An epidemiological study of injuries in an urban slum community in the metropolitan city of Mumbai

Background: In India, injuries account for an estimated 15% of total deaths and 15% of disability adjusted life years (DALYs) with resulting economic losses of 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) for the country. Learning about injuries is the first step to reduce the risks of injuries in the community. The objectives of the study were to describe the nature of injuries and their relationship to select epidemiological variables and also to assess the type of health facility accessed and the cost incurred therein.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out from May 2016 to October 2017. A recall period of three months for minor injuries & one year for major injuries or deaths due to injury was used. Data was collected by using semi-structured, pre-designed, pre-tested and open-ended questionnaires.Results: In this study, 70.7% subjects were male and 29.3% were female. There were 216 injuries either affecting work or for which treatment was availed, out of which 170 did not have knowledge about first-aid. 44.4% of study subjects belonged to 25- 44 years and 35.6% injured were daily wage-earners. 37.96% of injuries were caused by road traffic accident and 19.9% found to have suffered from cut injuries and there were 5 deaths. 48.3% study subject took treatment in the government hospital because of the affordable cost.Conclusions: This study can help the integrated disease surveillance program to plan data collection on injuries occurring in the community in order to get a comprehensive picture of total morbidity.

The Status of Infection Control Nurses and Factors Affecting Infection Control Activities in Healthcare Facilities with more than 150 Beds in 2016 in KOREA / 임상간호연구

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to describe the status of infection control nurses (ICNs) and their activities, and to identify the factors affecting the level of infection control activities. Methods: Data were collected from 199 hospitals from June 24 to July 26, 2016. The structured questionnaires included status of infection control nurses, type and level of infection control activities. METHODS: Data were collected from 199 hospitals from June 24 to July 26, 2016. The structured questionnaires included status of infection control nurses, type and level of infection control activities. RESULTS: Most participating hospital were advanced general hospital (20.1%) and general hospital (67.8%). Among the hospitals, 86.4% had an infection control department (ICD). The average hospital work experience of ICNs was 14.62 years, and their average infection control career was for 4.94 years. Among the ICNs, 85.6% worked in full time and the average number of beds per ICN was 311.21. There were significant differences in the existence of ICD, infection control activities including surveillance, outbreak investigation, negative pressure room, hand hygiene monitoring, disinfection, and sterilization according to hospital size. The level of infection control activities was higher with more number of ICNs, ICN employment as full time, and healthcare institution accreditation status. The explanatory power was 37.5%. CONCLUSION: These results of this study which reflect infection control status of healthcare facilities with more than 150 beds in 2016 will provide baseline data to establish infection control system in small to medium sized hospitals after the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak in 2015.

Review on the pay for performance impact on hospital costs / 中国卫生政策研究

Objective:To analyze the pay for performance related costs and provide suggestions for further stud-y. Methods:Empirical literatures from inside the country and overseas were collected with a systematic review. Costs were summarized on the basis of three drivers ( performance appraisal, performance improvement and incentive per-formance) . Results:A total of 141 papers, 47 in Chinese and 94 in English were enrolled. Most papers in Chinese were subjected on healthcare facilities while the English ones emphasized on hospitals. Pay for performance may lead to the healthcare service costs, regulation costs and the resources allocation related costs reduction. In addition to these visible costs, a large amount of others hidden from different hospital management levels were also due to pay for performance. Conclusions:(1) Differences in costs could be found from home and overseas experience which per-haps resulted from the pay for performance, the supporting measures and the policy development. (2) More attention should be paid to the quantification researches on the health facilities’ hidden costs. (3) Most available researches fo-cus on pay for performance cost-effectiveness from the society and service purchase but not the providers’ perspective and the hidden costs were also ignored.

HEALTHCARE FACILITY MANAGEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES

In the United States there is a close association between medical technology management (clinical engineering) and healthcare facility management (facility engineering). It is useful for clinical engineers to understand the work of facility engineers because both professions represent the application of engineering expertise to support safe and effective patient care. This article provides an overview of healthcare facility management practice in the United States.