by the rheumatologist. Secondary outcomes are quality of life as a patient reported outcome, work participation and healthcare costs. These data, including demographic and clinical parameters, are prospectively collected at baseline, three, six, and twelve months. Discussion: If this study can demonstrate improvements in appropriate referrals to the rheumatologist, thereby improving cost-effectiveness, there is sufficient supporting evidence to implement one of the referral strategies as a standard of care. Finally, with these optimization strategies a higher quality of care can be achieved, that might be of value for all patients with arthralgia. Trial Registration: NCT03454438, date of registration: March 5, 2018. Retrospectively registered: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03454438?term=NCT03454438&draw=1&rank=1.

Cost-effectiveness of Crohn's disease post-operative care

AIM: To define the cost-effectiveness of strategies, including endoscopy and immunosuppression, to prevent endoscopic recurrence of Crohn’s disease following intestinal resection.METHODS: In the “POCER” study patients undergoing intestinal resection were treated with post-operative drug therapy. Two thirds were randomized to active care (6 mo colonoscopy and drug intensification for endoscopic recurrence) and one third to drug therapy without early endoscopy. Colonoscopy at 18 mo and faecal calprotectin (FC) measurement were used to assess disease recurrence. Administrative data, chart review and patient questionnaires were collected prospectively over 18 mo.RESULTS: Sixty patients (active care n = 43, standard care n = 17) were included from one health service. Median total health care cost was $6440 per patient. Active care cost $4824 more than standard care over 18 mo. Medication accounted for 78% of total cost, of which 90% was for adalimumab. Median health care cost was higher for those with endoscopic recurrence compared to those in remission [$26347 (IQR 25045-27485) vs $2729 (IQR 1182-5215), P < 0.001]. FC to select patients for colonoscopy could reduce cost by $1010 per patient over 18 mo. Active care was associated with 18% decreased endoscopic recurrence, costing $861 for each recurrence prevented.CONCLUSION: Post-operative management strategies are associated with high cost, primarily medication related. Calprotectin use reduces costs. The long term cost-benefit of these strategies remains to be evaluated.

Does higher tax rate affect tobacco usage?Unravelling the nexus between tobacco regulatory control and public health concern

Objectives:Bangladesh stands as a prominent global consumer of tobacco,with alarming consequences on public health.The Global Adult Tobacco Survey reported that tobacco consumption claimed over 126000 lives in 2018,contributing to 13.5%of all deaths in the country.This study aims to explore the effectiveness of higher tax rates and tobacco use regulation as control mechanisms in mitigating tobacco consumption and health care cost burden,with a particular emphasis on its implications for public health.Methods:This study is based on the annual time series data over the period 2000-2020.The study employs the ordinary least square method to analyze the quantitative confirming the stationarity of data at level.This research uses different models to investigate individual effects and combined effects on both tobacco consumption and tobacco health care cost burden.Results:The study finds a negative relationship between tobacco tax rate and tobacco consumption.More specifically,the higher tax rate of tobacco(low(β=-0.3495),medium(β=-0.2319),high(β=-0.9033),premium(β=-0.7322),filtered(β=-0.2114),and non-filtered(β=-0.3452)categories)is significant to reduce tobacco use at 1%level of significance.The study finds similar results when it applied tobacco retail price instead of tobacco tax rate as the independent variable.Finally,the study investigates the impact on health care cost through tobacco consumption,tobacco control law,growth rate,export-import,and tobacco production.The results indicate that tobacco consumption,export-import,and tobacco production increases health care cost burden while tobacco use regulatory decreases it.By reducing tobacco consumption,higher taxes and tobacco use regulation contribute to alleviating the burden on the healthcare system,promoting healthier lifestyles,and aligning with global health objectives.Conclusions:Higher tax rate on tobacco products is necessary to increase the retail price so that tobacco users cannot consume tobacco.Specific tax and uniform tax base are needed so that tobacco users cannot switch to lower priced brands.Tobacco control laws need to revised and proper implementation should be ensured as well,to achieve the goal of tobacco free Bangladesh by 2040.Tobacco-related diseases,responsible for a significant proportion of deaths in the country,could witness a considerable decline with the successful implementation of higher tax rates and tobacco use regulation.This study provides insights that not only contribute to the economic discourse but also accentuate the broader public health benefits arising from effective tobacco taxation policies.

Frugal Innovations Health Care Programs at the Community Level

Recent experience in some countries has suggested that the use of frugal innovations can be valuable. These initiatives can reduce health care expenses by substituting less costly services for more expensive ones and by limiting the organizational costs of maintaining these programs. These approaches have been defined as doing more with less. This study described the use of frugal approaches to improve the efficiency of care by providers in the metropolitan area of Syracuse, New York. In these programs, numbers of hospital patient days were reduced by discharging patients to long term care services. Hospital emergency department utilization was also monitored and managed at the community wide level. The utilization of hospital admissions per population was also limited. The three programs described in this study were implemented with annual staff expenses of $127,000. This amounted to only about $42,000 annually per hospital. The development and use of these frugal innovations was made possible through cooperation among providers and use of a single organization, the Hospital Executive Council to coordinate the programs.

