Growing Older in Hong Kong, New York and London

published_or_final_versio

A tale of three world cities: health care policy implications

Conference Theme: Managing World Citiespublished_or_final_versio

Not Perfect, but Better: Primary Care Providers’ Experiences with Electronic Referrals in a Safety Net Health System

BackgroundElectronic referrals can improve access to subspecialty care in safety net settings. In January 2007, San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH) launched an electronic referral portal that incorporated subspecialist triage, iterative communication with referring providers, and existing electronic health record data to improve access to subspecialty care.ObjectiveWe surveyed primary care providers (PCPs) to assess the impact of electronic referrals on workflow and clinical care.DesignWe administered an 18-item, web-based questionnaire to all 368 PCPs who had the option of referring to SFGH.MeasurementsWe asked participants to rate time spent submitting a referral, guidance of workup, wait times, and change in overall clinical care compared to prior referral methods using 5-point Likert scales. We used multivariate logistic regression to identify variables associated with perceived improvement in overall clinical care.ResultsTwo hundred ninety-eight PCPs (81.0%) from 24 clinics participated. Over half (55.4%) worked at hospital-based clinics, 27.9% at county-funded community clinics, and 17.1% at non-county-funded community clinics. Most (71.9%) reported that electronic referrals had improved overall clinical care. Providers from non-county-funded clinics (AOR 0.40, 95% CI 0.14-0.79) and those who spent > or =6 min submitting an electronic referral (AOR 0.33, 95%CI 0.18-0.61) were significantly less likely than other participants to report that electronic referrals had improved clinical care.ConclusionsPCPs felt electronic referrals improved health-care access and quality; those who reported a negative impact on workflow were less likely to agree. While electronic referrals hold promise as a tool to improve clinical care, their impact on workflow should be considered

The spatial pattern of premature mortality in Hong Kong: how does it relate to public housing?

Research into understanding the relationship between access to housing, health and wellbeing in cities has yielded mixed evidence to date and has been limited to case studies from Western countries. Many studies appear to highlight the negative effects of public housing in influencing the health of its residents. Current trends in the urban housing markets in cities of advanced Asian economies and debates surrounding the role of government in providing housing underscore the need for more focused research into housing and health. In this paper, we investigate Hong Kong as an example of a thriving Asian city by exploring and comparing the intra-urban geographies of premature mortality and public housing provision in the city. Using a fully Bayesian spatial structural model, we estimate associations between public housing provision and different types of premature mortality. We find significant geographic variations in premature mortality within Hong Kong during the five-year period 2005–2009, with positive associations between the residents of public housing and premature mortality risk. But the associations attenuate or are even reversed for premature mortality of injuries and non-communicable diseases after controlling for local deprivation, housing instability, access to local amenities and other neighbourhood characteristics. The results indicate that public housing may have a protective effect on community health, which contradicts the findings of similar studies carried out in Western cities. We suggest reasons why the association between public housing and health differs in Hong Kong and discuss the implications for housing policy in Hong Kong and other Asian cities

The importance of examining movements within the US health care system: sequential logit modeling

Background: Utilization of specialty care may not be a discrete, isolated behavior but rather, a behavior of sequential movements within the health care system. Although patients may often visit their primary care physician and receive a referral before utilizing specialty care, prior studies have underestimated the importance of accounting for these sequential movements. Methods: The sample included 6,772 adults aged 18 years and older who participated in the 2001 Survey on Disparities in Quality of Care, sponsored by the Commonwealth Fund. A sequential logit model was used to account for movement in all stages of utilization: use of any health services (i.e., first stage), having a perceived need for specialty care (i.e., second stage), and utilization of specialty care (i.e., third stage). In the sequential logit model, all stages are nested within the previous stage. Results: Gender, race/ethnicity, education and poor health had significant explanatory effects with regard to use of any health services and having a perceived need for specialty care, however racial/ethnic, gender, and educational disparities were not present in utilization of specialty care. After controlling for use of any health services and having a perceived need for specialty care, inability to pay for specialty care via income (AOR = 1.334, CI = 1.10 to 1.62) or health insurance (unstable insurance: AOR = 0.26, CI = 0.14 to 0.48; no insurance: AOR = 0.12, CI = 0.07 to 0.20) were significant barriers to utilization of specialty care. Conclusions: Use of a sequential logit model to examine utilization of specialty care resulted in a detailed representation of utilization behaviors and patient characteristics that impact these behaviors at all stages within the health care system. After controlling for sequential movements within the health care system, the biggest barrier to utilizing specialty care is the inability to pay, while racial, gender, and educational disparities diminish to non-significance. Findings from this study represent how Americans use the health care system and more precisely reveals the disparities and inequalities in the U.S. health care system

Hong Kong and other world cities

With population aging and increasing urbanization, it is important to examine the quality of life of older people living in cities, in particular world cities. However, few comparative studies of world cities examine their health, long-term care systems, or the characteristics of their older populations. To assess how well world cities are addressing the challenges associated with aging populations, it is helpful to review comparable data on the economic and health status of older persons, as well as the availability and use of health, social, and long-term care services. By extending the work of the “CADENZA: A Jockey Club Initiative for Seniors” Project and the World Cities Project, this chapter compares three world cities—Hong Kong, New York City, and London. The three world cities are similar in the size and proportion of their older populations, but the characteristics of older people and the health and long-term care systems available to them differ in significant ways. These comparisons reveal how Hong Kong, New York City, and London are responding to a rapidly aging population. They should be valuable to other cities that face the challenges of population aging

Avoidable mortality pattern in a Chinese population - Hong Kong, China

Background: We examined the avoidable mortality pattern in Hong Kong, and the influence of age and gender. Comparison with Paris, Inner London and Manhattan was performed, and we discussed the findings in terms of prevention programmes, ethnicity and lifestyles. Methods: Mortality and population data by age and gender were obtained from vital statistics sources. Two periods, 1999-2003 and 2004-06, were selected for analysis. Negative binomial regression and logistic regression were used to model, respectively, the number and proportion of avoidable mortality, in relation to age and gender. Results: The standardized total mortality rates (per 1000 population) were 2.51 in the period 1999-2003 and 2.25 in the period 2004-06, whereas the standardized avoidable mortality rates (per 1000 population) were 0.85 and 0.77 for the two periods, respectively. Cerebrovascular disease (stroke) was the leading cause of avoidable mortality. Women in the age range of 65-74 years had the highest avoidable mortality proportion. In 1999-2003, Hong Kong had the second lowest standardized avoidable mortality rate among the four cities compared, whereas the avoidable mortality proportion was the highest. Conclusion: There might be room for improvement in the primary care system in Hong Kong, particularly in the development of effective prevention programmes targeting the leading causes of avoidable mortality. © The Author 2010.link_to_subscribed_fulltex