Dentomaxillofacial radiology in Australia and dentist satisfaction with radiology reports.

BACKGROUND: Dentomaxillofacial Radiology (DMFR) is comprised of the smallest cohort of specialists in Australia. A survey was undertaken to assess awareness of DMFR, radiology reporting and referring protocols as well as dental practitioners' satisfaction with their radiology reporting arrangements. METHODS: An original online survey created using Checkbox† was sent to dental practitioners. The survey was promoted on Australian-based dental Facebook forums and emailed to targeted members via Australian professional dental associations. RESULTS: A total of 399 responses were received, with over 80% of respondents aware of DMFR as a specialty. Approximately 40% of practitioners were self-reporting their imaging. There was correlation between increased satisfaction with external reporting and utilization of DMFR services and decreased satisfaction with medical radiology services. More than 90% of general dentists and greater than 85% of dental specialists prefer DMFR reports to medical radiology reports. Approximately 80% of practitioners believed that their satisfaction would change positively if they had access to a DMFR report. CONCLUSION: The research indicates a high degree of self-reporting or non-reporting by dental practitioners. There is low satisfaction with external reporting performed by Medical Radiologists primarily due to a lack of dental knowledge or detail and a preference for DMF Radiology reports.

Medical resource use and costs of health care after acute stroke in Germany.

The purpose of this study was to determine the 12 months medical resource use following admission to hospital with acute stroke and to calculate costs from a societal perspective. Data of consecutive patients with confirmed stroke were analysed. Acute hospital data were taken from medical records, socio-demographic variables from patients' interviews. A follow-up questionnaire about resource utilization was completed by patients or proxies 12 months after acute hospital admission. Costs were calculated by multiplying medical resource units used with cost factors per unit. Mean age of a total of 383 patients was 65 years and 41% were female. The median length of the initial stay in the acute hospital was 12 days at an average cost of 4650 per patient (49% of direct costs). Rehabilitation (16%), readmission (11%), medication (9%), and nursing costs (6%) were other contributors to the direct costs which amounted to a total of 9452 +/- 7599 per patient during 12 months. Indirect cost amounted to a total of 2014 +/- 5312. Patients' age, severity and type of stroke influenced the total stroke-associated costs. The large economic burden of stroke indicates the need for assessing and improving efficient health care for affected patients.

Direct and indirect costs in a prospective cohort of patients with pancreatic cancer.

BACKGROUND: Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive cancer with a low survival time. So far, there have been no studies assessing direct and indirect costs in individual patients. AIM: To assess prospectively the cost of illness in patients with pancreatic cancer. METHODS: Patients were consecutively included at first admission to hospital. Sociodemographic factors, medical resource use and employment status were assessed by patient interviews and from medical records in a standardized way. Costs were calculated from the perspectives of the hospital, social insurance and society. Linear regression analyses were used to determine factors associated with costs. RESULTS: A total of 57 patients were admitted with suspected pancreatic cancer. Of these patients, 45 (79%) had pancreatic cancer as final diagnosis, 11 (19%) pancreatitis and one patient cystadenoma. The median survival was 10.9 months in patients with pancreatic cancer. Per month of observation from societal perspective, total costs were 4075 for patients. Costs of hospitalizations were responsible for 75% of total costs. In multivariable analyses, surgery, a lower educational level, younger age, and the prevalence of metastases were significantly associated with higher total costs. CONCLUSIONS: Costs are considerable in patients with pancreatic cancer. Our results may facilitate further economic evaluations and aid health policy-makers in resource allocation.