Choices of health care financing schemes for resource poor country: An analysis of Nepal’s experiences

An appropriate health care financing scheme can improve the efficient, equitable, and effective use of health care resources;however, each popular health care financing scheme has some advantages and disadvantages. The designing of health care financing strategy to fit with the country specific features is not straightforward. In resource poor country, allocation of resources for health care services are always critical and frequently unstable due to nuances annual budget process, small fiscal space, uncertainties in contributions of external development partners. Considerable quantities of country specific researches require for the choice of an appropriate health care financing scheme. The paper illustrates possible better options for the government to pursue the goal of ensuring that the poor receive more benefits. The paper compares the benefit incidences and cost of services with different options purposed for primary health care services by utilizing recently collected data from different hospitals in Nepal. The paper offers an alternative policy such as a universal free care below the district level services;but in the district level which is top level of primary care, “extended targeted free health care” may be an efficient, fair, and relatively simple approach.

U. S. Academic Medical Centers Under the Managed Health Care Environment

This research investigates the impact of managed health care on academic medical centers in the United States. Academic medical centers hold a unique position in the U. S. health care system through their missions of conducting cutting-edge biomedical researeh, pursuing clinical and technological innovations, Providing state-of-the-art medical care and producing highly qUalified health professionals. However, policies to control costs through the use of managed care and limiting resources are detrimental to academic medical centers and impede the advancement of medical sciTo survive the threats of managed care in the health care environment, acadendc medical centers must rely on their upper level managers to derive successful strategies. The methods used in this study include qualitative approaches in the form of key informants and case studies. In addition, a survey questionnaire was sent to 1h8 CEOs in all the academic medical centers in the U. S. The findings revealed that managers who perform the liaison, monitor, entrepreneur and resource allocator roles are crucial to ensure the survival of academic medical centers, so that academic medical centers can continue their missions to serve the general public and promote their well-being.

Evaluating health care financing in a highly decentralized Beveridge model

The Finnish health care system is financed in a highly decentralized manner. In the tax-financed Beveridge model each municipality is responseble for financing and organizing health care services for its residents. This paper examined the annual incidence and treatment costs of three cost-intensive DRG-groups, and all DRG-groups together. The objective was to estimate municipal level predictions on the incidence of new illness cases and their associated costs, and to analyze whether there was greater uncertainty in anticipated specialized health care costs in municipalities with smaller populations. The dataset comprised of longitudinal hospital utilization and discharge data from Hospital Discharge Registers. The expected annual variation of illness cases and costs was assessed with respect to 95% confidence intervals estimated for each morbidity group and municipality. The results indicated that the costs of the selected morbidity groups fluctuated in a completely uncontrollable manner in municipalities with small populations. As the median size of Finnish municipalities is less than 6000, the inability to anticipate periodic health care costs constitutes an extensive financial problem and calls for the establishment of larger regional units and funding pools.

北京市综合医改前后社区卫生服务机构治疗费用的受益人群分析

背景厘清社区卫生服务机构主要服务的人群特点,对下一步社区卫生服务机构的精准改革具有十分重要的意义。目的通过分析综合改革前后北京市社区卫生服务机构治疗费用的受益人群特征,为下一步改革政策制定和调整提供精准的数据支持。方法本研究基础数据来源于2016—2019年北京市卫生总费用核算基础数据库,其他数据来源于2016—2019年《北京市卫生健康统计年鉴》《北京市卫生财务统计年报》《北京市卫生费用核算报告》等。采用多阶段分层整群抽样的方案选取社区卫生服务机构,从HIS系统纳入全年的门诊数据、住院患者的数据。采用卫生费用核算体系2011(SHA2011)核算、分析社区卫生服务机构治疗费用的受益人群状况。结果2016—2019年北京市社区卫生服务机构治疗费用从121.81亿元增长至222.45亿元,年均增长19.07%。40岁以上中老年患者治疗费用历年占比均在92%以上,60~岁、80~岁两个年龄组患者治疗费用增长较快,年均增速分别为24.08%、25.84%;治疗费用中内分泌、营养和代谢疾病,症状、体征和检验异常、循环系统疾病占比最高,内分泌、营养和代谢疾病,神经系统疾病,症状、体征和检验异常疾病治疗费用增长较快,年均增速分别为40.11%、48.40%和32.43%。结论综合改革后分级诊疗成效初显,社区医疗服务资源主要由中老年患者、内分泌、循环系统等慢性非传染性疾病患者所消耗,改革引导更多中老年和慢性病患者流向社区,社区卫生服务机构应该从服务能力、人才队伍、慢性病管理、医联体建设等多方面着手,提升其服务能力,巩固和维持改革的效果。

