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Croatian medical journal · Feb 2013
Development of the Croatian model of organ donation and transplantation.
During the past ten years, the efforts to improve and organize the national transplantation system in Croatia have resulted in a steadily growing donor rate, which reached its highest level in 2011, with 33.6 utilized donors per million population (p.m.p.). Nowadays, Croatia is one of the leading countries in the world according to deceased donation and transplantation rates. Between 2008 and 2011, the waiting list for kidney transplantation decreased by 37.2% (from 430 to 270 persons waiting for a transplant) and the median waiting time decreased from 46 to 24 months. ⋯ We analyzed the key factors that contributed to the development of this successful model for organ donation and transplantation. These are primarily the appointment of hospital and national transplant coordinators, implementation of a new financial model with donor hospital reimbursement, public awareness campaign, international cooperation, adoption of new legislation, and implementation of a donor quality assurance program. The selection of key factors is based on the authors' opinions; we are open for further discussion and propose systematic research into the issue.
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Due to shortage of ICU beds in hospitals, knowing what kind of orthognathic surgery patients more need ICU care after surgery would be important for surgeons and hospitals to prevent unnecessary ICU bed reservation. ⋯ Orthognathic surgery patients (maxillary impaction and setback plus mandibular advancement plus genioplasty) due to more intraoperative bleeding and postoperative nausea and pain would benefit from ICU admission after surgery.
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Information and communication technologies have made dramatic changes in our lives. Healthcare communities also made use of these technologies. Using computerized medical knowledge, electronic patients' information and telecommunications a lot of applications are now established throughout the world. ⋯ Yet, a lot of people don't know about these technologies and their applications. Understanding the concepts and ideologies behind these terms, knowing how they will be implemented, what is it like to use them and what benefit will be gained, are basic knowledge steps approaching these technologies. Difficulties using these services, especially in developing countries should not be neglected or underestimated.