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S Asfour

Publications and source records attributed to S Asfour.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

Predicting length of stay for Medicare patients at a teaching hospital.

This research examines how the patients' characteristics and clinical indicators affect length of stay for the top five Diagnosis-Related-Groups (DRGs) for Medicare patients at a teaching hospital in the United States. The top DRGs were selected on the basis of volume per year. Teaching hospitals in the United States devote a significant amount of their resources to research and teaching, while providing treatment for patients. The ability to predict length of stay can substantially improve a teaching hospital's capacity utilization, while ensuring that resources are available to meet the health care needs of the Medicare population. Multiple regression models are developed to predict the length of stay using the patients' characteristics and clinical indicators as independent variables. The results indicate that approximately 60 percent (R(2)) of the variance in the length of stay is explained by the patients' characteristics and clinical indicators for these DRGs. The Mortality and Severity indices are found to be the strongest predictors for length of stay in all DRGs. Other patients' characteristics and clinical indicators such as age, gender, race/ethnicity, marital status, admission type and admission source are also significant predictors for some DRGs. In addition, most of these variables affect the length of stay in the same manner as shown in previous studies, even though the previous studies do not have the DRG specificity of this study.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

CT/MR imaging: a design tool for custom orthosis.

PURPOSE: Orthotics attempts to correct imperfections of the human body. These deficiencies can be either congenital or due to injury. Orthotic devices have continuously evolved over the years and range in sophistication from simple joint braces to spinal body jackets. Generic orthoses, such as knee braces, come in various sizes and can be purchased over-the-counter. Sophisticated orthoses, such as those used to correct scoliosis, have to be custom made. Each of such orthoses has to be fabricated for one particular patient and requires the patient's exact geometry. The conventional technique to acquire patient geometric information has generally been casting. This latter is a time proven method of capturing the geometry of body sections of interest. However, in certain situations, casting might not always be the best alternative to obtain patient geometric data. METHOD/RESULTS: This paper presents a new approach to acquire patient geometric information using CT/MR imaging. The proposed approach can help in cases where casting is not the best option. CONCLUSION: Using CT/MR imaging to acquire patient geometry is shown to be feasible both clinically and economically.

Anthropometry↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Design of thoracolumbosacral orthosis (TLSO) braces using CT/MR.

The field of orthotics has gained scientific attention over the last few years. Its objective is to correct, adjust, or modify the operation of human limbs, joints, or muscles. Thoracolumbosacral orthosis (TLSO) braces are used by scoliosis and postoperative patients who need back correction and/or support. The anatomic dimensions for TLSO braces have been acquired mainly by casting the patient. Casting is a time-proven method for obtaining surface geometry, but it can be inconvenient in certain situations. For example, casting might not be suitable for postoperative and trauma patients owing to the risk of further injury. Such prohibitive cases can still be handled safely by X-ray CT or MR scanning. This article presents an alternative method for data acquisition of TLSO patients' anatomic dimensions using CT/MRI. The experimental results show the method to be statistically accurate, efficient, and feasible compared with the conventional casting method.

Computer-Aided Design↗