Introduction: Management of complex systems is facilitated through effective information systems that provide real-time data to decision makers. For example, instrument panels in airplanes ensure that pilots have well-designed feedback concerning the status of mission-critical variables. Problem: While pilots have dashboards for feedback and communication, healthcare executives may be unaware...
The objective of this research was to provide a definitive description of the processes within the physician-patient encounter in an office setting. This description would take the form of a formal process model of the encounter in a provider's office setting, as this represents the most common situation during patient...
This thesis explores a three month period that I spent abroad working in medical clinics and hospitals in Ecuador. My work was conducted in three distinct areas: the urban landscape of Quito, Ecuador’s capital; Puyo, a small town bordering the Amazonian rainforest; and a small community located in the heart...
This study aims to identify conceptions of the body, as well as "rational" treatment
among primary care practitioners (PCPs) and emergency medicine practitioners (EMPs)
dealing with managed care plans. I conducted ethnographic study throughout 1996, and
interviewed six PCPs and four EMPs. In the course of my interviews, I discovered...
Several states, including Oregon, Massachusetts and California, have been the focus of major health reform efforts in recent years. Oregon utilized a citizen-led commission to generate policy recommendations that led to the enactment of health reform legislation in 2009. This commission helped to create momentum and provide political cover for...
Cultural competence is a topic that concerns social scientists and medical anthropologists who pay attention to demographic changes and health disparities. This study demonstrates practical approaches to developing cultural competence in medical education by using factors from the social environment to develop protocols for action. With current concerns in domestic...
Health systems financing aims at providing adequate services, ensuring sufficient providers’ incentives, and protecting individuals and families from financial catastrophe. Health services are financed through government funding, taxation, out-of-pocket payments, insurance, donations and voluntary aid. Low- income countries mostly rely on out-of-pocket payments. In South East Asia region, the latter...
Children with developmental disabilities (DD), particularly autism spectrum disorder (ASD), may use complementary health approaches (CHA), including some modalities that can be unsafe, inefficacious, and/or costly. Still, the prevalence of CHA use among US children with DD is not known and their reasons for use are not well understood. By...
Purpose: The Purpose of this research was to design, implement and evaluate a patient centered asthma intervention pilot program directed by physicians and administered by community pharmacists to a group of Managed Care contracted Oregon Health Plan asthmatics. The evaluation was to determine if the proposed intervention could improve the...
From February to September of 2001, a significant body of qualitive data was collected to investigate barriers for Hispanic participation in Oregon's managed care Medicaid program. As a means to investigate this topic, comments were solicited from physicians, hospital administrators, social service agencies, and low-income Hispanics through semi-structured focus groups...