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Biomedical subjects

J Kosecoff

Publications and source records attributed to J Kosecoff.

67 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Consensus methods: characteristics and guidelines for use.

Consensus methods are being used increasingly to solve problems in medicine and health. Their main purpose is to define levels of agreement on controversial subjects. Advocates suggest that, when properly employed, consensus strategies can create structured environments in which experts are given the best available information, allowing their solutions to problems to be more justifiable and credible than otherwise. This paper surveys the characteristics of several major methods (Delphi, Nominal Group, and models developed by the National Institutes of Health and Glaser) and provides guidelines for those who want to use the techniques. Among the concerns these guidelines address are selecting problems, choosing members for consensus panels, specifying acceptable levels of agreement, properly using empirical data, obtaining professional and political support, and disseminating results.

Decision Making↗
PubMed1982

Studies in geriatric education: II. educational materials and programs.

There has recently been an increase in educational programs and materials in geriatrics, but their quality and content have not been adequately assessed. This study concerns important objectives and core contents in geriatric education, with a review of training programs, books, and audiovisual materials. Specific areas of need for printed and audiovisual materials are identified. Medical student and graduate level programs were found to address relatively few objectives. Geriatric fellowship programs, although having more extensive coverage, had some notable deficiencies. This information may be of use to those conducting training programs or preparing educational material in geriatrics.

Aged↗
PubMed1982

Studies in geriatric education: I Developing educational objectives.

This study reports on the development of a comprehensive set of objectives for the education of undergraduates, graduates, and fellows in geriatric medicine. The objectives were derived from reviews of available educational materials and programs, and their significance was validated through consensus techniques that included over 100 workers with special expertise in geriatrics and gerontology from the United States. Canada, and the United Kingdom. A related and supplementary investigation, which also used consensus methods, uncovered ten general and disease-specific objectives considered to be essential outcomes of the education of geriatric fellows. Academic departments and specialty and subspecialty organizations should find the total set of objectives useful for planning and evaluating educational programs in geriatrics.

Canada↗
PubMed1982

An evaluation of clinical services: a case study.

The success of evaluation research rests largely in its usefulness. If the sponsors of an evaluation find the data meaningful, then the limitations that the problems of evaluation invariably impose on a study's scientific origin should not be given undue emphasis. In the case of MHMC, the evaluation results were used for program planning in the hospital and for explicating the content of testimony to the California legislature about pharmacy practice in the state. Of course, it would be unthinkable to advocate weak studies and unreliable data. The evaluator must assume the responsibility of determining if and when the balance between what can be done well is tipped in favor of unsound methods. The evaluator is also responsible for judging just how important the data from the study are. How many people will be affected? Are other data available to illuminate or be used with the evaluation?. As clinical pharmacy becomes more concerned with program evaluation, it will need to address ethical and political questions like these at the same time that it answers methodological ones.

California↗
PubMed1982

Assessing whether a clinical pharmacy program is meeting its goals.

An assessment of whether the clinical pharmacy program at Memorial Hospital Medical Center (MHMC), Long Beach CA, was meeting its goals is presented. MHMC is a 858-bed, nonprofit teaching hospital that initiated a clinical pharmacy program in 1967. The program's three foremost goals were to: (1) establish cohesive and standardized clinical services, (2) promote the acceptance of the roles and functions of clinical pharmacists by physicians and nurses, and (3) assure the provision of good quality care. The evaluation data were collected over a six-week period using questionnaire surveys of approximately 28 pharmacists, 146 physicians, and 389 nurses; pharmacist service reports from 5991 drug monitorings; 228 medical record audits for six drugs; 68 guideline compliance records for three drugs; interviews with 131 users of the drug information services; abd logs of 3946 pharmacist encounters with other health-care providers. Generally, the clinical pharmacy program was found to be meeting its goals. Most of the monitorings (81.6%) were initiated by pharmacists, and 20% resulted in changes in drug therapy. The pharmacists adhered to the pharmacy department's monitoring and dosing guidelines. There was unanimous satisfaction among users of the drug information service with the response received from pharmacists, and 99% satisfaction with the promptness of response and accuracy of the information. Sixty-eight percent of the pharmacists reported discussing general issues with physicians, and 72% answered patient-specific questions from physicians. The physicians (96%) and nurses (97%) thought that there was an improvement in the quality of patient care as a result of pharmacist involvement. Pharmacists at MHMC are providing useful clinical services.

