Does hospital competition save lives? Evidence from the English NHS patient choice reforms

This paper examines whether or not hospital competition in a market with fixed reimbursement prices can prompt improvements in clinical quality. In January 2006, the British Government introduced a major extension of their market-based reforms to the English National Health Service. From January 2006 onwards, every patient in England could choose their hospital for secondary care and hospitals had to compete with each other to attract patients to secure their revenue. One of the central aims of this policy was to create financial incentives for providers to improve their clinical performance. This paper assesses whether this aim has been achieved and competition led to improvements in quality. For our estimation, we exploit the fact that choice-based reforms will create sharper financial incentives for hospitals in markets where choice is geographically feasible and that prior to 2006, in the absence of patient choice, hospitals had no direct financial incentive to improve performance in order to attract more patients. We use a modified difference-in-difference estimator to analyze whether quality improved more quickly in more competitive markets after the government introduced its new wave of market-based reforms. Using AMI mortality as a quality indicator, we find that mortality fell more quickly (i.e. quality improved) for patients living in more competitive markets after the introduction of hospital competition in January 2006. Our results suggest that hospital competition in markets with fixed prices can lead to improvements in clinical quality

Clinical outcomes of laparoscopic versus open appendectomy for acute appendicitis in a resource-limited setting

Background: Acute appendicitis is the most common cause of the acute abdomen; thus, appendectomy is part of most daily emergency surgical duties. It is conducted through either open or laparoscopic approach. Methods: A prospective hospital-based study compared the clinical outcomes of open versus laparoscopic appendectomy for patients with acute appendicitis in El-Mek Nimir University Hospital, Sudan. Results: A total of 550 cases of acute appendicitis were studied, of which 328 (59.6%) underwent open appendectomy surgery and 222 (39.4%) underwent laparoscopic appendectomy. The majority of the study’s population was female.Laparoscopic appendectomy generally involved a longer operation time than open appendectomy (mean duration, 42.4±12.5 vs. 29±16 minutes), lesser incidence of severe pain postoperatively (3% vs. 11%; p=0.000), shorter hospital stay (i.e., <24 hours; 96% vs.77%; p=0.000), and a higher rate of patient return to normal activities within 1 week (92% vs.15%; p=0.000). Differences in the occurrence of bleeding, wound infection, or intra-abdominal septic collection were not statistically significant. Conclusion: Both open and laparoscopic appendectomy procedures are safe for the management of acute appendicitis; however, laparoscopic appendectomy is associated with fewer complications and a faster recovery

Perspectives of Protocol Based Breaking Bad News among Medical Patients and Physicians in a Teaching Hospital, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND፡ Discussing potentially bad outcomes is a standard communication task in clinical care. Physicians’ awareness on ways to communicate bad news is considered low. SPIKES protocol is the most popular strategy used by physicians, but its practice and patients' perception are not known. This study attempted to fill the knowledge gap on protocol implementation, patient preference and physician effects.METHODS: Hospital-based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at SPHMMC from May 1 to June 30 using structured interviews administered to patients and physicians. Three hundred and sixty patients and 111 physicians were included. Assessment of SPIKES performance, patient satisfaction, patient preference, and physician awareness, attitude and effects were studied.RESULTS: Performance of SPIKES protocol was setting (74.5%), perception (51.1%), invitation (56.3%), knowledge (15.9%), emotion (22.3%) and summary (10.1%). Only 30.6% of the patients were entirely satisfied with the interaction, and 19.2% with knowledge attained. Patient satisfaction was associated with physician asking how much information they like (P=0.025). Patient desire and report showed variation. Eighty-two percent of the physicians were not aware of the protocol, and 83.8% had no training. Half of the physicians feel depressed after disclosure.CONCLUSIONS: Patient satisfaction with communication process and knowledge is poor, as is performance of SPIKES components. Satisfaction is related to being asked how much patients want to know. Patients’ desires on how to be told news is different from how it is done. Breaking bad news increases feeling of depression. Awareness and training on the protocol are deficient; medical schools should incorporate it into their studies and implement proper follow-up.&nbsp

The Effectiveness of Animal-Assisted Interventions in Reducing Student Anxiety in School Settings

Anxiety has a detrimental effect on child development in numerous capacities including academics, peer relationships, and long-term effects if left untreated (Nail et al., 2015; Siegel, LaGreca & Harrison, 2009; Van Ameringen, Mancini & Farvolden, 2001). The use of animalassisted interventions (AAIs) has been widely reported to have beneficial impacts on human anxiety levels (Bert et al., 2016). The purpose of this systematic review was to understand how the presence of a therapy dog reduces levels of anxiety, and to discuss how the findings can be interpreted and applied for children and adolescents in a school setting. Fifteen peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles met inclusion criteria and were examined. Emerging themes were categorized in terms of the psychological, physiological and psychiatric effects of animalassisted interventions. The findings of this systematic review give supporting evidence to the positive benefits of using animal-assisted interventions in the school setting for children and adolescents

The Effectiveness of Animal-Assisted Interventions in Reducing Student Anxiety in School Settings

Anxiety has a detrimental effect on child development in numerous capacities including academics, peer relationships, and long-term effects if left untreated (Nail et al., 2015; Siegel, LaGreca & Harrison, 2009; Van Ameringen, Mancini & Farvolden, 2001). The use of animalassisted interventions (AAIs) has been widely reported to have beneficial impacts on human anxiety levels (Bert et al., 2016). The purpose of this systematic review was to understand how the presence of a therapy dog reduces levels of anxiety, and to discuss how the findings can be interpreted and applied for children and adolescents in a school setting. Fifteen peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles met inclusion criteria and were examined. Emerging themes were categorized in terms of the psychological, physiological and psychiatric effects of animalassisted interventions. The findings of this systematic review give supporting evidence to the positive benefits of using animal-assisted interventions in the school setting for children and adolescents

Triggering and protective factors of burnout in medical resident physicians in a lower-middle-income country: A cross-sectional study

Background: Residents and interns are prone to emotional and physical exhaustion, also known as burnout. Burnout has not been studied much in physicians working in lower-middle income countries. We conducted this study to determine the burden of burnout among internal medicine residents and to identify triggering and protective factors associated with burnout.Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at two institutes in Karachi from 2018 to 2019. All residents registered in the internal medicine program for at least 6 months were invited to participate via an online survey. An abbreviated version of the Maslach Burnout scale was used to measure burnout, and protective and triggering factors were recorded according to known factors.Results: A total of 71 out of 92 (77%) residents participated. The mean (SD) age of the participants was 28 (3.1) years, 51 (71.8%) were females and 51 (71.8%) were junior residents. A total of 33 (46.5%) residents had burnout. Burnout and emotional exhaustion were more in female residents (p \u3c 0.05). None of the triggering factors attained statistical significance. The protective factors for burnout which showed significant association were good relationship with friends (OR 0.1-95% CI 0.0, 0.6), exercise and extra-curricular activities (OR 0.2-95% CI 0.0, 0.7), celebrating accomplishments (OR 0.2-95% CI 0.0, 0.7), having enough money (OR 0.2-95% CI 0.0, 0.4), and ability to plan for future (OR 0.1-95% CI 0.0, 0.6).Conclusion: More than a third of medicine residents suffered from burnout. We need to focus on rejuvenating activities for medicine residents to decrease burnout among them. If not addressed adequately this may result in a compromise in the quality of care being provided to patients