Partially Identifying Treatment Effects with an Application to Covering the Uninsured

We extend the nonparametric literature on partially identified probability distributions and use our analytical results to provide sharp bounds on the impact of universal health insurance on provider visits and medical expenditures. Our approach accounts for uncertainty about the reliability of self-reported insurance status as well as uncertainty created by unknown counterfactuals. We construct health insurance validation data using detailed information from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Imposing relatively weak nonparametric assumptions, we estimate that under universal coverage monthly per capita provider visits and expenditures would rise by less than 8% and 16%, respectively, across the nonelderly population.

Up Close: Steven Weathers

China\u27s connection to the American Sout

Pharmacological characterization of the bovine median caudal artery

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/3325730

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationHospital discharge instructions are critical for a patient's posthospitalization recovery. When patients are discharged to home they frequently have to manage wound/incision care, change dressings, take medications, modify activities, follow specialized diets and recognize signs or symptoms that require medical attention. Unfortunately, conditions of hospitalization, effects of illness on cognition, and low health literacy impact a patient's ability to understand discharge instructions. Two studies were completed for this dissertation research. The first was conducted to understand how discharge instructions are created and used by healthcare professionals and by patients. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 5 nurses and 5 doctors who work at the University of Utah Hospital Cardiovascular Medical Unit and 5 patients recently hospitalized on this unit. Coded interview segments were analyzed to reveal themes, which converged with discharge instruction literature, that were then developed as strategies to improve discharge instructions. Strategies included the modification of content through text simplification to improve patient comprehension, the enhancement of readability with logical formatting, the use of discharge instructions to provide consistent information to the patient and the inclusion of pictures or illustrations. The second study was a randomized controlled trial with aims to evaluate the effect of standard versus pictograph-enhanced discharge instructions on immediate and delayed patient recall of the content of and patient satisfaction with their discharge instructions. Participants were randomly assigned to receive standard (n = 71) or pictograph-enhanced (n = 73) discharge instructions and were asked to recall the content of their instructions at discharge and 1 week post discharge. Patients who received pictograph-enhanced discharge instructions recalled more of their instructions at discharge than those who received standard discharge instructions, (t(142) = -3.1, p < .01), and were also more satisfied with the ease of understanding discharge instructions one week after hospital discharge than those who received standard discharge instructions (z(142) = -2.4, p = .016). A multifaceted, comprehensive approach is essential to assist patients through the transition from hospital to self-care. The results of these studies, to improve discharge instruction creation and enhance their understandability, provide interventions that can serve an important role in such an approach

Exploring natural resource management tradeoffs in an agricultural landscape - an application of the MOSAIC model.

We describe a landscape scale non-linear discrete choice spatial optimisation model for identifying cost-effective strategies for achieving environmental goals. Spatial heterogeneity and configuration issues such as fencing costs, patch sizes and network linkages are explicitly accounted for and quasi-optimal allocations are determined using simulated annealing. Applications of the model being developed with New South Wales Catchment Management Authorities are discussed. These focus on targeting investments in revegetation to control dryland salinity and erosion and provide biodiversity benefits whilst minimising direct and opportunity costs. We compare our approach with alternate investment approaches.natural resource management, cost effectiveness, land use change, multicriteria, spatial optimisation, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

In vivo research scheduling and coordination in the pharmaceutical industry

Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-90).Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.(cont.) A multi-criteria objective function uses the researcher's preference to optimize both room assignments and procedure start time. A Tabu search meta-heuristic has been developed to generate a near-optimal solution. The solution approach uses four neighborhood move strategies based on insert and interval exchange algorithms to optimize procedural room assignments. Although a functioning model was not developed, a recommended implementation plan is discussed.The pharmaceutical industry is experiencing significant competitive pressures. Innovation productivity continues to decline, while the costs for drug R&D steadily rise. This project, sponsored by Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR), is intended to lower drug R&D costs and increase R&D process efficiency through improved research operations. This analysis focuses on improving the scheduling and coordination of early stage, in vivo drug discovery research projects within NIBR's animal facilities. Many of the communication processes used to coordinate research activities in these facilities use ad hoc methods for relaying critical information between research teams and the operations staff. Greater efficiencies can be achieved with the application of risk pooling concepts where dispersed research activities are brought together under a consolidated management structure. These efficiencies cannot be realized until the communication processes are improved. Integral to this improvement effort is the development of a fair and robust method for allocating in vivo resources to research projects using a centralized scheduling system. This thesis provides the framework for developing a centralized scheduling system. The architecture of this tool requires a web-based interface in order to provide seamless access to the research community. Based on research workflows, the proposed tool coordinates input from scientists and uses this information to schedule the required resources. The complex constraints found in a research animal facility dictate the need for a unique scheduling approach. Adapted from existing airline gate scheduling research, this problem is formulated as a mixed integer linear program.by Brent A. Hill.S.M.M.B.A