Validation of an administrative coding algorithm for classifying surgical indication and operative features of spine surgery.

Study Design: Retrospective review of medical records and administrative data.

Objective: Validate a claims-based algorithm for classifying surgical indication and operative features in lumbar surgery.

Summary Of Background Data: Administrative data are valuable to study rates, safety, outcomes, and costs in spine surgery.

Prostatic artery embolization for treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia in patients with prostates > 90 g: a prospective single-center study.

Purpose: To describe the safety and efficacy of prostatic artery embolization (PAE) with spherical microparticles to treat lower urinary tract symptoms associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia in patients with prostate volume > 90 g.

Materials And Methods: This prospective, single-center, single-arm study was conducted in 35 patients with prostate volumes ranging from 90-252 g. Mean patient age was 64.

Naturally occurring peer support through social media: the experiences of individuals with severe mental illness using YouTube.

Increasingly, people with diverse health conditions turn to social media to share their illness experiences or seek advice from others with similar health concerns. This unstructured medium may represent a platform on which individuals with severe mental illness naturally provide and receive peer support. Peer support includes a system of mutual giving and receiving where individuals with severe mental illness can offer hope, companionship, and encouragement to others facing similar challenges.

Nationwide implementation of integrated community case management of childhood illness in Rwanda.

Background: Between 2008 and 2011, Rwanda introduced integrated community case management (iCCM) of childhood illness nationwide. Community health workers in each of Rwanda's nearly 15,000 villages were trained in iCCM and equipped for empirical diagnosis and treatment of pneumonia, diarrhea, and malaria; for malnutrition surveillance; and for comprehensive reporting and referral services.

Methods: We used data from the Rwanda health management information system (HMIS) to calculate monthly all-cause under-5 mortality rates, health facility use rates, and community-based treatment rates for childhood illness in each district.

Assessing the effectiveness of 3 months day and night home closed-loop insulin delivery in adults with suboptimally controlled type 1 diabetes: a randomised crossover study protocol.

Introduction: Despite therapeutic advances, many people with type 1 diabetes are still unable to achieve optimal glycaemic control, limited by the occurrence of hypoglycaemia. The objective of the present study is to determine the effectiveness of day and night home closed-loop over the medium term compared with sensor-augmented pump therapy in adults with type 1 diabetes and suboptimal glycaemic control.

Methods And Analysis: The study will adopt an open label, three-centre, multinational, randomised, two-period crossover study design comparing automated closed-loop glucose control with sensor augmented insulin pump therapy.

Collaborative deliberation: a model for patient care.

Objective: Existing theoretical work in decision making and behavior change has focused on how individuals arrive at decisions or form intentions. Less attention has been given to theorizing the requirements that might be necessary for individuals to work collaboratively to address difficult decisions, consider new alternatives, or change behaviors. The goal of this work was to develop, as a forerunner to a middle range theory, a conceptual model that considers the process of supporting patients to consider alternative health care options, in collaboration with clinicians, and others.

What are pregnant women told about models of maternity care in Australia? A retrospective study of women's reports.

Objective: To describe women's reports of the model of care options General Practitioners (GPs) discussed with them at the first pregnancy consultation and women's self-reported role in decision-making about model of care.

Methods: Women who had recently given birth responded to survey items about the models of care GPs discussed, their role in final decision-making, and socio-demographic, obstetric history, and early pregnancy characteristics.

Results: The proportion of women with whom each model of care was discussed varied between 8.

What matters most? The content and concordance of patients' and providers' information priorities for contraceptive decision making.

Objective(s): The objective of this study was to identify women's and health care providers' information priorities for contraceptive decision making and counseling, respectively.

Study Design: Cross-sectional surveys were administered online to convenience samples of 417 women and 188 contraceptive care providers residing in the United States. Participants were provided with a list of 34 questions related to the features of contraceptive options and rated the importance of each.

Shared decision making for treatment of cancer: challenges and opportunities.

Treatment recommendations are based on complicated clinical information that is revealed variably over time after initial diagnosis. Integrating this information into a treatment plan is challenging, as different specialists direct the various treatments.

Shared decision making and motivational interviewing: achieving patient-centered care across the spectrum of health care problems.

