J Health Care Poor Underserved
December 2022
Lung cancer screening is underused nationwide, particularly in rural areas where incidence and mortality rates are high, suggesting the need for innovative methods to reach underserved populations. Partners from national, state, and community positions can combine the service and science needed to save lives with mobile lung cancer screening.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Paediatr Child Health
January 2019
Objective The aim of this study was to determine the revenue to consultant physicians for private out-patient consultations. Specifically, the study determined changing patterns in revenue from 2011 to 2015 after accounting for bulk-billing rates, changes in gap fees and inflation. Methods An analysis was performed of consultant physician Medicare claims data from 2011 to 2015 for initial (Item 110) and subsequent (Item 116) consultations and, for patients with multiple morbidities, initial management planning (Item 132) and review consultations (Item 133).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAust N Z J Public Health
December 2018
Objective: To determine: 1) the mean, median and range of fees for initial and subsequent private outpatient consultations with a general paediatrician in Australia; 2) any variation in fees and bulk billing rates between states/territories; and 3) volume of outpatient general paediatric specialist consultations relative to child population.
Methods: Analysis of Medicare claims data from the years 2011 and 2014 for initial consultations (items 110 and 132), subsequent consultations (items 116 and 133), and autism or pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) initial consultation (item 135) with a general paediatrician.
Results: Fees for initial and subsequent general paediatric outpatient consultations varied within, and between, states and territories.
Objectives To determine national service usage for initial and subsequent outpatient consultations with a consultant physician and any variation in service-use patterns between states and territories relative to population. Methods An analysis was conducted of consultant physician Medicare claims data from the year 2014 for an initial (item 110) and subsequent consultation (item 116) and, for patients with multiple morbidities, initial management planning (item 132) and review (133). The analysis included 12 medical specialties representative of common adult non-surgical medical care (cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, general medicine, geriatric medicine, haematology, immunology and allergy, medical oncology, nephrology, neurology, respiratory medicine and rheumatology).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To determine the mean, median and 10th and 90th percentile levels of fees and out-of-pocket costs to the patient for an initial consultation with a consultant physician; to determine any differences in fees and bulk-billing rates between specialties and between states and territories.
Design, Participants And Setting: Analysis of 2015 Medicare claims data for an initial outpatient appointment with a consultant physician (Item 110) in 11 medical specialties representative of common adult non-surgical medical care (cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, geriatric medicine, haematology, immunology/allergy, medical oncology, nephrology, neurology, respiratory medicine and rheumatology).
Main Outcome Measures: Mean, median, 10th and 90th percentile levels for consultant physician fees and out-of-pocket costs, by medical specialty and state or territory; bulk-billing rate, by medical specialty and state/territory.
Neuroscientific explanations of gambling disorder can help people make sense of their experiences and guide the development of psychosocial interventions. However, the societal perceptions and implications of these explanations are not always clear or helpful. Two workshops in 2013 and 2014 brought together multidisciplinary researchers aiming to improve the clinical and policy-related effects of neuroscience research on gambling.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAust Health Rev
December 2017
Objective National health workforce data are used in workforce projections, policy and planning. If data to measure the current effective clinical medical workforce are not consistent, accurate and reliable, policy options pursued may not be aligned with Australia's actual needs. The aim of the present study was to identify any inconsistencies and contradictions in the numerical count of paediatric specialists in Australia, and discuss issues related to the accuracy of collection and analysis of medical workforce data.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Co-payments for medical services have been a controversial topic in Australia.
Objective: The aim of this study was to assess parents' perspectives on the potential impact of co-payments for general practice and emergency department (ED) services for children.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between May and November 2014 in the EDs of four metropolitan hospitals in Melbourne.
Aust Fam Physician
April 2016
Background: Children in Australia are infrequent recipients of general practitioner (GP) home visits.
Objective: The objective of this article is to examine whether parents who brought their child to an emergency department (ED) for a lower urgency condition had contacted a home-visiting GP prior to arriving at the ED.
Methods: Electronic surveys were completed by 1150 parents of children aged ≤9 years presenting with lower urgency conditions (triage category 4 or 5) to the EDs of four hospitals in metropolitan Melbourne.
