Health services research
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Health services research · Apr 1996
Comparative StudyPractice setting and physician influences on judgments of colon cancer treatment by community physicians.
This article compares judgments about the treatment of Dukes' B2 and C colon cancer made by general surgeons to those of internists and family practitioners. Physician and practice variables were specialty, affiliation with a Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP) hospital, time in practice, professional centrality (level of participation in cancer information networks), solo practice, and number of colon cancer patients. ⋯ Physician and practice setting characteristics, including organized structures such as the CCOP, are possible mediating structures that can facilitate dissemination of standards of treatment.
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This study examines the cost of providing trauma services in trauma centers organized by publicly administered trauma systems, compared to hospitals not part of a formal trauma system. ⋯ Prior research shows that severely injured trauma patients have greater chances of survival when treated in specialized trauma centers. However, findings here should be of concern to the many states developing trauma systems since the high costs of Level I centers support limiting the number of centers designated at this level and/or reconsidering the requirements placed on these centers.