43,001 research outputs found
An international comparative study of blood pressure in populations of European vs. African descent
Background: The consistent finding of higher prevalence of hypertension in US blacks compared
to whites has led to speculation that African-origin populations are particularly susceptible to this
condition. Large surveys now provide new information on this issue.
Methods: Using a standardized analysis strategy we examined prevalence estimates for 8 white
and 3 black populations (N = 85,000 participants).
Results: The range in hypertension prevalence was from 27 to 55% for whites and 14 to 44% for
blacks.
Conclusions: These data demonstrate that not only is there a wide variation in hypertension
prevalence among both racial groups, the rates among blacks are not unusually high when viewed
internationally. These data suggest that the impact of environmental factors among both
populations may have been under-appreciated
Corporate social responsibility and global standardization: sustainable environmental management in the chemical industry
Corporate social responsibility and sustainable development are issues that been in the forefront of corporate strategy for several decades. The increase in the power of environmental groups, the ease of cross border information flow, and the rising concern of the public with regards to global impact of environmental issues are motivating factors resulting in the establishment of environmental management systems. Many multinational chemical companies, threatened with the possibility of the establishment of new, stricter, environmental laws, are actively working to demonstrate their corporate social responsibility while operating in a global market with regards to developing and implementing voluntary programs to handle the increasingly important issues surrounding environmental responsibility and global sustainability. The integration of the environmental management system into the corporate vision, mission and strategic plan is demonstrated with the ultimate goal of changing corporate culture in the companies which have the power to affect international environmental policies.chemical industry, corporate social responsibility, environmental management system, global sustainability.
A system dynamics-based simulation study for managing clinical governance and pathways in a hospital
This paper examines the development of clinical pathways in a hospital in Australia based on empirical clinical data of patient episodes. A system dynamics (SD)-based decision support system (DSS) is developed and analyzed for this purpose.
System dynamics was used as the simulation modeling tool because of its rigorous approach in capturing interrelationships among variables and in handling dynamic aspects of the system behavior in managing healthcare. The study highlights the scenarios that will help hospital administrators to redistribute caseloads amongst admitting clinicians with a focus on multiple Diagnostic Related Groups (DRG’s) as the means to improve the patient turnaround and hospital throughput without compromising quality patient care. DRG’s are the best known classification system used in a casemix funding model. The classification system groups inpatient stays into clinically meaningful categories of similar levels of complexity that consume similar amounts of resources.
Policy explorations reveal various combinations of the dominant policies that hospital management can adopt. The analyses act as a scratch pad for the executives as they understand what can be feasibly achieved by the implementation of clinical pathways given a number of constraints. With the use of visual interfaces, executives can manipulate the DSS to test various scenarios. Experimental evidence based on focus groups demonstrated that the DSS can enhance group learning processes and improve decision making. The simulation model findings support recent studies of CP implementation on various DRG’s published in the medical literature. These studies showed substantial reductions in length of stay, costs and resource utilization
Quantifying the impact of technical barriers to trade : a framework for analysis
There has been increasing use of technical regulations as instruments of commercial policy in the context of multilateral, regional, and global trade. These nontariff barriers are of special concern to developing countries, which may bear additional costs in meeting mandatory standards. Many industrial and developing countries express frustration with regulations that vary across their export markets, require duplicative conformity procedures, and are continually revised to exclude imports. The authors provide a comprehensive overview of the policy debate and methodological issues surrounding product standards and technical barriers to trade. They begin with a review of the policy context driving demand for empirical analysis of standards in trade, then provide an analytical overview of the role of standards and their relationship to trade. They then review methodological approaches that have been used to analyze standards and theirimpact on trade. Their main interest lies in advancing techniques that are practical and may be fruitfully extended to the empirical analysis of regulations and trade. They discuss concrete steps that could be taken to move forward a practical, policy-relevant program of empirical research. Such steps would include: a) administering firm-level surveys in developing countries; b) devising methods for assessing how much standards restrict trade; and c) establishing econometric approaches that could be applied to survey and microeconomic data, to improve understanding of the role of standards in exports.Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Trade and Services,Trade and Regional Integration
Broadband Technologies on Residential Acces
The diffusion of broadband technologies is a hot topic for developed and many developing countries. Although the provision of service has many similar aspects, the overall and specific penetration of broadband technologies varies significantly in these countries. This study aims to examine the place of users' perceptions in the broadband issue by studying the development of the selected technologies and national policies in the light of the general information technology diffusion aspects.Diffusion of Technology, Broadband Technologies, Development of National Policies and Pricing Issues
Simplifying Administration of Health Insurance
Reviews definitions and estimates of the insurance system's administrative costs and efforts to reduce them. Examines the potential of various reform proposals to simplify or further complicate the system. Includes data on estimated administrative costs
Literacy Gaps by Educational Attainment: A Comparative Study of 19 Countries
Using data of literacy skills among adults aged 26 to 35 from the International Adult Literacy Survey, we compare the degree of literacy gaps between those who completed tertiary education and those who did not graduate from high schools across 19 countries. The result of ordinary least square regression shows that although those with a higher level of educational attainment tend to have a higher level of literacy skills in all countries, countries substantially vary in the degree of literacy gaps by educational attainment. The cross-national variation in the literacy gap is mainly driven by between-country differences in the level of literacy skills among those who did not graduate from high school. The result of two-level hierarchical linear models, furthermore, shows that the cross-national variation in the literacy gap by educational attainment is in part attributable to between-country differences in standardization of educational systems and the extent to which adult education and training are offered to the low educated. We discuss theoretical and policy implications of the findings for addressing inequality of literacy skills
A Roadmap to Health Insurance for All: Principles for Reform
Presents principles for health insurance reform and compares the potential of three approaches -- tax incentives for the individual insurance market; mixed private-public group insurance with shared financing responsibility; and public insurance
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