Health policy
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To describe and evaluate the different price control strategies implemented in Norway after its accession to the European Economic Area (1994-2004). ⋯ The direct pricing strategy, i.e. the international reference pricing, was considered to be the most successful method. In contrast, due to the unpredictability of the market situation, the resulting effects of the indirect methods, i.e. reference-based pricing, generic substitution, and index pricing, were more limited.
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The political use of poll results about public support for a privatized healthcare system in Canada.
Within the context of the political debate on privatization of healthcare funding in Canada, this paper examines the nature and the various role of polls. ⋯ We then discuss those results to argue that polls are not only used to represent the public's preferences but are also political tools used to shape those preferences.
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This study aimed to explore the associations between chronic care organisation and physician workload in primary care. ⋯ Practice size rather than chronic care organisation determined physician workload. Larger practices might use physicians' time more efficiently compared to small practices, but reduced quality of care in larger practices could be an alternative interpretation of the findings.
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The interface between national health policy and women's health needs is complex in developing countries like Pakistan. This paper aims to assess if Pakistan's national health policy 2001 is relevant and appropriate to women's health needs. Through review of existing data on women, a profile of women's health needs was developed which was transformed into framework of analysis. ⋯ Moreover, gender equity is translated as provision of reproductive health services to married mothers, ignoring various critical overarching issues of women's life such as sexual abuse, violence, induced abortion, etc. Health systems strengthening strategies are though suggested but these fails to recognize main obstacles of utilization of healthcare services by women including non-availability of female healthcare providers and gender-based obstacles to healthcare utilization such as illiteracy, lack of empowerment to make decisions related to health, etc. In order to be relevant and appropriate to women's health needs the policy should: (1) use gender equity in health and health-related sectors as an approach to develop a healthy policy (2) expand the focus from reproductive health to life cycle approach to address all issues around women's life (3) strengthen health systems through creation of gender equity among all cadres of health providers (4) tailoring health interventions to counter gender-based obstacles to utilization of healthcare services and (5) dissemination interventions for behavior change.
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Review Historical Article
Health policy in the Baltic countries since the beginning of the 1990s.
The objective of this article is to compare the development of health policies in three Baltic countries, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the period from 1992 to 2004 and reflect on whether key dimensions of these policies are developing in parallel, diverging or even converging in some respects. The paper identifies the similarity in the overall goals and compares the policy content in primary health care, the hospital sector and financing. ⋯ There is evidence of both convergence and divergence across the three countries and of progress in the direction of EU15 in key health policy and outcome characteristics. These patterns are explained partly by differing starting points and partly by political and economic factors over the 1992-2004 period.