The cost-saving effect of continuity of care (COC): an analysis of institutional COC on diabetic treatment costs using panel 2SLS regressions.

Background: The high costs of chronic conditions call for new treatment approaches that reduce costs while ensuring desirable health outcomes. There has been a growing transformation of care delivery models from conventional referral systems to integrated care models. This study seeks to evaluate the cost-saving impact of integrated care delivery model under pay-for-performance (P4P) scheme with continuity of care at institution level (ICOC).

Shared decision-making among non-physician healthcare professionals: Enhancing patient involvement in women's reproductive health in community healthcare settings.

Objective: Shared decision-making (SDM) is an important approach to patient-centered care in women's reproductive healthcare. This study explored SDM experiences and perceptions among non-physician healthcare professionals.

Methods: We completed 20 key-informant interviews with non-physician healthcare professionals (i.

Drivers and Barriers for Adopting Accreditation at Local Health Departments for Their Performance Improvement Effort.

Context: A national system of voluntary public health accreditation for state, local, and tribal health departments (local health departments [LHDs]) is part of a movement that aims to improve public health performance with ultimate impact on population health outcomes. Indiana is a good setting for the study of LHD accreditation adoption because several LHDs reported de-adopting accreditation in a recent statewide survey and because 71% of Indiana counties serve populations of 50 000 or less.

Design: A systematic method of analyzing qualitative data based on the Performance Improvement Model framework to expand our understanding of de-adoption of public health accreditation.

Addressing Medicaid Expansion from the Perspective of Patient Experience in Hospitals.

Background: More Medicaid holders are entering the healthcare system consequential to Medicaid expansion. Their experience has financial consequences for hospitals and crucial implications for the provision of patient-centered care. This study examined how the hospital characteristics, especially the rates of Medicaid coverage and racial/ethnic minorities, impact the quality of inpatient care.

It's Not Just a Yes or No Answer: Expressions of Local Health Department Accreditation.

Unlabelled: The identification and exploration of moderators of health department accreditation remain limited by current dichotomous conceptualizations of pursuit.

Methods: A 2015 survey measured Indiana local health department (LHD) accreditation pursuit and progress, classifying respondents by progress evidence. Covariates included attitudes about the future impact of accreditation on funding and performance, health department size, geography, health outcome ranking, and quality improvement (QI) programing.

Using a social entrepreneurial approach to enhance the financial and social value of health care organizations.

In this study, a conceptual framework was developed to show that social entrepreneurial practices can be effectively translated to meet the social needs in health care. We used a theory-in-use case study approach that encompasses postulation of a working taxonomy from literature scanning and a deliberation of the taxonomy through triangulation of multilevel data of a case study conducted in a Taiwan-based hospital system. Specifically, we demonstrated that a nonprofit organization can adopt business principles that emphasize both financial and social value.

ED services: the impact of caring behaviors on patient loyalty.

Introduction: This article describes an observational study of caring behaviors in the emergency departments of 4 Ascension Health hospitals and the impact of these behaviors on patient loyalty to the associated hospital. These hospitals were diverse in size and geography, representing 3 large urban community hospitals in metropolitan areas and 1 in a midsized city.

Methods: Research assistants from Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN) conducted observations at the first study site and validated survey instruments.

Visualizing desirable patient healthcare experiences.

High healthcare cost has drawn much attention and healthcare service providers (HSPs) are expected to deliver high-quality and consistent care. Therefore, an intimate understanding of the most desirable experience from a patient's and/or family's perspective as well as effective mapping and communication of such findings should facilitate HSPs' efforts in attaining sustainable competitive advantage in an increasingly discerning environment. This study describes (a) the critical quality attributes (CQAs) of the experience desired by patients and (b) the application of two visualization tools that are relatively new to the healthcare sector, namely the "spider-web diagram" and "promotion and detraction matrix.

Using data mining to segment healthcare markets from patients' preference perspectives.

Purpose: This paper aims to provide an example of how to use data mining techniques to identify patient segments regarding preferences for healthcare attributes and their demographic characteristics.

Design/methodology/approach: Data were derived from a number of individuals who received in-patient care at a health network in 2006. Data mining and conventional hierarchical clustering with average linkage and Pearson correlation procedures are employed and compared to show how each procedure best determines segmentation variables.

Satisfaction and value: a meta-analysis in the healthcare context.

Understanding healthcare performance from the patient's perspective has attracted more attention from the scholars and practitioners as consumers are becoming the driving force to the innovation of healthcare delivery in the knowledge economy (Morath 2003; Scott 2003). However, most of the studies have been constrained in the methods by which the clinical professionals assess what they perceived as the patient's value. This research attempts to examine the constructs for the conceptualization of patient value and its relationship with patient satisfaction.

Building customer capital through knowledge management processes in the health care context.

Background: Customer capital is a value generated and an asset developed from customer relationships. Successfully managing these relationships is enhanced by knowledge management (KM) infrastructure that captures and transfers customer-related knowledge. The execution of such a system relies on the vision and determination of the top management team (TMT).