Going beyond health efficiency: What really matters?

Both citizens and policymakers demand the best possible results from a country's healthcare system. It is of utmost importance to accurately and objectively assess the efficiency of a healthcare system and to note the key indicators, where resources are lost, and possibilities for improvement. This paper evaluates the efficiency of health systems in 38 countries, mainly members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, using data envelopment analysis (DEA). In the first stage, bootstrapped Ivanovic distance is used to generate weights for the indicators, thus taking into consideration different country's goals, but not to the extent of reducing the possibility of comparison. The analysis shows that human resources are the most important health system resource and countries should pay special attention to developing and employing competent medical workers. The reorganization of human resources and the funds allocated to them could also increase efficiency. The second stage examines environmental indicators to find the causes of inefficiency. No proof is found that any one basic health system funding model produces better health outcomes than the others. Obesity is identified as a major issue.

Dental Recordkeeping: Practice in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

BACKGROUND: Dental documentation which includes main information about a patient and dental treatment provided is a very important asset of each dental office. OBJECTIVE: This research aims to analyze the way of fulfilling and keeping mandatory dental records and periodic reporting forms by doctors of dental medicine in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FB&H). METHODS: The study was observational with a cross-sectional design using a questionnaire as a study tool. The questionnaire was distributed electronically to the participants working in public health care facilities and private practice. RESULTS: A total of 426 Doctors of Dental Medicine (DDM) participated in the study, of whom 58.7% of respondents were employed in dental offices in the public health sector and 41.3% in dental offices in the private health sector. Dental records are filled out only manually by 53.5% of respondents, while 9.4% fill out the records only electronically, while 37.1% of respondents fill out records both manually and electronically. The manner of keeping dental documentation between respondents employed in dental offices in the public health sector and dental offices in the private health sector differs significantly (p<0.05). Almost all respondents understand the purpose and significance of keeping dental records. CONCLUSION: This paper points out that good dental records are of great importance as they allow monitoring the quality of services provided to patients for a longer period.

An Overview of Human Resources and Capacity in Health Care Institutions in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Context of Responding to the COVID 19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The organization of health care system on Cantonal level with the coordination from Federal level represents a real situation with the possibility of decentralization of health care system according to the experiences of developed countries. OBJECTIVE: To make an overview of the situation at the primary and hospital health care level with the aim of assessing the existing human resources and capacity of health care institutions in FB&H, with which we entered in COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: This retrospective study presents the efficiency of health care in FB&H measured by number of medical doctors, and other medical staff during the time period of five years. Data of the Institute for Public Health FB&H were used. The Institute for Public Health FB&H is authorised by the law to conduct and implement statistical research in the field of health care in line with relevant laws and by-laws. The Institute is obliged to report on organisational structure, human resources and medical equipment. RESULTS: Presented data include the number of health care employees in medical institutions in FB&H in the period 2015-2019 per 100,000 inhabitants and their numbers in primary health care, family medicine, secondary and tertiary level of health care in 2019. The study also presents the number of doctors of medicine, specialists and medical residents in FB&H, the number of nurses of all profiles and levels of education as well as medical staff and other employees in the public health care system in FB&H in 2019. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic in FB&H has confirmed the fact that human resources in health care are insufficient, especially in the field of public health and epidemiology. The availability of these health facilities and human resource is not uniform throughout the FB&H, which may affect the capacity of the health system in some parts of the FB&H to meet the needs of providing services during COVID-19 pandemic.

Ascending central canal dilation and progressive ependymal disruption in a contusion model of rodent chronic spinal cord injury.

BACKGROUND: Chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) can lead to an insidious decline in motor and sensory function in individuals even years after the initial injury and is accompanied by a slow and progressive cytoarchitectural destruction. At present, no pathological mechanisms satisfactorily explain the ongoing degeneration. METHODS: Adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were anesthetized laminectomized at T10 and received spinal cord contusion injuries with a force of 250 kilodynes using an Infinite Horizon Impactor. Animals were randomly distributed into 5 groups and killed 1 (n = 4), 28 (n = 4), 120 (n = 4), 450 (n = 5), or 540 (n = 5) days after injury. Morphometric and immunohistochemical studies were then performed on 1 mm block sections, 6 mm cranial and 6 mm caudal to the lesion epicenter. The SPSS 11.5 t test was used to determine differences between quantitative measures. RESULTS: Here, we document the first report of an ascending central canal dilation and progressive ependymal disruption cranial to the epicenter of injury in a contusion model of chronic SCI, which was characterized by extensive dural fibrosis and intraparenchymal cystic cavitation. Expansion of the central canal lumen beyond a critical diameter corresponded with ependymal cell ciliary loss, an empirically predictable thinning of the ependymal region, and a decrease in cell proliferation in the ependymal region. Large, aneurysmal dilations of the central canal were accompanied by disruptions in the ependymal layer, periependymal edema and gliosis, and destruction of the adjacent neuropil. CONCLUSION: Cells of the ependymal region play an important role in CSF homeostasis, cellular signaling and wound repair in the spinal cord. The possible effects of this ascending pathology on ependymal function are discussed. Our studies suggest central canal dilation and ependymal region disruption as steps in the pathogenesis of chronic SCI, identify central canal dilation as a marker of chronic SCI and provide novel targets for therapeutic intervention.

Septations in chronic spinal cord injury cavities contain axons.

Human spinal cord injury (SCI) can result in progressive degeneration that may continue for many years and lead to the formation of highly septated cystic cavities. This hallmark feature has been reproduced in experimental models, but neither its pathogenesis nor clinically relevant features have been fully elucidated. Here, we show for the first time in a rodent model of chronic SCI that the septations spanning cavities contain axons.