ABSTRACT
To enhance the timeliness of medical evaluation for cholera-like illness during the 2011 cholera outbreak in Hispaniola, printed Travel Health Alert Notices (T-HANs) were distributed to travelers from Haiti to the United States. Evaluation of the T-HANs' influence on travelers' health careseeking behavior suggested T-HANs might positively influence health careseeking behavior.
Subject(s)
Audiovisual Aids , Cholera/epidemiology , Cholera/prevention & control , Disease Outbreaks , Travel , Female , Florida/epidemiology , Haiti/epidemiology , Humans , Male , Patient Acceptance of Health Care , Public Health/educationABSTRACT
This article examines the features of a labor market in which there are two professional groups that both cooperate and directly compete with each other: certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) and anesthesiologists (MDAs). We examine how the relative numbers of these two types of anesthesia providers, and differences in regulation, affect the earnings of CRNAs, and the extent of supervision of CRNAs by MDAs. We find that both the earnings, and the likelihood of medical supervision of CRNAs, are closely determined by their market share. As the market share of CRNAs increases from 0% to 50%, the gains to MDAs from restricting competition increase; over this range the likelihood that CRNAs are supervised increases and their expected earnings decline. However, as the CRNAs' market share increases beyond 50%, the costs to MDAs of anticompetitive measures become too large, therefore, the probability of supervision declines, and the earnings of CRNAs increase.
Subject(s)
Anesthesia/nursing , Conflict, Psychological , Cooperative Behavior , Nurse Anesthetists , Anesthesiology/economics , Data Collection , Economic Competition , Female , Government Regulation , Humans , Male , Models, Econometric , Nurse Anesthetists/economics , Nurse Anesthetists/legislation & jurisprudence , Nurse Anesthetists/supply & distribution , Practice Patterns, Nurses' , Salaries and Fringe Benefits , United States , WorkforceABSTRACT
West Nile virus (WNV) is transmitted by mosquitoes and can cause illness in humans ranging from mild fever to encephalitis. In 2002, a total of 4,156 WNV cases were reported in the United States; 329 were in Louisiana. To estimate the economic impact of the 2002 WNV epidemic in Louisiana, we collected data from hospitals, a patient questionnaire, and public offices. Hospital charges were converted to economic costs by using Medicare cost-to-charge ratios. The estimated cost of the Louisiana epidemic was US 20.1 million dollars from June 2002 to February 2003, including a US 10.9 million dollars cost of illness (US 4.4 million dollars medical and US 6.5 million dollars nonmedical costs) and a US 9.2 million dollars cost of public health response. These data indicate a substantial short-term cost of the WNV disease epidemic in Louisiana.