中国老年人口健康状况及其家庭照料需求预测

中国人口老龄化快速发展,失能、半失能老年人口规模迅速扩大,老年照料需求快速增加。科学预测不同失能状况老年人口规模及其照料服务需求是推动老年照护服务体系建设的重要基础。文章基于中国老年健康影响因素跟踪调查(CLHLS)数据,使用Markov模型测算中国分性别、分年龄段老年人口健康状况转移矩阵,运用队列要素预测法、多元回归法等预测得到2020—2035年中国不同失能状况老年人口规模及其照料服务人员需求规模、家庭照料经济成本。预测结果显示:中国失能老年人口规模呈现增长态势,从2020年的1946万人增至2035年的3424万人,失能老年人口的比例从2020年的7.4%小幅增至2035年的7.9%,且中重度失能老年人口增幅更快,2035年时轻度失能老年人口规模相比2020年增加66%,中重度失能老年人口规模相比2020年增加92%。女性失能老年人口规模增速快于男性,80岁及以上老年人口失能比例增长更快,2035年男性70~79岁、80~89岁、90+岁三个年龄组失能老年人口规模分别为2020年的1.53倍、1.92倍、1.94倍;2035年女性三个年龄组失能老年人口规模分别为2020年的1.72倍、2.29倍、2.52倍。老年家庭照料需求将呈现快速增长态势,家庭照料服务人员需求量从2020年的2795万人增至2035年的4863万人,增长74%。2020—2035年健康老年人口的照料服务人员需求量占总需求量的比例在57%左右,中重度失能老年人口需求量占比在24%左右,轻度失能老年人口需求量占比在19%左右。60~69岁老年人口所需的照料服务人员占比最高,90岁及以上年龄组对照料服务人员的需求量增长更快。老年人口家庭照料经济成本从2020年的3027亿元增至2035年的11676亿元,将增长近3倍。中重度失能老年人口所需的家庭照料现金成本相比2020年增长3.1倍,轻度失能老年人口所需的家庭照料现金成本相比2020年增长2.6倍。男性老年人口所需家庭照料现金成本低于女性老年人口,且增速也低于女性老年人口。本研究基于定量预测结果提出积极推进健康老龄化,加大促进生育的政策支持力度,尽快推广长期照护保险制度,以赋能家庭为着力点加强失能老年人口的支持体系建设,大力发展老年护理服务业,大力发展养老护理职业教育等政策建议。

机构养老模式的医疗费用和健康结果评估研究——基于价值医疗视角

随着老龄化程度的加深和家庭养老能力的降低,机构养老的需求量不断攀升。本文基于价值医疗视角,采用中国老年健康影响因素跟踪调查(CLHLS)数据,运用固定效应模型对机构养老模式的医疗费用和健康结果进行评估。研究发现:机构养老模式有利于降低医疗费用;机构养老模式通过减少问诊就医和住院治疗进而降低老年人的医疗费用,通过规范老年人生活方式、提高医疗效率进而提升老年人健康水平,但机构养老模式缺乏对心理健康的关注,不利于提升老年人健康水平。机构养老模式的医疗控费效果在轻度失能和中度失能老年人中更为明显,且机构养老模式明显降低了失智老年人的健康水平。本文的研究对于实现价值医疗目标的同时提升机构养老服务质量具有一定的参考价值。

DRGs付费制度对医院绩效管理的影响及对策研究

在我国医疗改革的大背景下,基于疾病诊断相关分组(diagnosis related groups,DRGs)付费制度的推广与实施为医疗行业带来了新的挑战与机遇。这种付费方式不仅改变了医院传统的收入模式,还对医院的绩效管理产生了深远的影响。文章旨在深入探讨DRGs付费制度对医院绩效管理各个方面的影响,包括医院收入结构、医疗质量提升、医疗资源的有效利用以及医疗成本控制等。经过全面而系统的分析,阐明了DRGs付费制度对医院绩效管理所带来的多重挑战。这些挑战不仅涵盖了医院收入结构的调整、医疗服务质量的提升,还涉及医疗资源的有效利用以及医疗成本的控制等方面,对医院的运营和管理提出了更高的要求。针对这些问题,文章提出了一系列对策建议,旨在帮助医院在DRGs付费制度下优化绩效管理体系,实现科学、合理的绩效管理,从而提高医院的可持续发展能力。

Improving Hospital Utilization and Outcomes: Health Economics at the Community Level

