Improving Resident Understanding of Healthcare Business and Policy through the Development of a High-yield and Dynamic Educational Series

Objective: Residents have a strong desire to be engaged in and learn about the financial and societal impact of health care delivery and reform initiatives1,2. In order to address this need, a Business and Health Policy Educational Series was developed, with positive feedback from participating residents. Background: During the Program Evaluation Committee (PEC) meeting, as part of the annual review of the ACGME education curriculum for the Virginia Commonwealth University Neurology Residency Program, a deficiency was identified with regard to resident self-perception of understanding of the business and policy of healthcare and reform initiatives. This deficiency is one shared at many programs across most specialties1. A recommendation was put forth that this was an opportunity for improvement, and the design and rollout of an educational series on business and health policy was undertaken, with positive results. Design/Methods: A high-yield and interactive educational series consisting of 20-30 minute sessions was developed to address certain topics within the business and healthcare policy spectrum. Topics covered included: how does healthcare work?; overview of practice income and expenses; benchmarks; what is an RVU?; impact of rising medication costs; compensation plans and salary realities. Results: Results of the End of the Year Educational Survey by residents showed an overwhelmingly positive response to the curriculum initiative. The PEC recommended continuing the program, with minor modifications for the following year. Topics suggested to be included were: how do residents get paid?; the opiate epidemic; understanding the Affordable Care Act; and developing a hands-on billing and coding workshop. A set of relevant journal articles to provide resources will be included. Conclusions: Having an understanding of the business and policy of healthcare and reform initiatives is important to residents, and effective results are obtainable through the development of a high yield, interactive educational curriculum initiative

Surface structure of thin asymmetric PS-b-PMMA diblock copolymers investigated by atomic force microscopy

Asymmetric poly(styrene-b-methyl methacrylate) (PS-b-PMMA) diblock copolymers of molecular weight M-n = 29,700g mol(-1) (M-PS = 9300 g mol(-1) M-PMMA = 20,100 g mol(-1), PD = 1.15, chi(PS) = 0.323, chi(PMMA) = 0.677) and M-n = 63,900 g mol(-1) (M-PS = 50,500 g mol(-1), M-PMMA = 13,400 g mol(-1), PD = 1.18, chi(PS) = 0.790, chi(PMMA) = 0.210) were prepared via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to investigate the surface structure of thin films, prepared by spin-coating the diblock copolymers on a silicon substrate. We show that the nanostructure of the diblock copolymer depends on the molecular weight and volume fraction of the diblock copolymers. We observed a perpendicular lamellar structure for the high molar mass sample and a hexagonal-packed cylindrical patterning for the lower molar mass one. Small-angle X-ray scattering investigation of these samples without annealing did not reveal any ordered structure. Annealing of PS-b-PMMA samples at 160 degrees C for 24 h led to a change in surface structure

Innovation in an Aging Population

What is the effect of population aging on the rate of innovation? In this paper, I examine a new channel and argue that demographic shifts affect the demand for innovative goods. In an overlapping-generations model, it is assumed that individuals must spend time on learning how to use new technology. This creates age-dependent demand structures because older individuals have limited time windows for investments to pay off. The result is that in an aging population a larger fraction of the population does not invest in acquiring new skills. The amount of R&D is reduced as demand for innovative goods falls. Using data from all OECD countries for the period 1978-2010, I find support for these theoretical predictions. Those countries that faced the largest demographic shifts experienced the sharpest growth reduction in patent applications

Contribution to the Physiography of Tasmania

Pine Island is one of the five or six islets which, at wide intervals, dot the surface of the magnificent sheet of water known as the Great Lake. Considering the shallowness of its waters and its extremely irregular outline, it is singular that there are so few islands in this lake. Those that do exist are all of small area. Pine Island is situated in the north-eastern corner of the great bend of the lake, the eastern shore of which skirts the foot of the so-called " Sand-bank Tier," a rugged talus-strewn range, about 4 miles in length. The local name has its origin in the sandy shore which bounds this part, and along which the water is remarkably shallow, running out for about half a mile, with a depth of not more than a couple of feet

Note on the birds of Tasmania

Includes a systematic listing of Tasmanian bird

On the weaver bird (Ploceus baya: Blyth), in Ceylon.

The sub-family Ploceince, or Weaver Birds,—by reason of their singular and interesting habits, and the wonderful ingenuity displayed in the construction of their nests,—may be said to rank foremost in the great family of Fringillidae; and differ, in company with another interesting section, the Munias (Estreldinae),from others of the finch tribe, in having a minute first primary. The weaver birds, which are inhabitants of tropical Asia and of parts of Africa, are represented in the former region by only one genus, Ploceus, of which there are four species, — Ploceus baya (Blyth), P. striatus (Blyth), P. Bengalensis (Linn.), and P. Philippinus

On some diminutive types of Tasmanian stone implements

It is the object of this paper to attempt to give a detailed description of some of the smaller forms of stone implements made by the extinct Tasmanians, which, on account of their comparative scarcity and diminutive size, have hitherto not figured prominently in discussions relative to Tasmanian Stone Culture, of which they constitute a very important feature. Many of these tiny examples of Aboriginal stone-craft exhibit a high degree of skill in their manufacture, with their delicately chipped edges and cleverly fabricated points, and as an undoubted analogy exists between them and some Mainland forms, they deserve full consideration from students of Ethnology and Archreology, especially in their relation to Tasmania. For purposes of description here, these miniature implements may be divided into three main types, which will be called, respectively, Planes, Gravers & Borers, and Scrapers, all of which have their distinct prototypes.In the ordinary more or less well-defined forms which occur in and around all the chief native camping grounds on the East Coast and Midlands

Places in diplomacy

In the world of diplomacy, what does Vienna or Paris evoke, for instance? For the historian, there is the inevitability of associating these imperial capitals of the Old World with major diplomatic events such as the Congress of Vienna of 1815 and the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. International conferences have a peculiar habit of acquiring nicknames taken after the cities in which they take place. Historians talk in the shorthand of ‘at Versailles’, ‘at The Hague’, ‘at London’ and so forth, implicitly drawing boundaries of shared knowledge and expectations. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, these places were overwhelmingly located in Europe, which was largely a reflection of the configuration of political power in the world. But, also, it exposes limitations in how we have come to conceptualise diplomacy as predominantly a Western-centric process. Notable exceptions were diplomatic events that marked the decline of the once mighty empires, such as the Treaty of Nanking of 1842 ending the first Opium War, one of the ignominious of the nineteenth-century treaties