scholarly journals Contrast media routines in Norwegian hospitals – a mapping study

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Tor-Ove Dalen ◽  
Dennis Årre Høynes ◽  
Albertina Rusandu
Keyword(s):  
Body Composition ◽  
Patient Safety ◽  
Image Quality ◽  
Contrast Media ◽  
Public Hospitals ◽  
The Public ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
Different Characteristics ◽  
Methods Of Calculations

Introduction Optimal contrast enhancement in the organ of interest is crucial for the image quality of a CT examination. Potential side effects of contrast media range from mild to potentially severe. The use of the smallest possible amount, without compromising the image quality, is therefore preferable considering patient safety. Different methods of calculations, that consider different factors, are used to calculate the relevant amount. Our project focuses on the contrast media used in a "CT liver" examination among the public hospitals in Norway, and we wish to present the differences in contrast media routines.Methods Inquiries were sent to every public hospital that have a CT-lab in Norway, asking for their liver protocol, also including a short questionnaire. Eight example patients with different characteristics (sex, weight and body composition) were created. Information from the protocols and the questionnaires were used to calculate the amount of contrast media each of the hospitals would give to each example patient. Previous studies were used to calculate the recommended amounts of contrast media based on patient safety and optimal image quality. ResultsCalculations show differences between 66% and 117% (from lowest to highest amount) of contrast media given to the example patients. Out of the 30 participating hospitals, 6 use software, 17 use weight tables, 2 use fixed amounts and 5 use weight tables that takes body composition into consideration as their methods of calculating the amount of contrast media. None would have given more than the recommended amounts, considering patient safety, while between 6,7% and 36,7% would have given less than the recommended amounts, considering image quality. Conclusion The results show significant differences in contrast media usage among Norwegian hospitals. In conclusion, there is room for improvement and standardization of contrast media routines. Optimization of contrast media routines will benefit both patient safety, image quality and cost.

scholarly journals Overview of Facebook Use by Hospitals in Italy: A Nationwide Survey during the COVID-19 Emergency

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (14) ◽  
pp. 7225
Author(s):  
Beniamino Schiavone ◽  
Andrea Vitale ◽  
Mena Gallo ◽  
Gianlucasalvatore Russo ◽  
Domenico Ponticelli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Information ◽  
Nationwide Survey ◽  
Public Hospitals ◽  
Communication Strategy ◽  
Private Hospitals ◽  
The Public ◽  
Access To Health ◽  
Facebook Pages ◽  
Pandemic Wave

Background: Facebook is the most popular social network across the world and also allows users access to health information. Our study presents an overview of the official Facebook profiles of hospitals in Italy (n = 1351) and how much they are used. Methods: All hospitals were surveyed on the number of Facebook posts in May (post-lockdown) and October (second pandemic wave) 2020. The number of followers, the creation date of the official page, and the frequency of publication—that is, the average number of days between two subsequent posts—were determined. Results: In Italy, only 28% (n = 379) of the hospitals had official Facebook pages, of which 20.6% (n = 78) were public hospitals, and 79.4% (n = 301) were private hospitals. Of the hospitals with Facebook pages, 49.1% used them every week, and public hospitals published more often. Conclusions: Despite the differences between regions and types of management, the number of hospitals in Italy that use Facebook as a tool for the public dissemination of health information is still low. Hospitals should adopt an effective communication strategy using social networks to improve the quality of health care.

scholarly journals Professional interaction in management of the triad: Permanent Education in Health, patient safety and quality

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cintia Koerich ◽  
Alacoque Lorenzini Erdmann ◽  
Gabriela Marcellino de Melo Lanzoni
Keyword(s):  
Patient Safety ◽  
Organizational Structure ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Public Health System ◽  
Institutional Culture ◽  
The Public ◽  
Professional Interaction ◽  
Care Processes ◽  
Quality Of Nursing

Objective: to understand how professional interaction takes place in the hospital organizational structure for the management of Permanent Education in Health, to guarantee patient safety and the quality of nursing care. Method: this is a qualitative study, which used the structuralist aspect of the Grounded Theory as a methodological framework. 27 interviewers participated in the study, who made up four sample groups. Results: six categories and 13 subcategories were presented, representing the studied phenomenon and highlighting particularities of the public health system and the influence of the manager’s support and management priority, the disposition of the organizational structure, the institutional culture, the external encouragement to institution, and the nurses’ initiative and leadership in the professional interaction for the management of the Permanent Education in Health, patient safety, and quality of care triad, revealing the need for cultural change through interdisciplinarity. Conclusion: the professional interaction in the hospital organizational structure requires the creation of new management models with an emphasis on more participative management, in order to improve the care processes in hospital institutions.

scholarly journals Determining Nurse Workforce Requirement Based on Workload in the Public Hospitals

