Systematic review on quality control for drug management programs: Is quality reported in the literature?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Maintaining quality of care while managing limited healthcare resources is an ongoing challenge in healthcare. The objective of this study was to evaluate how the impact of drug management programs is reported in the literature and to identify potentially existing quality standards.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This analysis relates to the published research on the impact of drug management on economic, clinical, or humanistic outcomes in managed care, indemnity insurance, VA, or Medicaid in the USA published between 1996 and 2007. Included articles were systematically analyzed for study objective, study endpoints, and drug management type. They were further categorized by drug management tool, primary objective, and study endpoints.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>None of the 76 included publications assessed the overall quality of drug management tools. The impact of 9 different drug management tools used alone or in combination was studied in pharmacy claims, medical claims, electronic medical records or survey data from either patient, plan or provider perspective using an average of 2.1 of 11 possible endpoints. A total of 68% of the studies reported the impact on plan focused endpoints, while the clinical, the patient or the provider perspective were studied to a much lower degree (45%, 42% and 12% of the studies). Health outcomes were only accounted for in 9.2% of the studies.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Comprehensive assessment of quality considering plan, patient and clinical outcomes is not yet applied. There is no defined quality standard. Benchmarks including health outcomes should be determined and used to improve the overall clinical and economic effectiveness of drug management programs.</p

A historical overview of the Pavilion Lake Research Project-Analog science and exploration in an underwater environment

As humans venture back to the Moon, or onward to near-Earth objects and Mars, it is expected that the rigors of this exploration will far exceed those of Apollo. Terrestrial analogs can play a key role in our preparations for these complex voyages, since in addition to their scientifi c value, analogs afford the exploration community a means to safely prepare and test exploration strategies for future robotic and human planetary missions. Many relevant analog studies exist, and each is focused on a particular aspect of strategic development. Some analog programs such as the Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP) present the opportunity to investigate both real scientifi c and real exploration scenarios in tandem. The activities of this research program demand the use of techniques, tools, and strategies for underwater scientifi c exploration, and the challenges associated with the scientifi c exploration of Pavilion Lake are analogous to those human explorers will encounter on other planetary and small solar system bodies. The goal of this paper is to provide a historical synopsis of the PLRP's objectives, milestones, and contributions to both the scientifi c and exploration community. Here, we focus on detailing the development and deployment of an integrated science and exploration program with analog application to our understanding of early Earth systems and the preparation for future human space exploration. Over a decade of exploration and discovery is chronicled herein. © 2011 The Geological Society of America.link_to_subscribed_fulltex