International journal of technology assessment in health care
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Int J Technol Assess Health Care · Jan 2005
Assessing quality of end-of-life hospital care in a southern European regional health service.
During the final period of life, patients with cancer in the Basque Country are given treatment in different types of hospital care. This study compared the quality of care according to the type of care in one of the autonomous communities in Spain. ⋯ End-of-life in cancer patients was diagnosed too late. The quality of care in palliative care units and by home hospitalization service was better than that in conventional hospitalization. Nevertheless, there were areas for improvement in the three modalities of care.
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Int J Technol Assess Health Care · Jan 2005
Assessing the in-hospital survival benefits of intensive care.
For an efficient and fair allocation of medical resources, one must know which patients benefit more from medical care. The objective of this study is to assess the differential survival benefits of a general intensive care unit (ICU) by acute diagnoses and by Acute Physiological and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II) scores. ⋯ Survival benefits differ across diagnoses and APACHE II scores. Facing limited resources, admission policies should distinguish between survival probabilities (and survival maximization) and survival benefits (and maximization of ICU benefits). Actual referral and admission policies to the present ICU do not maximize the potential survival benefits of ICU resources.
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Int J Technol Assess Health Care · Jan 2005
Cost-effectiveness of pressure-relieving devices for the prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers.
The cost-effectiveness of alternating pressure-relieving devices, mattress replacements, and mattress overlays compared with a standard hospital (high-specification foam mattress) for the prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers in hospital patients in the United Kingdom was investigated. ⋯ Current information suggests that alternating pressure mattress overlays may be cost-effective for the prevention of pressure ulcers, whereas alternating pressure mattress replacements appears to be cost-effective for the treatment of superficial and severe pressure ulcers.
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Int J Technol Assess Health Care · Jan 2005
Spinal cord stimulation for failed back surgery syndrome: a decision-analytic model and cost-effectiveness analysis.
The aim of this study was to develop a decision-analytic model to assess the cost-effectiveness of spinal cord stimulation (SCS), relative to nonsurgical conventional medical management (CMM), for patients with failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS). ⋯ SCS was found to be both more effective and less costly than CMM, over the lifetime of a patient. In the short-term, although SCS is potentially cost-effective, the model results are highly sensitive to the choice of input parameters. Further empirical data are required to improve the precision in the estimation of short-term cost-effectiveness.
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Int J Technol Assess Health Care · Jan 2005
Decisions to adopt new technologies at the hospital level: insights from Israeli medical centers.
New medical technologies have been identified as the leading cause of increasing health-care expenditures. Adoption of a new technology is one of the most important decisions in medical centers. The objectives of this study were to map and describe the function of hospital decision-makers within the area of new technology assessment and adoption, and to examine relevant considerations, sources of information, and decision-making processes in the adoption of a new technology. ⋯ To improve the adoption decisions, hospitals must develop criteria upon which the decision-making will be based.