Objective The aims of the present study were to determine the actual availability of private general paediatric appointments in the Melbourne metropolitan region for children with non-urgent chronic illnesses and the cost of such care. Methods A 'secret shopper' method was used. Telephone calls were made to a random sample of 47 private paediatric clinics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The age band with, by far, the greatest number of ED presentations is children 0-4 years, with other paediatric age bands also among the highest. As the majority of these presentations are for lower urgency conditions, we sought to determine why parents seek ED care for their child for lower urgency conditions.
Methods: A survey study of 1150 parents or guardians of children with lower urgency conditions (triage category 4 or 5) presenting to the EDs of three public general and one paediatric specialty hospital in metropolitan Melbourne.
Emerg Med Australas
October 2015
Objective: To determine the accuracy and reliability of triage of children in public hospital EDs using the Australasian Triage Scale (ATS). This is the first study to examine these issues in paediatric triage following the 2007 development of the Emergency Triage Education Kit (ETEK) to foster accurate and consistent application of the ATS.
Methods: A convenience sample of 167 triage nurses working at three general hospitals and one speciality paediatric hospital in greater metropolitan Melbourne assigned triage ratings for nine paediatric clinical scenarios using the ATS.
Objective: To determine actual availability and cost of general practitioner appointments for children with conditions of low acuity and low urgency, from the perspective of the child's family.
Design, Participants And Setting: A "secret shopper" method, whereby research assistants posing as parents seeking appointments for mildly ill children telephoned a random sample of 225 general practice clinics within three Melbourne Medicare Local catchments, which included urban, suburban and regional areas; the study was conducted between 1 August and 30 September 2014.
Main Outcome Measures: Availability of same-day appointments and time until appointment; bulk-billing status of the clinic and/or the potential cost of an appointment.
Objective And Design: Individuals seeking treatment for chronic pain in multidisciplinary pain management services are typically already on high doses of pain medications. This cross-sectional cohort study of patients with long-term chronic pain examined profiles of polypharmacy and pain medication-related harm exposure.
Setting: Multidisciplinary pain management service.
The appropriateness of applying drink driving legislation to motorcycle riding has been questioned as there may be fundamental differences in the effects of alcohol on driving and motorcycling. It has been suggested that alcohol may redirect riders' focus from higher-order cognitive skills such as cornering, judgement and hazard perception, to more physical skills such as maintaining balance. To test this hypothesis, the effects of low doses of alcohol on balance ability were investigated in a laboratory setting.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: There is recognition among public health scholars and community practitioners that translating cancer prevention and control research into practice is challenging. This circumstance is particularly germane to medically underserved communities, such as rural Appalachia, where few evidence-based interventions originate and cancer incidence and mortality are elevated.
Methods: A case study approach was selected to examine the collective experience of 13 West Virginia community organizations awarded mini-grants requiring the use of an evidence-based cancer control intervention.
The Cancer Information Service Research Consortium (CISRC) was funded by the National Cancer Institute to disseminate as a pilot study a longitudinally tailored print intervention to promote the 5 A Day for Better Health program among callers to the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Information Service (CIS). Using a one-group (intervention-only) study design, 1,022 eligible CIS callers were enrolled to receive the intervention consisting of four mailings of tailored print materials over a 3-month period. Program evaluation focused on process and implementation evaluation, including adherence to the baseline interviews by CIS information specialists based on live-call monitoring (n = 55 eligible callers), and the timeliness of the intervention mailouts (4,088 scheduled mailouts).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this large randomized trial among callers to the Cancer Information Service (CIS), tailored print materials were tested for efficacy in promoting colorectal cancer (CRC) screening (fecal occult blood test [FOBT], flexible sigmoidoscopy, or colonoscopy). All participants completed baseline interviews at the end of their usual service calls to the CIS, as well as short-term (6-month) and longer-term (14-month) telephone follow-up interviews. The study sample (n = 4,014) was restricted to English-speaking CIS callers 50 + years of age, who would be eligible for CRC screening at 14 months follow-up and did not call the CIS about CRC or CRC screening.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFResearchers have found a consistent relationship between a number of diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke. Although study results related to cancer have been conflicting, with some showing an increased risk and others not showing such an association, obesity does appear to increase the risk of cancers of the breast, colon, prostate, endometrium, cervix, ovary, kidney and gallbladder. Studies have also found an increased risk for cancers of the liver, pancreas, rectum and esophagus.
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