Widespread Adoption of Information Technology in Primary Care Physician Offices in Denmark: A Case Study

Describes the use of electronic medical records, standardized clinical communications, and patient identification numbers by Denmark's primary care physicians; a nonprofit organization's role in implementation and certification; and elements of success

Delivering Quality Early Learning In Low-Resource Settings: Progress And Challenges In Ethiopia

The potential of high quality early childhood care and education ECCE programmes to deliver positive outcomes for children and society is well recognised. But delivering on this potential presents huge challenges, especially in low and middle income countries. This final working paper in the Transitions in Early Childhood series focusses on Ethiopia. While in many respects Ethiopia is a success story of Education For All, in terms of increased enrolments in primary education, the early years of schooling is faced with numerous access and quality challenges. This working paper reviews the government of Ethiopia's 2010 policy framework for ECCE and highlights these different challenges in rural and urban areas of Ethiopia, drawing on survey and qualitative research data collected as part of Young Lives longitudinal research

Incremental Cost Estimates for the Patient-Centered Medical Home

Based on data from thirty-five primary care practices, analyzes the costs associated with the medical home model, in which primary care practices also provide care coordination, patient education, and related services. Considers implications

Assessing Needs of Care in European Nations. ENEPRI Policy Brief No. 14, 28 December 2012

This Policy Brief presents the research questions, main results and policy implications and recommendations of the seven Work Packages that formed the basis of the ANCIEN research project, financed under the 7th EU Research Framework Programme of the European Commission. Carried out over a 44-month period and involving 20 partners from EU member states, the project principally concerns the future of long-term care (LTC) for the elderly in Europe and addresses two questions in particular: How will need, demand, supply and use of LTC develop? How do different systems of LTC perform

Client Empowerment and Quality Assurance

Measurements of quality in social care services in the UK have generally been concerned with regularly measuring performance in terms of Quality Indicators or Best Value reports. Although these quality measures quite often involve user satisfaction surveys, the methodology does not allow for the user to give a holistic response about the service they have received nor is there any sense of client empowerment around measuring quality in this way. What is not measured is the link between quality assurance, quality enhancement and client empowerment, nor whether empowerment is defined as a process, an intervention or an outcome. This paper utilises qualitative methodologies that enables users and carers to tell their own stories and suggests that client empowerment as a process is central to the future direction of quality assurance and quality enhancement policies in the UK and in an international context. These studies of users' and carers' experiences of care in the UK and Eastern Europe involved over 500 individuals utilising an approach that allowed them to explain their experiences of the public care sector from their own perspective (Dowling 1997). In one follow up study, parents of children with disabilities designed the research tool and were involved in disseminating the findings from the research to social care organisations and the Social Care Institute for Excellence, (a government research organisation to promote innovative research that involves users and carers) (Dowling and Dolan 2001). The UNICEF research (2005) aims to utilise users and carers' experiences and views of their care to contribute to governments' polices concerning child disability and follow up qualitative research to this study is currently progressing in Bosnia, Bulgaria and Latvia. Users of welfare services are the least powerful of groups in whichever country is being studied. In terms of age, gender, material resources, class, education, ethnicity and disability they are likely to be in the most excluded section of their society although professionals who work with them and the staff who organise and develop services are often under paid and have low status too. The quality of social care services is considered in relation to three crucial issues: How can quality be measured? How can social service users and carers contribute to a quality service? How can the quality of services be improved so that innovative, participative and ongoing measurement of quality in social care organisations are developed through user and carer partnerships with social care managers and staff

Innovative Medicaid Initiatives to Improve Service Delivery and Quality of Care: A Look at Five State Initiatives

Outlines initiatives in Alabama, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington to implement patient-centered medical home models designed to coordinate and improve quality of care; strategies; key lessons; and new opportunities under healthcare reform

Practical Strategies for Pharmacist Integration with Primary Care: A Workbook.

This workbook is a practical set of tips and resources to assist pharmacists in providing clinical pharmacy services to primary care providers and their patients. The content was written based on experiences in Vermont in 2014, however the topics should generalize to pharmacists in other areas