California↗
PubMed1981

Needs assessment: selecting goals for a clinical program.

The application of a needs assessment technique to create a family practice program and residency in a major teaching hospital is described. The technique relies on selecting program objectives by providing health services that are considered important by the community, feasible to obtain within its resources, and not currently available.

Data Collection↗
PubMed1980

Results of a needs assessment strategy in developing a family practice program in an inner-city community.

The planners of an inner-city clinic and family practice residency program conducted a four-step needs assessment study to identify the importance, availability, and feasibility of local family practice services and objectives. Using mailout-mailback and supervised questionnaire data collection techniques, they contacted 1,020 consumers and providers. Those objectives rated most important and feasible and least available were given top priority for implementation, while the objectives rated important and unavailable but not currently feasible received research priorities.

California↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Work satisfaction and career aspirations of internists working in teaching hospital group practices.

This paper presents data on the characteristics, work activities, job-related stress, work satisfaction, and career aspirations of 150 faculty and 595 housestaff physicians who regularly provide continuous primary care in 15 teaching hospital-based group practices. The faculty were young, board-certified generalists; they had been recruited from local training programs and spent the majority of their time seeing patients and supervising housestaff. Job satisfaction among faculty and housestaff was generally high. Dissatisfaction occurred most often with aspects of work over which physicians had little control. Although work-related stress was common, it was not related to job satisfaction. Compared with housestaff in traditional residency programs, housestaff enrolled in special Primary Care Training Programs reported significantly greater job satisfaction. For all housestaff, satisfaction with work in the group practice was consistently associated with decreased interest in subspecialty training.

Aspirations, Psychological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The Functional Status Questionnaire: reliability and validity when used in primary care.

A comprehensive functional assessment requires thorough and careful inquiry, which is difficult to accomplish in most busy clinical practices. This paper examines the reliability and validity of the Functional Status Questionnaire (FSQ), a brief, standardized, self-administered questionnaire designed to provide a comprehensive and feasible assessment of physical, psychological, social and role function in ambulatory patients. The FSQ can be completed and computer-scored in minutes to produce a one-page report which includes six summated-rating scale scores and six single-item scores. The clinician can use this report both to screen for and to monitor patients' functional status. In this study, the FSQ was administered to 497 regular users of Boston's Beth Israel Hospital's Healthcare Associates and 656 regular users of 76 internal medicine practices in Los Angeles. The data demonstrate that the FSQ produces reliable sub-scales with construct validity. The authors believe the FSQ addresses many of the problems behind the slow diffusion into primary care of systematic functional assessment.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Regional differences in appropriateness of cholecystectomy in a prepaid health insurance system.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have reported variation in the population-based use rate of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Cholecystectomy is one of the most common surgical procedures, and we conducted this study to assess whether in Israel the use of this procedure varied by region and whether differences in use can be related to differences in appropriateness of use. In Israel, there is a pre-paid health insurance system and all surgeons are salaried. METHODS: Age-adjusted rates of cholecystectomy in four hospitals, each serving a defined population in Israel, were calculated. Two hundred and sixty-six potential clinical indications for performing cholecystectomy were rated as to their appropriateness by a panel of 9 expert physicians. A trained team abstracted the medical records of all patients who underwent the operation in the four Israeli hospitals in 1986 (n = 702) and recorded the clinical indication for the surgery. RESULTS: The population-based age-adjusted rates of cholecystectomy varied over threefold among the four hospitals. 29% of the cholecystectomies were performed for less than appropriate reasons, and this figure varied by hospital from 36% to 17% (p = 0.002). However, appropriateness did not vary systematically with the population-based use rate. CONCLUSION: Cholecystectomy was performed frequently for inappropriate or equivocal reasons, even in a country in which resources are limited, and physicians are salaried. Efforts to improve surgical decision making should be undertaken.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Evaluating clinical programs: methodological guidelines.

Evaluations can be defined as investigations of the merits of clinical programs, and they provide information about program goals/objectives, processes, outcomes, impact, and costs. How can reliable and credible evaluations be conducted? In this article, criteria are given for posing evaluation questions; selecting samples and research designs; collecting, analyzing, interpreting, and reporting data.

Drug Information Services↗