Journal of health services research & policy
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J Health Serv Res Policy · Jan 1998
ReviewLeague tables for performance improvement in health care.
Increasingly health care performance data are being disseminated in the form of 'league tables' of health care providers, with the implication that such publication helps purchasers select the better providers, and spurs providers into improvements. This paper examines progress to date. ⋯ A haphazard approach to using league table data exists, with few reports on the impact of publication. A variety of directions for future research into the use of performance data are needed.
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J Health Serv Res Policy · Oct 1997
Beyond ethnic categories: why racism should be a variable in health services research.
Racism can affect health by making people ill, exacerbating existing illness, and by inequality in access to and utilisation of health services. Recent British publications assessing the methods used in studies of ethnicity primarily considered the status of the variables 'ethnicity' and 'race' and advised on the use of appropriate categories. Such scrutiny of ethnicity research is welcomed, yet authors rarely emphasise the importance of racism as a variable. ⋯ Reference is made to US research to demonstrate that this focus is important and feasible. Health services research that considers ethnicity and excludes the effect of racism may result, at best, in an incomplete understanding. At worst, this omission could itself be perceived as a racist practice.
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J Health Serv Res Policy · Apr 1997
Did the introduction of general practice fundholding change patterns of emergency admission to hospital?
To test the hypothesis that the introduction of general practice fundholding was associated with a change in the proportion of emergency admissions to hospital. ⋯ The results provide no evidence that, in the first 2 years of the scheme, fundholding had an impact on the proportion of emergency admissions to hospital.