Background: After strict COVID-19-related restrictions were lifted, health systems globally were overwhelmed. Much has been discussed about how health systems could better prepare for future pandemics; however, primary health care (PHC) has been largely ignored.
Objective: We aimed to investigate what combined policies PHC could apply to strengthen the health care system via a bottom-up approach, so as to better respond to a public health emergency.
Methods: We developed a system dynamics model to replicate Shanghai's response when COVID-19-related restrictions were lifted. We then simulated an alternative PHC-based integrated health system and tested the following three interventions: first contact in PHC with telemedicine services, recommendation to secondary care, and return to PHC for recovery.
Results: The simulation results showed that each selected intervention could alleviate hospital overwhelm. Increasing the rate of first contact in PHC with telemedicine increased hospital bed availability by 6% to 12% and reduced the cumulative number of deaths by 35%. More precise recommendations had a limited impact on hospital overwhelm (<1%), but the simulation results showed that underrecommendation (rate: 80%) would result in a 19% increase in cumulative deaths. Increasing the rate of return to PHC from 5% to 20% improved hospital bed availability by 6% to 16% and reduced the cumulative number of deaths by 46%. Moreover, combining all 3 interventions had a multiplier effect; bed availability increased by 683%, and the cumulative number of deaths dropped by 75%.
Conclusions: Rather than focusing on the allocation of medical resources in secondary care, we determined that an optimal PHC-based integrated strategy would be to have a 60% rate of first contact in PHC, a 110% recommendation rate, and a 20% rate of return to PHC. This could increase health system resilience during public health emergencies.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/54355 | DOI Listing |
Int J Surg
December 2024
Department of Gynecological and Breast Surgery and Oncology, Pitié-Salpêtrière, Assistance Publique des Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), University Hospital, Paris, France.
Background: Unlike other medical specialties, surgery is primarily learned through apprenticeship, by observing surgeons in action during operations. However, the increasing number of medical students and work-hour restrictions limit opportunities for learning in the operating room (OR). These circumstances call for novel technologies, such as immersive video.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMJ Open
December 2024
Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge, UK
Aim: As heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) prevalence increases, it remains frequently underdiagnosed and poorly managed. Recent positive pharmacological trials have increased interest in HFpEF but challenges of diagnosis and management remain. The survey aim was to examine consensus between primary and secondary care providers regarding HFpEF diagnosis and management.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExp Neurol
January 2025
Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Anesthesia and Pain Research Institute, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Electronic address:
Perioperative neurocognitive disorders (PNDs) refer to a wide spectrum of cognitive impairment persisting days to even after a year postoperative with significant morbidity and mortality. However, despite much efforts involving perioperative managements, PNDs are still prevalent with no standard preventative and therapeutic strategy. To overcome PNDs, a better understanding of pathophysiology of PNDs is crucial and a large number of studies have proven that immune-inflammatory responses from surgical stress are involved in the abnormal activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and destabilization of neurovascular unit (NVU) that lead to PNDs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol
January 2025
Reproductive Epidemiology Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Background: Non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) does not receive any Medicare rebate. This study investigated the views of Australian healthcare providers and consumers on public funding of NIPT.
Materials And Methods: Two anonymous online, cross-sectional surveys were conducted from September 2022 to January 2023.
J Surg Oncol
January 2025
Department of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and James Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Background: Biliary tract cancers (BTCs) represent distinct biological and genomic entities. Anatomic and geographic heterogeneity in genomic profiling of BTC subtypes, genomic co-alterations, and their impact on long-term outcomes are not well defined.
Methods: Genomic data to characterize alterations among patients with BTCs were derived from the AACR GENIE registry (v15.
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