Successful practice in a managed care environment: managing costs while managing care.
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The vast number of available healthcare services can be confusing to those seeking care. Care managers can resolve these issues by helping the vulnerable and their families find and receive appropriate services. Care management is not limited to the elderly: Others with special needs also benefit from care management. Care managers integrate and coordinate services, providing a continuum between the client and the providers of acute, long-term, home-based, and community-based care. The care management model that most organizations adopt at first is the brokering model. In this model care managers identify the appropriate service package from resources in the community. In the service management model, the care manager authorizes the services provided within specified financial limits. The funding source influences what services he or she can recommend. Another model is managed care. The carrier of a high-risk group of clients or a group of enrollees in a certain healthcare program prospectively pays the organization providing care management. In the acute care setting, providers find the transition to care management challenging because they have been oriented to short, episodic care. These providers must adopt new protocols to be able to work with providers and programs within their own organization or at other organizations. In community-based care, care managers' goal is to help the client and family access appropriate services so the client can function independently within his or her home. Community-based referrals are from family members or agencies and infrequently follow an acute care hospitalization.
/ Sound ecosystem management meshes socioeconomic attitudes and values with sustainable natural resource practices. Adaptive management is a model for guiding natural resource managers in this process. Ecosystems and the societies that use them are continually evolving. Therefore, managers must be flexible and adaptable in the face of uncertainty and lack of knowledge. To couple good science to management, it is important to develop goals, models, and hypotheses that allow us to systematically learn as we manage. Goals and models guide the development and implementation of management practices. The need to evaluate models and test hypotheses mandates monitoring, which feeds into a continuous cycle of goal and model reformulation. This paper reviews the process of adaptive management and describes how it is being applied to oak/pine savanna restoration at Necedah National Wildlife Refuge as an illustration. Our aim is to help managers design their own adaptive management models for successful ecosystem management.KEY WORDS: Adaptive management; Ecosystem management; Monitoring; Restoration; Savanna
BACKGROUND: Patient self-management of long-term oral anticoagulation therapy is an effective strategy in a number of clinical situations, but it is currently not a funded option in the Canadian health care system. We sought to compare the incremental cost and health benefits of self-management with those of physician management from the perspective of the Canadian health care payer over a 5-year period. METHODS: We developed a Bayesian Markov model comparing the costs and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) accrued to patients receiving oral anticoagulation therapy through self-management or physician management for atrial fibrillation or for a mechanical heart valve. Five health states were defined: no events, minor hemorrhagic events, major hemorrhagic events, thrombotic events and death. Data from published literature were used for transition probabilities. Canadian 2003 costs were used, and utility estimates were obtained from various published sources. RESULTS: Self-management resulted in 3.50 fewer thrombotic events, 0.78 fewer major hemorrhagic events and 0.12 fewer deaths per 100 patients than physician management. The average discounted incremental cost of self-management over physician management was found to be 989 dollars (95% confidence interval [CI] 310 dollars-1655 dollars) per patient and the incremental QALYs gained was 0.07 (95% CI 0.06-0.08). The cost-effectiveness of self-management was 14,129 dollars per QALY gained. There was a 95% chance that self-management would be cost-effective at a willingness to pay of 23,800 dollars per QALY. Results were robust in probabilistic and deterministic sensitivity analyses. INTERPRETATION: This model suggests that self-management is a cost-effective strategy for those receiving long-term oral anticoagulation therapy for atrial fibrillation or for a mechanical heart valve.
OBJECTIVE: The development of guidelines for phenylketonuria (PKU) management in the United Kingdom has resulted in much discussion in the community of parents and PKU clinics and parents have asked why the United States does not have such guidelines. The objective of this report is to discuss PKU management in the United States, the British guidelines on PKU management, and the feasibility, suitability, and mechanism of developing PKU management guidelines in the United States. METHODS: Members of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Committee on Genetics (COG) reviewed the literature and conducted surveys of parents of children with PKU, young adults with PKU, and directors of PKU clinics in the United States. A meeting was held at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to review the AAP/COG efforts at reviewing the status of PKU management and guideline development in the United States. RESULTS: The British guidelines are more stringent than the PKU management practices in many parts of the United States. Evidence exists that stricter management improves developmental outcome. The parents who responded to the surveys indicated willingness to comply with more stringent dietary management if that would improve outcome. They also identified problems that make such management difficult. The clinic directors supported the timeliness of the review. Some had begun a trend toward more stringent control of blood phenylalanine concentrations, at least in the first 4 years of life. CONCLUSION: The AAP Committee on Genetics will complete its subject review of the management of PKU. Guidelines for care of PKU in the United States probably would look quite similar to the existing guidelines in other countries. The parents surveyed supported more stringent PKU management, but information from a broader distribution of parents would provide a more representative view. The status of the US health care system creates problems for improved PKU management in the United States that do not exist in the countries already following stricter guidelines.
