Excess capacity: markets regulation, and values. (1/851)

OBJECTIVE: To examine the conceptual bases for the conflicting views of excess capacity in healthcare markets and their application in the context of today's turbulent environment. STUDY SETTING: The policy and research literature of the past three decades. STUDY DESIGN: The theoretical perspectives of alternative economic schools of thought are used to support different policy positions with regard to excess capacity. Changes in these policy positions over time are linked to changes in the economic and political environment of the period. The social values implied by this history are articulated. DATA COLLECTION: Standard library search procedures are used to identify relevant literature. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Alternative policy views of excess capacity in healthcare markets rely on differing theoretical foundations. Changes in the context in which policy decisions are made over time affect the dominant theoretical framework and, therefore, the dominant policy view of excess capacity. CONCLUSIONS: In the 1990s, multiple perspectives of optimal capacity still exist. However, our evolving history suggests a set of persistent values that should guide future policy in this area.  (+info)

Food insecurity: consequences for the household and broader social implications. (2/851)

A conceptual framework showing the household and social implications of food insecurity was elicited from a qualitative and quantitative study of 98 households from a heterogeneous low income population of Quebec city and rural surroundings; the study was designed to increase understanding of the experience of food insecurity in order to contribute to its prevention. According to the respondents' description, the experience of food insecurity is characterized by two categories of manifestations, i.e., the core characteristics of the phenomenon and a related set of actions and reactions by the household. This second category of manifestations is considered here as a first level of consequences of food insecurity. These consequences at the household level often interact with the larger environment to which the household belongs. On a chronic basis, the resulting interactions have certain implications that are tentatively labeled "social implications" in this paper. Their examination suggests that important aspects of human development depend on food security. It also raises questions concerning the nature of socially acceptable practices of food acquisition and food management, and how such acceptability can be assessed. Guidelines to that effect are proposed. Findings underline the relevance and urgency of working toward the realization of the right to food.  (+info)

Do case studies mislead about the nature of reality? (3/851)

This paper attempts a partial, critical look at the construction and use of case studies in ethics education. It argues that the authors and users of case studies are often insufficiently aware of the literary nature of these artefacts: this may lead to some confusion between fiction and reality. Issues of the nature of the genre, the fictional, story-constructing aspect of case studies, the nature of authorship, and the purposes and uses of case studies as "texts" are outlined and discussed. The paper concludes with some critical questions that can be applied to the construction and use of case studies in the light of the foregoing analysis.  (+info)

Do studies of the nature of cases mislead about the reality of cases? A response to Pattison et al. (4/851)

This article questions whether many are misled by current case studies. Three broad types of style of case study are described. A stark style, based on medical case studies, a fictionalised style in reaction, and a personal statement made in discussion groups by an original protagonist. Only the second type fits Pattison's category. Language remains an important issue, but to be examined as the case is lived in discussion rather than as a potentially reductionist study of the case as text.  (+info)

How physician executives and clinicians perceive ethical issues in Saudi Arabian hospitals. (5/851)

OBJECTIVES: To compare the perceptions of physician executives and clinicians regarding ethical issues in Saudi Arabian hospitals and the attributes that might lead to the existence of these ethical issues. DESIGN: Self-completion questionnaire administered from February to July 1997. SETTING: Different health regions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. PARTICIPANTS: Random sample of 457 physicians (317 clinicians and 140 physician executives) from several hospitals in various regions across the kingdom. RESULTS: There were statistically significant differences in the perceptions of physician executives and clinicians regarding the existence of various ethical issues in their hospitals. The vast majority of physician executives did not perceive that seven of the eight issues addressed by the study were ethical concerns in their hospitals. However, the majority of the clinicians perceived that six of the same eight issues were ethical considerations in their hospitals. Statistically significant differences in the perceptions of physician executives and clinicians were observed in only three out of eight attributes that might possibly lead to the existence of ethical issues. The most significant attribute that was perceived to result in ethical issues was that of hospitals having a multinational staff. CONCLUSION: The study calls for the formulation of a code of ethics that will address specifically the physicians who work in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As a more immediate initiative, it is recommended that seminars and workshops be conducted to provide physicians with an opportunity to discuss the ethical dilemmas they face in their medical practice.  (+info)

Health outcomes and managed care: discussing the hidden issues. (6/851)

Too often the debate over health outcomes and managed care has glossed over a series of complex social, political, and ethical issues. Exciting advances in outcomes research have raised hopes for logical medical reform. However, science alone will not optimize our patients' health, since value judgements are necessary and integral parts of attempts to improve health outcomes within managed care organizations. Therefore, to form healthcare policy that is both fair and efficient, we must examine the fundamental values and ethical concerns that are imbedded in our efforts to shape care. We must openly discuss the hidden issues including: (1) trade-offs between standardization of care and provider-patient autonomy; (2) effects of financial incentives on physicians' professionalism; (3) opportunity costs inherent in the design of insurance plans; (4) responsibilities of managed care plans for the health of the public; (5) judicious and valid uses of data systems; and (6) the politics of uncertainty.  (+info)

Appropriate and necessary healthcare: new language for a new era. (7/851)

Conceptual and language changes are necessary to accompany the paradigm shift from fee-for-service medicine to managed care. Medical necessity is an inadequate and ambiguous term defined differently by providers, payers, patients, and legislators. The attempt by legislators in Minnesota to develop a universal standard benefits set for healthcare services strikingly underscores the need to define relevant terminology to accompany the transition to managed care. We suggest the term appropriate and necessary healthcare as a state-of-the-art term for the new era of managed care.  (+info)

Sustainability of health care: a framework for analysis. (8/851)

This paper introduces a conceptual framework which can be used to study the sustainability of health services in developing countries. A health service is considered sustainable when operated by an organizational system with the long-term ability to mobilize and allocate sufficient resources for activities that meet individual or public health needs. The framework includes three clusters: (1) contextual factors, which outline the task and general environment of the services; (2) an activity profile, which describes the services delivered and the activities carried out to deliver them; and (3) organizational capacity, which shows the carrying ability (capability) of the organization in broad terms. In this framework, health care provision is seen as an open system model where five main factors determine how inputs are converted to outputs, linking them through feedback loops. These factors are aims, technology, structure, culture and process. The framework has proven useful in analyzing factors critical to sustainability, and in describing structures and processes both in basic public services and in private not-for-profit services. It should also be tested on more complex systems, such as national health care.  (+info)