This study reviewed efforts to improve health care efficiency at the community level from the perspective of the financial impact on provider organizations. It focused on utilization and outcomes programs that address this objective in the metropolitan area of Syracuse, New York and their implications for health economics. The study demonstrated that a range of length of stay initiatives, including programs addressing length of stay reduction between hospitals and nursing homes produced a savings of $12,448,300 - $31,232,900 over a fifteen-year period. These efforts involved community wide costs of $3,128,125 - $4,144,025. The study also demonstrated that efforts to reduce inpatient hospital complications produced a savings of between $1,622,400 - $3,623,400 over a four-year period. These efforts involved community wide costs of $739,200. The study suggested that these savings were enhanced through community wide initiatives that enabled hospitals to save expenses associated with data development and program implementation.

Supersaturated Calcium Phosphate Rinse vs. Standard of Care for Mitigating Mucositis in Head and Neck Chemoradiation

Introduction: Oral mucositis (OM) can have a significant impact on patients’ quality of life, pain and treatment costs. Almost all patients receiving head and neck chemoradiation develop OM. Patients and Methods: Twenty patients were evaluated retrospectively for OM when undergoing head and neck chemoradiation. The control, soda/salt rinse, was compared to a powdered supersaturated calcium phosphate rinse (SSCPR), SalivaMAX. Results: The SSCPR group experienced a delay in the onset of OM, which was not statistically significant, and a marked reduction in peak OM that was statistically significant (p > 0.001). Conclusion: This retrospective study demonstrates that a powdered SSCPR is a safe and effective method of oral mucositis mitigation.

A COST-BENEFIT EVALUATION OF NEONATAL SCREENING PROGRAM IN CHINA

Objective Phenylketonuria (PKU) and congenital hypothyroidism (CH) are common diseases thatare associated with mental retardation. In order to make the best use of health care resources to achieve themaximum social and economic benefits and to lay the foundation for the popularization of neonatal screening, acost- benefit analysis of neonatal screening program was undertaken. Methods Based on screening results,medical history and the data published by the national statistic departments. Results Our result shows that it islairly profitable to conduct neonatal screening in China: the cost - benejit ratio for PKU screenging is 1:3.7, andthe cost-benefit ratio for CH screening is 1:3.6. Conclusion This report therefore strongly suPPorts furtherpopularization of neonatal screening in China.

高血压患者社区机构就诊连续性及其对医疗费用的影响研究

目的:分析高血压患者社区机构就诊连续性及其对医疗费用的影响。方法:基于H市医保结算数据,采用服务连续性指数(COCI)测算高血压患者社区机构就诊连续性,采用固定效应模型分析就诊连续性对医疗费用的影响。结果:2016—2018年高血压患者社区机构就诊连续性指数(COCI)均在0.9以上,患者年龄、性别、是否签约家庭医生是社区机构就诊连续性的影响因素;社区机构就诊连续性有利于降低患者医疗费用。结论:推进家庭医生签约服务,以高血压等慢性病管理为切入点,落实基层首诊、双向转诊制度,提升社区机构就诊连续性,减轻患者就医负担。

长期护理保险对医疗费用及医保基金可持续性的影响研究

本文基于CHARLS2011年、2013年、2015年和2018年共四年数据,运用成本-收益分析法,研究长期护理保险对医疗费用及基本医保基金可持续性的影响。本文发现长期护理保险通过减少个体年门诊次数等机制降低了医疗总费用。由于长期护理保险部分筹资源于基本医保基金,本文将这部分从基本医保基金中提取的金额定义为成本,将长期护理保险通过降低医疗费用而节省的医保基金支出金额定义为收益,探究长期护理保险对基本医保基金可持续性的影响,即成本与收益的差值。研究发现在以中方案人口数量预测为基础数据、“90+10”方案为照护模式、全体失能老人为保障对象、70%为报销比例的模式下,长期护理保险可为基本医保基金人均节省65.44元—105.05元。同时,本文从人口预测方案、护理模式和报销比例等角度进行敏感性分析,发现当长期护理保险报销比例一定时,选择以居家护理为主的老人占比越高,长期护理保险对基本医保基金可持续性的正向影响越强。以往研究大多讨论长期护理保险制度对基本医疗保险制度的负面作用,缺少长期护理保险制度对基本医疗保险制度正面作用分析。本文以此为出发点进行探究,为国家和地方政府完善长期护理保险制度、探究长期护理保险与基本医疗保险互馈机制等内容提供理论依据。

夏热冬暖地区高端医养社区综合体空调冷热源方案对比分析

针对某高端医养社区项目,结合厦门(夏热冬暖)地区的实际情况及项目特点,通过对三种空调冷热源方案的前期初投资、全年运营费用等因素进行综合分析比较,从中选择最优方案。