Human Service Nonprofits and Government Collaboration: Findings from the 2010 National Survey of Nonprofit Government Contracting and Grants

Presents nonprofit survey results on government contracts; their share of revenue; problems, including late or partial payments, complex application and reporting processes, and changes to contract terms; how nonprofits cope with them; and the results

Who Helps Public Schools? Public Education Support Organizations in 2010

There were more than 19,000 nonprofit organizations devoted to supporting public education in the United States in 2007. These organizations include booster clubs, parent-teacher groups, public education funds, scholarship funds, high school alumni associations, and others. While most of these organizations are small, together they spent roughly $4.3 billion in support of public education in 2007.This report assesses the current status of education support organizations in the United States; provides details on the activities, capacities, and resources of public education funds; and compares Public Education Network (PEN) member organizations with other types of education funds. On the basis of a survey of public education funds and an analysis of the latest data available from the National Center for Charitable Statistics, the report identifies key similarities and differences among the groups.Public education funds are dedicated to assisting public schools and school districts by raising money to support programs for teacher training and support, after-school programs, and school supplies and by promoting community support for public schools. The project was commissioned by PEN in Washington, D.C

Efficiency evaluation for pooling resources in health care

Hospitals traditionally segregate resources into centralized functional departments such as diagnostic departments, ambulatory care centres, and nursing wards. In recent years this organizational model has been challenged by the idea that higher quality of care and efficiency in service delivery can be achieved when services are organized around patient groups. Examples include specialized clinics for breast cancer patients and clinical pathways for diabetes patients. Hospitals are struggling with the question of whether to become more centralized to achieve economies of scale or more decentralized to achieve economies of focus. Using quantitative Queueing Theory and Simulation models, we examine service and patient group characteristics to determine the conditions where a centralized model is more efficient and conversely where a decentralized model is more efficient. The results from the model measure the tradeoffs between economies of scale and economies of focus from which management guidelines are derived

Designing for Economies of Scale vs. Economies of Focus in Hospital Departments

Subject/Research problem: Hospitals traditionally segregate resources into centralized functional departments such as diagnostic departments, ambulatory care centres, and nursing wards. In recent years this organizational model has been challenged by the idea that higher quality of care and efficiency in service delivery can be achieved when services are organized around patient groups. Examples are specialized clinics for breast cancer patients and clinical pathways for diabetes patients. Hospitals are struggling with the question whether to become more centralized to achieve economies of scale or more decentralized to achieve economies of focus. In this paper service and patient group characteristics are examined to determine conditions where a centralized model is more efficient and conversely where a decentralized model is more efficient. - Research Question: When organizing hospital capacity what service and patient group characteristics indicate efficiency can be gained through economies of scale vs. economies of focus? - Approach: Using quantitative Queueing Theory and Simulation models the performance of centralized and decentralized hospital clinics is compared. This is done for a variety of services and patient groups. - Result: The study results in a model measuring the tradeoffs between economies of scale and economies of focus. From this model management guidelines are derived. - Application: The general results support strategic planning for a new facility at the Netherlands Cancer Institute - Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital. A model developed during this research is also applied in the Chemotherapy Department of the same hospital

Efficiency evaluation for pooling resources in health care

Hospitals traditionally segregate resources into centralized functional departments such as diagnostic departments, ambulatory care centers, and nursing wards. In recent years this organizational model has been challenged by the idea that higher quality of care and efficiency in service delivery can be achieved when services are organized around patient groups. Examples include specialized clinics for breast cancer patients and clinical pathways for diabetes patients. Hospitals are struggling with the question of whether to become more centralized to achieve economies of scale or more decentralized to achieve economies of focus. In this paper we examine service and patient group characteristics to study the conditions where a centralized model is more efficient, and conversely, where a decentralized model is more efficient. This relationship is examined analytically with a queuing model to determine themost influential factors and then with simulation to fine-tune the results. The tradeoffs between economies of scale and economies of focus measured by these models are used to derive general management guidelines

Efficiency evaluation for pooling resources in health care: An interpretation for managers

Subject/Research problem\ud Hospitals traditionally segregated resources into centralized functional departments such as diagnostic departments, ambulatory care centres, and nursing wards. In recent years this organizational model has been challenged by the idea that higher quality of care and efficiency in service delivery can be achieved when services are organized around patient groups. Examples are specialized clinics for breast cancer patients and clinical pathways for diabetes patients. Hospitals are grappling more and more with the question, should we become more centralized to achieve economies of scale or more decentralized to achieve economies of focus. In this paper service and patient group characteristics are examined to determine conditions where a centralized model is more efficient and conversely where a decentralized model is more efficient.\ud Research Question\ud When organizing hospital capacity what service and patient group characteristics indicate that efficiency can be gained through economies of scale vs. economies of focus?\ud Approach\ud Using quantitative models from the Queueing Theory and Simulation disciplines the performance of centralized and decentralized hospital clinics are compared. This is done for a variety of services and patient groups. \ud Result\ud The study results in a model measuring the tradeoffs between economies of scale and economies of focus. From this model “rules of thumb” for managers are derived.\ud Application\ud The general results support strategic planning for a new facility at the Netherlands Cancer Institute - Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital. A model developed during this study is also applied in the Chemotherapy Department of the same hospital.\u

A survey of health care models that encompass multiple departments

In this survey we review quantitative health care models to illustrate the extent to which they encompass multiple hospital departments. The paper provides general overviews of the relationships that exists between major hospital departments and describes how these relationships are accounted for by researchers. We find the atomistic view of hospitals often taken by researchers is partially due to the ambiguity of patient care trajectories. To this end clinical pathways literature is reviewed to illustrate its potential for clarifying patient flows and for providing a holistic hospital perspective

The onion industry in Pleasant Valley, Iowa

The Pleasant Valley onion district in Scott county, Iowa, presents a striking example of crop specialization and intensive culture in contrast to the typical corn belt farming which prevails in this state. Approximately 500 acres are devoted exclusively to onions on a continuous crop basis, and much of the land has been devoted to this particular crop for decades. This is one of the oldest agricultural regions of the state. In the following pages is presented a summary of a farm survey* of the onion industry of this region, including a study of the cultural practices, the problems of disease and insect control, cost of production, marketing, tenure and the seasonal distribution of labor

High-Tip-Speed, Low-Loading Transonic Fan Stage. Part 1: Aerodynamic and Mechanical Design

A high-tip-speed, low-loading transonic fan stage was designed to deliver an overall pressure ratio of 1.5 with an adiabatic efficiency of 86 percent. The design flow per unit annulus area is 42.0 pounds per square foot. The fan features a hub/tip ratio of 0.46, a tip diameter of 28.74 in. and operates at a design tip speed of 1600 fps. For these design conditions, the rotor blade tip region operates with supersonic inlet and supersonic discharge relative velocities. A sophisticated quasi-three-dimensional characteristic section design procedure was used for the all-supersonic sections and the inlet of the midspan transonic sections. For regions where the relative outlet velocities are supersonic, the blade operates with weak oblique shocks only

Differential spot-size focus servo

We describe performance of a differential spot-size (wax-wane) focus servo. Crosstalk from the tracks are analyzed in the single detector and differential focus circuits. Magnitude of the crosstalk is reduced by a factor of three in the differential circuit. A false focus-error signal (FES) is present when the spot crosses sector marks at an angle