How motorcycle helmets affect trauma mortality: Clinical and policy implications.

Background: Motorcycles are the most popular vehicles in Taiwan, where more than 14.8 million motorcycles (1 motorcycle per 1.6 people) are in service.

Brand switching or reduced consumption? A study of how cigarette taxes affect tobacco consumption.

We examined the influence of cigarette taxes on tobacco consumption, with an emphasis on smokers' choice between reducing cigarette consumption and switching brands. We constructed three scenario-based models to study the following two subjects: (1) the relationship between deciding whether to reduce one's cigarette consumption and to practice brand switching (simultaneous or sequential); (2) the key determinants that affect smokers' decisions in terms of their consumption and brand switching when facing higher taxes. We applied data collected from a survey in Taiwan, and the results indicated that both independent and two-stage decision-making models generated very similar conclusions.

Health risk perception and betel chewing behavior--the evidence from Taiwan.

In this study, we provided an empirical examination of the interaction between people's health risk perception and betel chewing. We hypothesized that a better knowledge of possible health risks would reduce both the number of individuals who currently chew betel and the likelihood of those who do not yet chew betel to begin the habit. We constructed a simultaneous equation model with Bayesian two-stage approach to control the endogeneity between betel chewing and risk perception.

[Patient safety and nursing staff allocation].

This article aims to explore three main concepts related to the professional development of nursing professionals. This paper first critically reviews and reinterprets scientific evidence on the relationship between nurse staff allocation and healthcare outcomes and then challenges some of the common interpretations of this evidence in the professional literature. Secondly, in the absence of solid empirical evidence provided by sophisticated datasets in this field, we consider how Communitarianism may provide a well-defined, highly appropriate ethical framework for further developing and improving the nursing profession and healthcare outcomes.

Assessing health information technology in a national health care system--an example from Taiwan.

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to investigate one core research question: How can health information technology (HIT) be assessed in a national health care system context?

Design/methodology: We examine this question by taking a systematic approach within a national care system, in which the purpose of HIT is to contribute to a common national health care system's goal. to promote population health in an efficient way. Based on this approach we first develop a framework and our criteria of assessment, and then using Taiwan as a case study, demonstrate how one can apply this framework to assess a national system's HIT.

Nurse staffing, direct nursing care hours and patient mortality in Taiwan: the longitudinal analysis of hospital nurse staffing and patient outcome study.

Background: Studies over the past decades have shown an association between nurse staffing and patient outcomes, however, most of these studies were conducted in the West. Accordingly, the purpose of this study aimed to provide an overview of the research/evidence base which has clarified the relationship between nurse staffing and patient mortality of acute care hospital wards under a universal health insurance system and attempted to provide explanations for some of the phenomena that are unique in Taiwan.

Methods: Through stratified random sampling, a total of 108 wards selected from 32 hospitals in Taiwan were collected over a consecutive seven month period.

The skill mix model: a preliminary study of changing nurse role functions in Taiwan.

Background: : Nursing shortage is a critical problem worldwide. Using nurse aides (NAs) within a skill mix model has been applied in the healthcare delivery system as a strategy to improve nursing workforce shortages.

Purpose: : The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in nurse perceptions of their role functions under the skill mix model in Taiwan.

[Critical research issues in nursing policy and management: a healthcare system perspective].

This study explores critical research issues in nursing policy and management in Taiwan from a healthcare system perspective that considers resources, programmes and organisations, service delivery, policy and management, and economic support. Findings suggest the following: In terms of resources, priority issues include quantity planning, active surveillance, planning methodology, and estimation of work life expectancies for nursing manpower. In terms of programmes ÷ organisations and delivery, priority issues include skill mix, task shifting, nationwide nursing work surveys, and nursing manpower structure and utilization.

[Effect of nurse staffing on patient outcomes: a review of the literature].

Staff shortages present nurses with ever increasing levels of stress and working hours. This has resulted in a corresponding increase in talent flight away from the nursing profession. Responding to financial constraints imposed by the Bureau of National Health Insurance (NHI), Taiwan hospitals have reduced nursing staff numbers and recruited nurses at lower levels of competencies and experience.

[Long-term care insurance in taiwan: theory and challenges].

Long-term care insurance, now being intensively discussed as part of the formal governmental agenda, is widely expected to be inaugurated by 2011. As all entitled citizens will be enrolled compulsorily in accordance with social insurance rules, tight scrutiny in the planning process is strongly advised. Equity of financial mechanisms and the efficiency of the delivery system for long-term care should also be carefully considered and maximized.

[Exploring the current state and progress of the skill-mixed model in Taiwan].

For many years assistant personnel have been an integral part of Taiwan's healthcare system, assisting nurses to take care of patients and helping out with various aspects of unit work. The skill-mixed model was discussed during the period of greatest SARS risk in Taiwan, when the tradition of family accompaniment in hospitals presented a real and present risk of nosocomial cross-infection. Since 2003, health care authorities have continued to attempt to implement an appropriate nursing model to improve overall delivery of healthcare.

Valuing healthcare under Taiwan's national health insurance.

This paper provides a new assessment of the most recent premium policy - the second-generation National Health Insurance (NHI) policy under Taiwan's NHI system. The willingness to pay (WTP) value for a universal coverage NHI plan is NT$201 per month and NT$940 per month for an individual level and for a household level, respectively. We find that the WTP rate is approximately 3.

Out-of-pocket payment for medical care under Taiwan's National Health Insurance system.

The objective of this study is to estimate the amount of and factors associated with out-of-pocket (OOP) payment for medical care under Taiwan's National Health Insurance (NHI) program. This research used two methods to collect original data. The first method consisted of using a sample household survey and household diary records to collect data on OOP payment prospectively over a two-month period from a random sample of 600 households in central Taiwan.

A comparison study of nursing care quality in different working status nursing staffs: An example of one local hospital.

To reduce costs, many hospitals are trying to adopt strategies to contract out their nursing workforce. The purpose of this study is to compare the quality of health care among the following three categories of nursing workforces in public hospitals: outsourced nurses, permanently employed nurses and contracted nurses compensated based on hours worked. The research sample included 300 patients cared for by 78 nurses in insurance wards in a local public hospital.