Option of Using Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters in Elderly Patients With Dementia: An Observational Study.

Peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) facilitate the treatment of several diseases. Here, we assessed the clinical course of elderly patients with dementia using PICCs. This retrospective observational study was conducted at a single dementia treatment center.

A Study on the Cost of Issuing Social Healthcare Corporation Bonds.

The "Social Healthcare Corporation" system was established on 1 April 2007 as a result of the revised Japanese Medical Care Law. As of 1 October 2014, 234 corporations are certified Social Healthcare Corporations. These corporations are allowed to issue public bonds.

Evaluation of electronic medical records for ophthalmology based on changes in staff work through introduction of electronization.

There have been no previous reports regarding changes in detailed staff work through electronization in ophthalmology. The efficiency of electronization in ophthalmology was investigated based on the changes in detailed staff work with the introduction of electronic medical records. Inspections and training performed by orthoptists consisted of 88 items.

What causes international variations in length of stay: a comparative analysis for two inpatient conditions in Japanese and Canadian hospitals.

Hospital average length of stay varies considerably between countries. However, there is limited patient-level research identifying or discounting possible reasons for these differences. This study compares the length of stay of patients in Japan, where it is the longest in the OECD, and Canada, where length of stay is closer to the OECD mean.

Patients' preference on selecting a medical institution.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the relative importance of attributes for patient selection of a medical institution and to quantitatively evaluate the impact of different types of organizational forms upon the patient's selection of a medical institution.

Design/methodology/approach: By using a conjoint analysis, evaluation criteria in patient selection of a medical institution were examined. The paper assumed the selection of a medical institution under the situation of "being given a diagnosis of suspected diabetes with a physical examination and then visiting a medical institution".

Factors relating to doctors' desire to change hospitals in Japan.

Purpose: This study seeks to investigate doctors' desire to change the hospital where they work to sustain higher quality care.

Design/methodology/approach: Self-administered questionnaires were sent to doctors in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Data were analyzed using univariate and logistic regression analysis and recursive partitioning.

Study of the cost-benefit analysis of electronic medical record systems in general hospital in China.

Electronic medical record (EMR) systems have been proposed as technology to improve the quality of patient care, decrease medical errors, control and reduce medical expenditure, however the financial effects have not yet been as well documented in China. We presented a net financial cost-benefit analysis of implementing electronic medical record systems in general hospital in China. The data, which were obtained from studies of the general hospital and the published literature, collected from 15 consecutive fiscal months from May 1, 2009 to August 30, 2010.

Computer analysis system of the physician-patient consultation process.

Purpose: Measurements of the quality of physician-patient communication are important in assessing patient outcomes, but the quality of communication is difficult to quantify. The aim of this paper is to develop a computer analysis system for the physician-patient consultation process (CASC), which will use a quantitative method to quantify and analyze communication exchanges between physicians and patients during the consultation process.

Design/methodology/approach: CASC is based on the concept of narrative-based medicine using a computer-mediated communication (CMC) technique from a cognitive dialog processing system.

Impact of the Japanese diagnosis procedure combination-based payment system in Japan.

In the health insurance system of Japan, a fee-for-service system has been applied to individual treatment services since 1958. This system involves a structural problem of causing an increase in examination and drug administration. A flat-fee payment system called DPC was introduced in April 2003 to solve the problems of the fee-for-service system.

Relationship between stress and performance in a Japanese nursing organization.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the relationship between job stress, stress coping ability and performance among Japanese nurses.

Design/methodology/approach: Health risk and organization environment as job stress factors, sense of coherence (SOC) as stress coping ability and medical risk indicator and sickness-absence days as a performance proxy were used to investigate the relationship between stress and performance. Length of professional experience also was included in the investigation.

What are the standard functions of electronic clinical pathways?

Purpose: The present study was performed to determine the standard functions of electronic clinical pathways (eCP) embedded in electronic medical records with regard to demand definition.

Methods: The standard functions of eCP were decided by the required functions determined from interviews with hospital staff, those derived from the implementation of paper-based clinical pathways (CPs), and additional functions generated through the shift from a paper-based to an electronic system. Moreover, the proposed standard functions and those of eCP embedded in electronic medical records for large hospitals were compared by interviews with five vendors.

Cost-effectiveness of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators in Brugada syndrome treatment.

Brugada syndrome is characterized by an ST-segment elevation in the right precordial ECG leads and a high incidence of sudden death in patients with structurally normal hearts. Some trials have demonstrated that the cost-effectiveness of ICD implantation treatment in patients with structurally abnormal hearts is more favorable than that of control treatment. We used Treeage pro 2005 to estimate costs and survival among the Brugada syndrome patients who received either an ICD or were treated by control therapy of Ito-blocking properties (quinidine) or beta-blockers (propranolol).

