Impact of the DRG-based reimbursement system on patient care and professional practise: perspectives of Swiss hospital physicians.

Questions Under Study: The reimbursement system SwissDRG sets incentives for hospitals and providers to treat patients in a cost-efficient way. Arising conflicts between the commitment to the patient's well-being and the economic interests of the hospital can lead to an impairment of quality and equity of health care. We developed and used a monitoring tool to evaluate ethically relevant aspects related to DRGs by surveying physicians.

Effects of positive-pressure ventilation, pericardial effusion, and cardiac tamponade on respiratory variation in transmitral flow velocities.

Objective: To determine the effects of positive-pressure ventilation and experimentally induced pericardial effusion and tamponade on transmitral flow velocities in dogs.

Design: Descriptive.

Setting: University laboratory.