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Şirin Özkan ◽  
Mert Uydacı
Keyword(s):  
Public Hospitals ◽  
Inpatient Service ◽  
The Public ◽  
Nursing Managers ◽  
Quality Of Patient Care ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Nurse Workforce ◽  
Workload Distribution ◽  
Healthcare Human Resources

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study is to examine the requirement and distribution of nurse workforce based on workload in public hospitals. METHODS: The number of nurses required in intensive care unit, all inpatient services, emergency room, operating room and dialysis units of the hospitals affiliated to the Ministry of Health in Kocaeli was calculated based on the workload by applying the Workload Indicators of Staffing Need (WISN) method. RESULTS: When the nurses were compared based on the inter-hospital workload ratio in the province, it was found that the number of nurses in the hospitals A, B, C, D, G, H and I was inadequate, the average workload was 0.73 and the number of nurses should be increased by 27% throughout the province. It was determined that the nurses having the highest workload ratio were inpatient service nurses in hospital with A rate of 0.49 and hospital in C with 0.53 rate. In addition, although the total number of nurses in E and F hospitals is sufficient, the units within the hospital are unevenly distributed according to the workload of the nurse workforce. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: It was determined that the number of nurses in the hospitals was insufficient and the workload distribution between the hospitals and within the hospital was unbalanced. The unbalanced distribution of nurse workforce throughout the province causes labour inefficiency, decreases the quality of patient care and causes health inequalities. The study results could set an example of practice that would provide support for health and nursing managers in planning and managing healthcare human resources more effectively.

Influence of Contrast Media Dose in Elliptical Ordered MR Angiography Image Quality of the Carotid Arteries

2002 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. S417-S420
Author(s):  
Paolo Pavone ◽  
Giacomo Luccichenti ◽  
Filippo Cademartiri ◽  
Ugo Ugolotti
Keyword(s):  
Image Quality ◽  
Contrast Media ◽  
Mr Angiography ◽  
Carotid Arteries

scholarly journals Measuring and Assessing the Wealth Influence on the Efficiency of the Health System through the Private Sector

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 437-449
Author(s):  
Mina Fanea-Ivanovici ◽  
Marius-Cristian Pană ◽  
Mihail Dumitru Sacală ◽  
Cristina Voicu
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Public Hospitals ◽  
Quality Of Services ◽  
Private Hospitals ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Health Sector ◽  
Private Health Sector

The aim of the paper is to provide an analysis of the dynamics of the public and private health sectors in Romania. Using descriptive statistics, it first investigates whether the public health sector follows the reformation trends suggested by official strategies and reports, and to what extent the private health sector is a viable alternative to the public one, by analysing the demand for private inpatient services. We look into the reduction in the occupancy degree in public hospitals as a means to increase the efficiency of public health expenditures, which represents one way to reform the public health sector. We also find that the increase in the occupancy degree in private hospitals is negatively correlated with the quality of services provided by public hospitals, but positively correlated with population wealth. Increase in the occupancy degree in private hospitals is an indicator of poor quality of services in public hospitals. It can also be explained by increasing expectations and requirements of beneficiaries as a reflection of increase in wealth and of their will to preserve their health capital. Using regression models, the paper then proposes the Wealth-Health Index, a composite indicator to explore the connection between wealth and health and the dynamics of the private health sector. Investment in physical infrastructure and the size of medical staff in the private sector is positively correlated with wealth increase.

scholarly journals Measuring patient safety in New Zealand public hospitals

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Nicholas Bowden
Keyword(s):  
Patient Safety ◽  
Quality Of Care ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Administrative Data ◽  
Risk Adjustment ◽  
Public Hospitals ◽  
Hospital Administrative ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Hospital Administrative Data

<p>In New Zealand the Ministry of Health recognises quality of care as an integral part of a high performing health system and identifies patient safety as one of the key dimensions of quality. Over recent years a greater emphasis has been placed on improving patient safety mostly as a result of increased awareness around the frequency of medical error and resulting economic cost. However tools used to measure patient safety are limited. In particular the use of hospital administrative data to measure patient safety is scarce and existing safety measures often ignore one of the major issues confronting comparative analyses of hospital safety, risk adjustment to control for the differences in populations hospitals serve.   The objective of this research is to develop comparable measures of patient safety for New Zealand public hospitals. It uses risk adjustment strategies applied to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs) with New Zealand hospital administrative data, the National Minimum Dataset 2001 to 2009. The research employs econometric techniques to address risk adjustment of the PSIs, utilising existing AHRQ models but adapting and re-estimating them with New Zealand administrative data.   The findings from the research indicate that to use the AHRQ PSIs as measures of hospital patient safety in New Zealand, risk adjustment should first be employed to ensure measures are comparable across hospitals and over time. Overall, although the impact of risk adjustment appears to be minor, it has relevance and this should be recognised. Relative hospital performance is affected by risk adjustment. In particular, it has the greatest impact on those hospitals with poor rankings. The research takes us a step closer to being able to confidently measure patient safety and quality of care in New Zealand public hospitals in an innovative way.</p>

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