A survey of the use of synthetic surgical sutures.

Unlabelled: We conducted a survey of the use of synthetic surgical sutures for the purpose of making clear the current status of their use.

Method: We collected the suture packages used from each surgery over a one month period, and counted the number of sutures.

Result: We found that for aortic aneurysm surgeries, liver surgeries, pancreatic tumor surgeries, etc.

Efficacy of interferon treatment for chronic hepatitis C predicted by feature subset selection and support vector machine.

Chronic hepatitis C is a disease that is difficult to treat. At present, interferon might be the only drug, which can cure this kind of disease, but its efficacy is limited and patients face the risk of side effects and high expense, so doctors considering interferon must make a serious choice. The purpose of this study is to establish a simple model and use the clinical data to predict the interferon efficacy.

Support vector machine-based feature selection for classification of liver fibrosis grade in chronic hepatitis C.

Although liver biopsy is currently regarded as the gold standard for staging liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C, it is a costly invasive procedure and carries a small risk for complication. Our aim in this study was to construct a simple model to distinguish between patients with no or mild fibrosis (METAVIR F0-F1) versus those with clinically significant fibrosis (METAVIR F2-F4). We retrospectively studied 204 consecutive CHC patients.

Estimation of dietary nutritional content using an online system with ability to assess the dieticians' accuracy.

We developed an online system for estimating dietary nutritional content. It also had the function of assessing the accuracy of the participating dieticians and ranking their performance. People who wished to have their meal estimated (i.

Using the balanced scorecard to measure Chinese and Japanese hospital performance.

Purpose: The objective of the paper is to confirm the feasibility and value of using the balanced scorecard (BSC) to measure performance in two hospitals in different countries.

Design/methodology/approach: One hospital from China and another from Japan were chosen and key indicators were selected according to the BSC framework. A comparative hospital performance measurement model was set up using the BSC framework to comprehensively compare hospital performance in two countries.

A new approach to systematization of the management of paper-based clinical pathways.

The present study was performed to explore a new approach to systematization of the management of paper-based clinical pathways by developing a new system requiring little capital investment. A new system was developed and incorporated into an existing network at a hospital with a paper-based clinical pathway management system. The effectiveness of this new system was examined by comparing the management efficiency of clinical pathways before and after its introduction, and by comparison of the new system with other such systems currently in place at other medical institutions with regard to efficiency.

Use of an artificial neural network to localize accessory pathways of Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome with 12-lead electrocardiogram.

Today, radio-frequency ablation has been shown to be a safe and effective method to treat paroxysmal tachycardia with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. The many criteria reported for localizing the sites of accessory pathways from a 12-lead electrocardiogram have not proven adequate to differentiate the correct sites of accessory pathways for all situations. This study trained an artificial neural network to differentiate the varied features needed to localize 10 sites of accessory pathways.

Perception gap of medical information services by hospitals and medical service consumers.

This survey showed differences in how medical information is perceived by consumers and hospital administrators (chief administrators and managers). The same questions were asked of consumers and hospitals. The consumer subjects of the survey were normal males and females 15 to 65 years old living within a radius of 30 km of central Tokyo.

Evaluation of image qualities on the international standard video-conferencing.

International standard-based video-conferencing systems are widely used in telemedicine activities worldwide. Through our experiences with these systems, it is apparent that the image quality is high enough to conduct educational and conferential sessions. However, because the terminals are intended for common use, we evaluated their qualities.

Behavior modalities of medical service consumers by disease: viewpoint of medical facilities and perceptions of consumers.

This study suggests the possibility that a patient with a mild ailment, such as a common cold, who is examined and diagnosed with diabetes at a clinic, may in the future be examined at a hospital even though treatment may be performed at a clinic. Furthermore, it may be possible to bring the consumer's selection of a medical facility closer to being the same as the hospital's selection by providing the consumer with treatment information. Regarding the role of the family physician in making broad diagnoses, there may be a need to educate not just the consumer, but also hospital administrators in Japan.

A telemedicine system for collaborative work on radiographic coronary video-images.

We designed a telemedicine system that supports collaborative work on video-images from coronary cine-angiograms and cine-ventriculograms. Two workstations were connected by ISDN at 128 kbit/s. Coronary cine-angiogram and cine-ventriculogram video-images were transmitted to an image examination workstation before the images were required for analysis (i.