Cost implications of human and automated follow-up in ambulatory care.

Objectives: To compare the costs of human and automated follow-up processes in ambulatory care.

Study Design: Analysis of costs of nurse-initiated and interactive voice response (IVR) system follow-up interventions.

Methods: Using national cost data and data on follow-up processes and outcomes from a previous study, we examined the costs to the healthcare system and providers of developing a follow-up process using nurse-initiated telephone calls compared with calls made by an IVR.

Examining financial performance indicators for acute care hospitals.

Measuring financial performance in acute care hospitals is a challenge for those who work daily with financial information. Because of the many ways to measure financial performance, financial managers and researchers must decide which measures are most appropriate. The difficulty is compounded for the non-finance person.

Physician opinions of the importance, accessibility, and quality of health information and their use of the information.

This study compared physicians' perceptions of the importance, accessibility, and quality of different types of patient information that could potentially be available with Health Information Exchange (HIE) with how they use patient information. The results showed that while the physicians rated the majority of 11 data types as very important, accessible, and of high quality, they regularly used only a few data types before having access to a new HIE system. The three major types of information regularly used by the physicians were diagnoses, current medication lists, and allergy information.

Behavioral therapy with or without biofeedback and pelvic floor electrical stimulation for persistent postprostatectomy incontinence: a randomized controlled trial.

Context: Although behavioral therapy has been shown to improve postoperative recovery of continence, there have been no controlled trials of behavioral therapy for postprostatectomy incontinence persisting more than 1 year.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of behavioral therapy for reducing persistent postprostatectomy incontinence and to determine whether the technologies of biofeedback and pelvic floor electrical stimulation enhance the effectiveness of behavioral therapy.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A prospective randomized controlled trial involving 208 community-dwelling men aged 51 through 84 years with incontinence persisting 1 to 17 years after radical prostatectomy was conducted at a university and 2 Veterans Affairs continence clinics (2003-2008) and included a 1-year follow-up after active treatment.

Out of pocket cost comparison between Caucasian and minority breast cancer survivors in the Breast Cancer Education Intervention (BCEI).

The purpose of this article is to: (1) describe out of pocket (OOP) costs among minority and Caucasian participants in the BCEI, the Breast Cancer Education Intervention, a randomized clinical trial of psychoeducational quality of life interventions for breast cancer survivors (BCS); and (2) examine the OOP burden, as measured by the proportion of income spent OOP, between the two racial/ethnic groups. We examined baseline OOP costs reported by 261 early-stage I and II breast cancer survivors who participated in the BCEI trial. Data were collected using the Breast Cancer Finances Survey and the Breast Cancer Sociodemographic and Treatment Tool.

An application of longitudinal analysis with skewed outcomes.

Background: Longitudinal designs are indispensable to the study of change in outcomes over time and have an important role in health, social, and behavioral sciences. However, these designs present statistical challenges particularly related to accounting for the variance and covariance of the repeated measurements on the same participants and to modeling outcomes that are not normally distributed.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to introduce a general methodology for longitudinal designs to address these statistical challenges and to present an example of an analysis conducted with data collected in a randomized clinical trial.

The out of pocket cost of breast cancer survivors: a review.

Introduction: Out of pocket (OOP) costs add to the burden facing breast cancer survivors but remain an understudied area of costs. Current turbulent economic climate increases the urgency to better understand this burden. Few studies or systematic reviews focus on OOP costs.

In vitro metabolism of the analgesic bicifadine in the mouse, rat, monkey, and human.

The in vitro metabolism of [(14)C]bicifadine by hepatic microsomes and hepatocytes from mouse, rat, monkey, and human was compared using radiometric high-performance liquid chromatography and liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. Two main metabolic pathways were identified in all four species. One pathway was an NADPH-dependent pathway in which the methyl group was oxidized to form a hydroxymethyl metabolite (M2).

To outsource or not to outsource: Examining the effects of outsourcing IT functions on financial performance in hospitals.

Background: Outsourcing of information technology (IT) functions is a popular strategy with both potential benefits and risks for hospitals. Anecdotal evidence, based on case studies, suggests that outsourcing may be associated with significant cost savings. However, no generalizable evidence exists to support such assertions.

Trends in colon cancer screening procedures in the US Medicare and Tricare populations: 1999-2001.

Background: This study examined trends in the numbers of double contrast barium enemas, flexible sigmoidoscopies, and colonoscopies and trends in the choices of colorectal cancer screening service providers.

Methods: Descriptive statistics were used to examine Medicare and Tricare data for the years 1999 to 2001.

Results: The total volume of procedures increased 5% and 14%, respectively, in Tricare and Medicare.

Hospital information technology and positive financial performance: a different approach to finding an ROI.

This empirical study examined the relationship between information technology (IT) utilization and hospital financial performance. Using primary and secondary data, we specified and tested a series of regression models that examined this relationship in Florida hospitals. In addition, we employed performance group analysis for a select group of operational performance indicators.

Comparing the costs of radiation therapy and radical prostatectomy for the initial treatment of early-stage prostate cancer.

Purpose: Radical prostatectomy and external-beam radiation are the most common treatments for localized prostate cancer. Given the absence of clinical consensus in favor of one treatment or the other, relative costs may be a significant factor. This study compares the direct medical costs during the month before and 9 months after diagnosis for patients treated primarily with external-beam radiation or radical prostatectomy for early-stage prostate cancer.