Search results

BACKGROUND: Hierarchical medical system (HMS) is a good policy to promote the fairness of medical services for residents. Given the importance of HMS, it is necessary to know the implementation effect of the policy. Therefore, we aimed to analyze the efficiency of medical service resources in China under the background of hierarchical medical policy. METHODS: Based on the panel data of China's medical resources in 2015–2019, we used DEA model to calculate the technical efficiency (TE), pure technical efficiency (PTE) and scale efficiency (SE) of medical resources from both lateral and longitudinal aspects. We used Malmquist index to evaluate the change trend of efficiency, and further we compared the efficiency differences of regions and medical institutions. RESULTS: In lateral evaluation results, TE was relatively stable, while total factor productivity (TFP) was on the rise. In longitudinal evaluation results, TE and TFP showed a downward trend. CONCLUSION: The government should consider the differences in development between regions and make health plans by regions. Medical institutions should strive to break down the constraints and make use of their advantages, which is conducive to improving efficiency.

This study examined the influence of affectively‐based weight prejudice versus weight control beliefs on perceptions of and support for an ambiguously discriminatory medical policy: denying surgery to overweight patients. Participants read a news article describing a new policy in the United Kingdom of denying surgery to overweight patients, and reported their reactions to the policy. Results revealed that participants who scored higher on an affectively‐based measure of weight prejudice that was completed 3–4 weeks before the main session were less likely to perceive the medical policy as discriminatory, more likely to agree with the policy and to support adoption of a similar policy in their own country, and recommended lower body mass index (BMI) cutoff values for denying surgery to overweight patients, whereas weight control beliefs had less of a role to play. In addition, perceptions of the policy as (non)discriminatory mediated the effects of weight prejudice on policy agreement, support, and recommended BMI cutoff. These results indicate that affective prejudice influences individuals' support for an ambiguously discriminatory medical policy, which has important implications for policy makers and researchers.

Some studies have challenged the role played by philanthropic agencies in the organization of scientific work in underdeveloped societies. This paper is intended to add to this literature by studying the relationships developed between the Rockefeller Foundation and physiological research in four Latin American countries. The latter received sizeable grants during the 1940s and 1950s, not only as a result of the degree of excellence achieved in some laboratories of the region, but also as a means of spreading an academic model inspired by the élite medical schools of the United States. Rockefeller's philanthropy failed to modernize Latin American research structures, mainly because of the difficulty of transferring a model of scientific work from one culture to another. The paper shows how local resistance and conflict, rather than imitation and passivity, characterized this process of attempted transfer.

OBJECTIVES: State newborn-screening programs collectively administer the largest genetic-testing initiative in the United States. We sought to assess public involvement in formulating and implementing medical policy in this important area of genetic medicine. METHODS: We surveyed all state newborn-screening programs to ascertain the screening tests performed, the mechanisms and extent of public participation, parental access to information, and policies addressing parental consent or refusal of newborn screening. We also reviewed the laws and regulations of each state pertaining to newborn screening. RESULTS: Only 26 of the 51 state newborn-screening programs reported having advisory committees that include consumer representation. Fifteen states reported having used institutional review boards, another venue for public input. The rights and roles of parents vary markedly among newborn-screening programs in terms of the type and availability of screening information as well as consent-refusal and follow-up policies. CONCLUSIONS: There is clear potential for greater public participation in newborn-screening policy-making. Greater public participation would result in more representative policy-making and could enhance the quality of services provided by newborn-screening programs.

"No one misses the onslaught of claims about reforming modern medical care. How doctors should be paid, how hospitals should be paid or governed, how much patients should pay when sick in co-payments, how the quality of care could be improved, and how governments and other buyers could better control the costs of care — all find expression in the explosion of medical care conference proceedings, op-eds, news bulletins, journal articles, and books. This collection of articles takes up a key set of what the author regards as particularly misleading fads and fashions — developments that produce a startling degree of foolishness in contemporary discussions of how to organize, deliver, finance, pay for and regulate medical care services in modern industrial democracies. The policy fads addressed include the celebration of explicit rationing as a major cost control instrument, the belief in a "basic package" of health insurance benefits to constrain costs, the faith that contemporary cross-national research can deliver a large number of transferable models, and the notion that broadening the definition of what is meant by health will constitute some sort of useful advance in practice."

This open access book presents an ethical approach to utilizing personal medical data. It features essays that combine academic argument with practical application of ethical principles. The contributors are experts in ethics and law. They address the challenges in the re-use of medical data of the deceased on a voluntary basis. This pioneering study looks at the many factors involved when individuals and organizations wish to share information for research, policy-making, and humanitarian purposes. Today, it is easy to donate blood or even organs, but it is virtually impossible to donate one's own medical data. This is seen as ethically unacceptable. Yet, data donation can greatly benefit the welfare of our societies. This collection provides timely interdisciplinary research on biomedical big data. Topics include the ethics of data donation, the legal and regulatory challenges, and the current and future collaborations. Readers will learn about the ethical and regulatory challenges associated with medical data donations. They will also better understand the special nature of using deceased data for research purposes with regard to ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, and justice. In addition, the contributors identify the key governance issues of such a scheme. The essays also look at what we can learn in terms of best practice from existing medical data schemes.

This book is the first of its kind, written by doctors for doctors to allow physicians and medical students to quickly develop an understanding of the past, present and potential future issues in healthcare policy and the evolution of American healthcare.