Das Gesundheitswesen
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Das Gesundheitswesen · Jan 2011
[Hospital referrals from the general practitioner's perspective - a descriptive analysis based on the CONTENT morbidity register].
Hospital referrals cause high costs in the health-care system. Information on hospital referrals from general practices in Germany is sparse. As a starting point for further research we describe the characteristics of hospital referrals and referred patients. ⋯ Patients referred to hospital from general practice are older and have a higher morbidity than patients not referred. Hospital referrals to rule out diseases with a potentially dangerous course as a means of managing uncertainty seem to be the most effective field under control of general practitioners to reduce hospital referrals.
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Das Gesundheitswesen · Jan 2011
[Introduction of the electronic health card in Germany: influence of interest positions and sector membership on the establishment of an implementation network].
This article raises the question as to which mode of governance has been established for the implementation of the electronic health card (eHC) in Germany and which coordination problems have emerged. It will be shown that the amalgamation of two different policy domains - namely health-care and innovation policy - leads to a novel governance configuration in which information exchange (hence governance) is affected by sector membership and interest similarity as opposed to anticipated financial burdens or influence reputation in the newly established policy domain. The study is based on a standardised survey of 29 organisations that are involved in the implementation of the eHC. The analysis is carried out using quantitative methods such as social network analysis.