Bmc Health Serv Res
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Bmc Health Serv Res · Jan 2006
Falls and consequent injuries in hospitalized patients: effects of an interdisciplinary falls prevention program.
Patient falls in hospitals are common and may lead to negative outcomes such as injuries, prolonged hospitalization and legal liability. Consequently, various hospital falls prevention programs have been implemented in the last decades. However, most of the programs had no sustained effects on falls reduction over extended periods of time. ⋯ Following the implementation of an interdisciplinary falls prevention program, neither the frequencies of falls nor consequent injuries decreased substantially. Future studies need to incorporate strategies to maximize and evaluate ongoing adherence to interventions in hospital falls prevention programs.
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Bmc Health Serv Res · Jan 2006
Development and preliminary validation of a Greek-language outpatient satisfaction questionnaire with principal components and multi-trait analyses.
In the recent years there is a growing interest in Greece concerning the measurement of the satisfaction of patients who are visiting the outpatient clinics of National Health System (NHS) general acute hospitals. The aim of this study is therefore to develop a patient satisfaction questionnaire and provide its preliminary validation. ⋯ The instrument appears to be reliable and valid regarding the pure outpatient experience, whereas more research employing larger samples is required in order to establish the apparent psychometric properties of the complementary radiographic and laboratory-testing process, which is only relevant to about 25% of the subjects analysed here.
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Bmc Health Serv Res · Jan 2006
Referrals from general practice to consultants in Germany: if the GP is the initiator, patients' experiences are more positive.
Referrals of patients from primary care to medical specialist care are an important activity in any health care system. German data show that the number of referrals by GPs have increased since 2004, but detailed insight into the experiences of patients, GPs and consultants regarding referrals is very limited. This study aimed at describing the experiences of consultants, GPs and patients with referrals from primary care to medical specialist care. An additional objective was to examine the impact of purpose regarding the referral and of the referrer on the experiences of GPs and patients. ⋯ Patients, GPs and consultants have positive views on the value of referrals from primary care to medical specialists. Patients were most positive if the physician had initiated the referral, which supports the gate keeper role of the GP.