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Abstract Background Indigenous adults suffer six times more blindness than other Australians but 94% of this vision loss is unnecessary being preventable or treatable. We have explored the barriers and solutions to improve Indigenous eye health and proposed significant system changes required to close the gap for Indigenous eye health. This paper aims to identify the local co-ordination and case management requirements necessary to improve eye care for Indigenous Australians. Methods A qualitative study, using semi-structured interviews, focus groups, stakeholder workshops and meetings was conducted in community, private practice, hospital, non-government organisation and government settings. Data were collected at 21 sites across Australia. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 289 people working in Indigenous health and eye care; focus group discussions with 81 community members; stakeholder workshops involving 86 individuals; and separate meetings with 75 people. 531 people participated in the consultations. Barriers and issues were identified through thematic analysis and policy solutions developed through iterative consultation. Results Poorly co-ordinated eye care services for Indigenous Australians are inefficient and costly and result in poorer outcomes for patients, communities and health care providers. Services are more effective where there is good co-ordination of services and case management of patients along the pathway of care. The establishment of clear pathways of care, development local and regional partnerships to manage services and service providers and the application of sufficient workforce with clear roles and responsibilities have the potential to achieve important improvements in eye care. Conclusions Co-ordination is a key to close the gap in eye care for Indigenous Australians. Properly co-ordinated care and support along the patient pathway through case management will save money by preventing dropout of patients who haven't received treatment and a successfully functioning system will encourage more people to enter for care.

This article assesses the impact of globalization on welfare state effort in the OECD countries. Globalization is defined in terms of total trade, imports from low wage economies, foreign direct investment, and financial market integration. Welfare effort is analyzed in terms both of public spending (and separately on social service provision and income transfer programs) and taxation (effective rates of capital taxation and the ratio of capital to labor and consumption taxes). Year-to-year increases in total trade and international financial openness in the past three decades have been associated with less government spending. In contrast, integration into global markets has not been associated either with reductions in capital tax rates, or with shifts in the burden of taxation from capital to consumption and labor income. Moreover, countries with greater inflows and outflows of foreign direct investment tend to tax capital more heavily. (European Journal of Political Research / FUB)

WITH NEW SOURCES OF CROSS-NATIONAL DATA APPEARING ON INCOME DISTRIBUTION AND THE CHARACTERISTICS OF REDISTRIBUTIONAL POLICY INSTRUMENTS, IT IS NOW POSSIBLE TO TAKE THE COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF WELFARE STATES WELL BEYOND THE CONVENTIONAL FOCUS ON GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURES. THIS STUDY OF 18 OECD NATIONS EXAMINES THE LINKAGES BETWEEN VARIOUS ASPECTS OF THE INCOME REDISTRIBUTION PROCESS, ELABORATES A TYPOLOGY OF WELFARE STATE REGIMES AND LOCATES THE POLITICAL ORIGINS OF EACH OF THESE REGIMES.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the proportion of 12-month contraceptive pill, patch, and ring prescriptions before and after an institution-wide change of default electronic medical record facility orders to dispensing 12-month supply.Study designThis retrospective pre-post study compares outpatient contraception prescriptions from August 10, 2019 through April 9, 2020 obtained from our institutional electronic medical record prescription database. On December 10, 2019, we facilitated a change in the default orders for dispensing self-administered hormonal contraceptives from one-month to 12-months. We evaluated the primary outcome of 12-month supply prescriptions during the four months before and after the change. We also compared 12-month supply prescriptions for pills, patch, and ring by prescriber specialty and location.ResultsThe dataset included 4897 distinct evaluable prescriptions for the pill, patch, or ring, with an overall increase in 12-month prescriptions from 260/2437 (10.7%) to 669/2460 (27.2%) after the order change (p < 0.001). Twelve-month pill prescriptions increased from 238/2250 (10.6%) to 607/2250 (27.0%) (p < 0.001), patch prescriptions from 6/40 (15.0%) to 21/44 (47.7%) (p = 0.002), and ring prescriptions from 16/147 (10.9%) to 41/165 (24.8%) (p = 0.001). Twelve-month prescriptions increased after the order change among all provider types at the medical center campus (194/594 [32.7%] to 329/623 [52.8%], p < 0.001). At community clinics, non-obstetrics/gynecology providers increased 12-month prescriptions after the order change (58/1616 [3.6%] to 327/1612 [20.3%], p < 0.001), but obstetrics/gynecology providers did not (8/227 [3.5%] to 13/225 [5.8%], p = 0.27).ConclusionProviders more frequently prescribed a 12-month supply of contraceptive pills, patches, and rings after a change in the default dispensing quantity in electronic medical record orders.ImplicationsInstitution-wide changes to the electronic medical record default facility order settings can increase 12-month supply contraceptive prescriptions. As a 12-month prescription order represents only one step of many in obtaining a 12-month contraception supply, additional research is required to elucidate and remove other potential barriers.