Patient-centered care requires different approaches depending on the clinical situation. Motivational interviewing and shared decision making provide practical and well-described methods to accomplish patient-centered care in the context of situations where medical evidence supports specific behavior changes and the most appropriate action is dependent on the patient's preferences. Many clinical consultations may require elements of both approaches, however.

Building an ethical organizational culture.

The success of a health care institution-as defined by delivering high-quality, high-value care, positive patient outcomes, and financial solvency-is inextricably tied to the culture within that organization. The ability to achieve and sustain alignment between its mission, values, and everyday practices defines a positive organizational culture. An institution that has a diminished organizational culture, reflected in the failure to consistently align management and clinical decisions and practices with its mission and values, will struggle.

Exploring consumer values of comparative performance information for hospital choice.

Background: In many countries, market orientation in healthcare has resulted in the publication of comparative performance information (CPI). Most of the research in this field is oriented towards the content and the presentation format of CPI while little is known about how consumers value CPI and the use of this information.

Aim: The aim of this study was to clarify the perceived value that CPI brings for consumers of healthcare.

Do interventions designed to support shared decision-making reduce health inequalities? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Increasing patient engagement in healthcare has become a health policy priority. However, there has been concern that promoting supported shared decision-making could increase health inequalities.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of SDM interventions on disadvantaged groups and health inequalities.

Rwanda 20 years on: investing in life.

Two decades ago, the genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda led to the deaths of 1 million people, and the displacement of millions more. Injury and trauma were followed by the effects of a devastated health system and economy. In the years that followed, a new course set by a new government set into motion equity-oriented national policies focusing on social cohesion and people-centred development.

Providing recording of clinical consultation to patients - a highly valued but underutilized intervention: a scoping review.

Objective: The benefits of providing patients with recorded clinical consultations have been mostly investigated in oncology settings, generally demonstrating positive outcomes. There has been limited synthesis of evidence about the practice in wider context. Our aim was to summarize, in a scoping review, the evidence about providing consultation recordings to patients.

A classification model of patient engagement methods and assessment of their feasibility in real-world settings.

Objective: Examine existing reviews of patient engagement methods to propose a model where the focus is on engaging patients in clinical workflows, and to assess the feasibility of advocated patient engagement methods.

Methods: A literature search of reviews of patient engagement methods was conducted. Included reviews were peer-reviewed, written in English, and focused on methods that targeted patients or patient-provider dyads.

Undetermined impact of patient decision support interventions on healthcare costs and savings: systematic review.

Objective: To perform a systematic review of studies that assessed the potential of patient decision support interventions (decision aids) to generate savings.

Design: Systematic review.

Data Sources: After registration with PROSPERO, we searched 12 databases, from inception to 15 March 2013, using relevant MeSH terms and text words.

The psychometric properties of CollaboRATE: a fast and frugal patient-reported measure of the shared decision-making process.

Background: Patient-centered health care is a central component of current health policy agendas. Shared decision making (SDM) is considered to be the pinnacle of patient engagement and methods to promote this are becoming commonplace. However, the measurement of SDM continues to prove challenging.

Parasite infection and tuberculosis disease among children: a case-control study.

We conducted a case-control study to examine associations between parasite infection, including protozoa infection, and tuberculosis (TB) in children in Lima, Peru. We enrolled 189 matched-pairs. In multivariable conditional logistic regression analyses, Blastocystis hominis infection (rate ratio = 0.

Effects of Ecuador's national monetary incentive program on adherence to treatment for drug-resistant tuberculosis.

Background: Non-adherence to tuberculosis (TB) treatment jeopardizes patient health and promotes disease transmission. In July 2011, Ecuador's National Tuberculosis Program (NTP) enacted a monetary incentive program giving adherent drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) patients a US240 bonus each month.

Objective: To describe patients' experiences with the program qualitatively, and to assess its effects on treatment adherence.

Technology identity: the role of sociotechnical representations in the adoption of medical devices.

This study explored the sociotechnical influences shaping the naturally-occurring adoption and non-adoption of device technologies in the UK's National Health Service (NHS), amid increasing policy interest in this area. The study was informed by Science and Technology Studies and structuration and Actor Network Theory perspectives, drawing attention to the performative capacities of the technology alongside human agentic forces such as agendas and expectations, in the context of structural and macro conditions. Eight technologies were studied using a comparative ethnographic case study design and purposive and snowball sampling to identify relevant NHS, academic and industry participants.