The aim of this work was to investigate how managed care organizations (MCOs) currently approach asthma treatment and management and to determine factors affecting asthma outcomes. A Web-based survey was administered to a national sample of 351 medical directors of MCOs to investigate the asthma management program components in their organizations as well as gaps and barriers in the management of patients with asthma. All 134 (38.2%) responding medical directors reported that their organizations monitor asthma patients. Plans use a variety of asthma management activities, including general member education (90%), member education by mail (87%), self-management education (85%), and provider education (82%). Educational resources (89%) and telephone advice nurse (77%) were the most common self-management strategies offered. Among factors impeding the provision of effective asthma care, noncompliance with asthma treatment, the inappropriate use of medications, and the need for multiple medications were cited by virtually all respondents. Health plans rely on an array of strategies to manage asthma patients. Education encouraging patient self-management is a key component of asthma management programs. However, a considerable number of treatment approach barriers are impeding the achievement of proper asthma care. Without innovative approaches to care, it appears that current MCOs' asthma management efforts may not result in substantial improvements in asthma outcomes.
This paper argues that the concept of management is critically important for understanding managed care. A proper interpretation of management is needed before a positive account of the ethics of managed care can be constructed. The paper discusses three aspects of management: administrative, clinical, and resource management, and compares the central commitments of traditional medical practice with those of managed care for each of these aspects. In so doing, the distinctive conceptual features of the managed care paradigm are discussed. The paper concludes by arguing that the concept of management implicit in the managed care paradigm affords a basis for building a more adequate ethic of managed care.
This article describes the current managed care curricula in osteopathic medical schools and summarizes the development and implementation of a healthcare management clerkship for fourth-year osteopathic medical students at Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine. Results of a survey of the 19 osteopathic medical schools indicated that only three schools currently have a stand-alone, managed care elective. No schools have required managed care courses, clerkships, or rotations. The remaining osteopathic medical schools have incorporated managed care-related topics into courses in their schools' curricula. To produce physicians fully competent to succeed in the 21st century's managed healthcare environment, medical schools need to affiliate with managed care organizations, integrate more managed care components into their curricula, and develop required or elective stand-alone managed care courses and clerkships. This article describes content to be integrated in a predoctoral managed care clerkship, including goals and objectives. It also describes the components and learning activities of Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine's Healthcare Management Clerkship.
As managed care contracts grow in number and complexity, financial managers must develop strategies to manage and control them. Managers must gain the cooperation of the medical staff, improve financial controls and forecasting, develop an effective information system, improve case-mix management, and measure and control productivity in the hospital to truly manage managed care. This article is the first of a six-part special report on managing managed care. The strategies presented in this series will illustrate how hospitals are successfully, and sometimes unsuccessfully, dealing with the problems and challenges of managed care.
BACKGROUND: Managed withdrawal, or detoxification, is not in itself a treatment for opioid dependence, but it is a required first step for many forms of longer-term treatment. It may also represent the end point of an extensive period of treatment such as methadone maintenance. As such, managed withdrawal is an essential component of an effective treatment system. This review is one of a series that aims to assess the evidence as to the effectiveness of the variety of approaches to managing opioid withdrawal. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of interventions involving the short-term use of buprenorphine to manage the acute phase of opioid withdrawal. SEARCH STRATEGY: Multiple electronic databases, including Medline, Embase, Psychlit, Australian Medical Index and Current Contents, were searched using a strategy designed to retrieve references broadly addressing the management of opioid withdrawal. Reference lists of retrieved studies, reviews and conference abstracts were handsearched. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised or quasi-randomised controlled clinical trials or prospective controlled cohort studies comparing buprenorphine (treatment 10 days or less) with another form of treatment. Studies were required to provide detailed information on the type and dose of drugs used and the characteristics of patients treated. Studies were also required to provide information on the nature of withdrawal signs and symptoms experienced, the occurrence of adverse effects OR rates of completion of the withdrawal episode. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Potentially relevant studies were assessed for inclusion by one reviewer (LG). Inclusion decisions were confirmed by consultation between reviewers. Included studies were assessed by all reviewers. One reviewer (LG) undertook data extraction with the process confirmed by consultation between all three reviewers. MAIN RESULTS: Five studies met the criteria for inclusion in the review. No data tables are included in this review and no meta-analysis has been undertaken because of differences in treatment regimes and the assessment of outcomes in these studies. Four studies compared buprenorphine with clonidine. All found withdrawal to be less severe in the buprenorphine treatment group. In three of these studies all participants were withdrawing from heroin. Participants in one study were withdrawing from methadone, with doses reduced to 10mg/day prior to treatment with buprenorphine. Three of the studies commented on residual symptoms experienced by participants treated with buprenorphine to manage heroin withdrawal. Aches, restlessness, yawning, mydriasis, tremor, insomnia, nausea and mild anxiety were reported as being experienced by some participants. Rates of completion of withdrawal were able to be calculated for all studies included in the review but the definition of completion varied between studies. Rates ranged from 65% to 100%. None of the studies included in the review reported adverse effects. However, approximately approximately Lintzeris 1999a approximately approximately (a single-group study which therefore did not meet the inclusion criteria) reported 50% of participants withdrawing from heroin experienced headaches, 28% sedation, 21% nausea, 21% constipation, 21% anxiety, 17% dizziness and 17% itchiness during withdrawal. These adverse effects were most common in the first 2-3 days of treatment and then subsided. In four of the five studies treatment was undertaken on an inpatient basis. Only approximately approximately O'Connor 1997 approximately approximately provided outpatient treatment. However, two studies that did not meet the inclusion criteria ( approximately approximately Diamant 1998 approximately approximately and approximately approximately Lintzeris 1999a approximately approximately ) also provided outpatient treatment. The findings of these studies support the feasibility of heroin withdrawal being managed with buprenorphine on an outpatient basis
Reports the results of a survey of 209 senior registrars and 269 consultants throughout Wales to identify the management development needs of doctors and ascertain their views of the value and utility of current management development course offerings in Wales. Finds that, currently, management development for doctors in Wales is unstructured and uncoordinated but, despite this, many doctors, especially senior registrars, appeared keen to increase their future involvement in management and held positive views regarding management and management development. The questionnaire also required doctors to rank order six managerial topics and their elements: financial, human resource, strategic, operational, service quality and self-management. Of these, self-management issues were rated highest and there was some congruity in the rankings of the six topics by senior registrars and the other three consultant categories. Overall, managing a budget, medical and clinical audit, negotiating skills and leadership skills were ranked highest for inclusion in management development while project management, quality circles and equal opportunities received the lowest ratings.
BACKGROUND: The increase in numbers of patients receiving warfarin treatment has led to the development of alternative models of service delivery for oral anticoagulant monitoring. Patient self management for oral anticoagulation is a model new to the UK. This randomised trial was the first to compare routine primary care management of oral anticoagulation with patient self management. AIM: To test whether patient self management is as safe, in terms of clinical effectiveness, as primary care management within the UK, as assessed by therapeutic international normalised ratio (INR) control. METHOD: Patients receiving warfarin from six general practices who satisfied study entry criteria were eligible to enter the study. Eligible patients were randomised to either intervention (patient self management) or control (routine primary care management) for six months. The intervention comprised two training sessions of one to two hours duration. Patients were allowed to undertake patient self management on successful completion of training. INR testing was undertaken using a Coaguchek device and regular internal/external quality control tests were performed. Patients were advised to perform INR tests every two weeks, or weekly if a dose adjustment was made. Dosage adjustment was undertaken using a simple dosing algorithm. RESULTS: Seventy eight of 206 (38%) patients were eligible for inclusion and, of these, 35 (45%) declined involvement or withdrew from the study. Altogether, 23 intervention and 26 control patients entered the study. There were no significant differences in INR control (per cent time in range: intervention, 74%; control, 77%). There were no serious adverse events in the intervention group, with one fatal retroperitoneal haemorrhage in the control group. Costs of patient self management were significantly greater than for routine care (pound 90 v pound 425/patient/year). CONCLUSION: These are the first UK data to demonstrate that patient self management is as safe as primary care management for a selected population. Further studies are needed to elucidate whether this model of care is suitable for a larger population.
In the 1994 Accreditation Manual for Hospitals, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations published ten standards relating to the management of information. Using Andrew Abbott's systems theory of professions, the article compares the views of information management that were prevalent in hospitals before the publication of the standards with the view of information management represented by the new standards. Five characteristics of the standards are discussed: conceptual view of information management, tension between the unity and diversity of information management activity, lack of specificity about who performs information management activities, separation of professional qualifications from functions, and privileging of information systems concepts and vocabulary. The unfamiliarity of the standards and their inherent ambiquities will give rise to many attempts to interpret their meaning and intent. Five interpretive themes that may arise from the characteristics of the standards are identified: unified diversity in information management, unity in information management, diversity in information management, monotheistic view of information, and information management czar. The future of information management in hospitals will be affected by the jockeying over the interpretation and implementation of the Joint Commission's standards.
PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To examine the influence of a formal organizational pain management policy on nurses' pain management practices. DESIGN: Descriptive correlational. SETTING: Tertiary-care medical center. SAMPLE: 91 nurses providing direct patient care on five study units during a 72-hour study period. METHODS: Off-going nurses completed three self-administered questionnaires one-half hour before the end of each eight-hour work shift. Opioid administration data also were collected. Data were analyzed using correlational, t test, chi-square, and analysis of variance analyses and descriptive statistics. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES: Nurses' knowledge of the healthcare organization's chronic pain management policy; nurses' knowledge of pain and pain management; nurses' perceived accountability for pain management activities; the ratio of actual amounts of opioid analgesics administered compared with maximum amounts ordered. FINDINGS: Nurses' knowledge of pain management and their perceived accountability for pain management were significantly related to knowledge of the organization's chronic pain management policy. Correlations were lower than expected, based on theoretical relationships proposed in the open system study framework. CONCLUSIONS: Further research is needed to explore the influence of a high-quality pain management policy on nursing practice and clinical pain management. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: Better understanding of the influence of organizational policy could lead to much needed improvements in pain management.
The Babon River lies over three regions, i.e. Semarang District where the upstream is located while downstream it passes through Semarang Municipality and Demak District. This river has been used for many purposes by the neighbouring communities (e.g. water source, canal disposal, mining, etc). Thereafter many transboundary environmental problems have arisen here. The environmental management strategy (using a top-down approach) such as Program Kali Bersih (Clean River Program) on Babon River, which had been implemented by the Bapedalda of Semarang Municipality, is not successfully achieving the targets. In the past, most policies were formulated based on top-down orientation. Hence, the communities' participation was not paid enough attention. Co-management is a participative-management approach to empower the stakeholders (related parties) to achieve a certain goal. This study seeks answers to the research questions: (1) whether the co-management approach has good prospects for managing the Babon River; and (2) what kinds of strategy should be formulated to empower the stakeholders to manage the Babon River in the study area. The study employed a multistage sampling method to select the location of the study areas and key-persons sample. Rowosari, Penggaron Kidul and Karangtoro were selected to represent the upstream, middle stream and downstream areas, respectively. The descriptive statistics method had been used to describe the significance of river resource attributes' characters. Institutional analysis approach, introduced by Pomeroy and Williams, was adopted with necessary modification in this study. The results showed that the level of participation of the community in the three segments of the Babon River is different. The prospects for the co-management approach to manage the river resource in the study area are fairly good and in the upstream area are better than in the other two segments. The level of participation is far from complete; nevertheless the response from society towards development is quite good. There are five significant attributes in Babon River, which affect the community participation in river management, namely: (1) intensity of resource commercialisation; formal education of the community; and dependency of the community toward the resources, resource products distribution and resource damage. These variables could influence the pattern of participation of the community in the study area. The other stakeholders such as industrial or plant owners, academics, and the related institutions have not been explored in detail in this study. The co-management model that has been developed in this study has the prospect of encouraging the community and other stakeholders' empowerment in economic activities, natural resource conservation, and environmental law enforcement, as part of achieving the ultimate goal of sustainable environmental management.
In current clinical practice, adequate cardiovascular risk reduction is difficult to achieve. Treatment is primarily focused on clinical vascular disease and not on long-term risk reduction. Pertinent to success in vascular risk reduction are proper medication use, weight control, healthy food choices, smoking cessation, and physical exercise. Atherosclerotic vascular disease and its risk constitute a chronic condition, which poses specific requirements on affected patients and caregivers who should be aware of the chronicity. In patients with vascular disease, there is lack of awareness of their chronic condition because of the invisibility of most risk factors. In other patient groups with chronic illness, self-management programs were successful in achieving behavioral change. This strategy can also be useful for patients with vascular disease to adapt and adhere to an improved lifestyle. Self-management refers to the individual's ability to manage both physical and psychosocial consequences including lifestyle changes inherent to living with a chronic condition. Interventions that promote self-management are based on enhancing self-efficacy. In self-management, attention can be given to what is important and motivational to the individual patient. In this article the challenge of nursing care promoting self-management for patients with vascular risk and how this care can be applied will be explained. Nurses can play a central role in vascular risk management with a self-management approach for patients with chronic vascular disease. In vascular prevention clinics, nursing care can be delivered that includes medical treatment of vascular risks (hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, hyperglycemia, and hyperhomocystinemia) and counseling on promoting self-management (changes in diet, body weight, smoking habits, and level of exercise). Nursing interventions based on self-management promotion can provide a new and promising approach to actually achieve vascular risk reduction.