Well-Being in the Nation: A Living Library of Measures to Drive Multi-Sector Population Health Improvement and Address Social Determinants.

Policy Points Well-being In the Nation (WIN) offers the first parsimonious set of vetted common measures to improve population health and social determinants across sectors at local, state, and national levels and is driven by what communities need to improve health, well-being, and equity. The WIN measures were codesigned with more than 100 communities, federal agencies, and national organizations across sectors, in alignment with the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics, the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act, and Healthy People 2030. WIN offers a process for a collaborative learning measurement system to drive a learning health and well-being system across sectors at the community, state, and national levels. The WIN development process identified critical gaps and opportunities in equitable community-level data infrastructure, interoperability, and protections that could be used to inform the Federal Data Strategy.

Structural Information from Single-molecule FRET Experiments Using the Fast Nano-positioning System.

Single-molecule Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (smFRET) can be used to obtain structural information on biomolecular complexes in real-time. Thereby, multiple smFRET measurements are used to localize an unknown dye position inside a protein complex by means of trilateration. In order to obtain quantitative information, the Nano-Positioning System (NPS) uses probabilistic data analysis to combine structural information from X-ray crystallography with single-molecule fluorescence data to calculate not only the most probable position but the complete three-dimensional probability distribution, termed posterior, which indicates the experimental uncertainty. The concept was generalized for the analysis of smFRET networks containing numerous dye molecules. The latest version of NPS, Fast-NPS, features a new algorithm using Bayesian parameter estimation based on Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampling and parallel tempering that allows for the analysis of large smFRET networks in a comparably short time. Moreover, Fast-NPS allows the calculation of the posterior by choosing one of five different models for each dye, that account for the different spatial and orientational behavior exhibited by the dye molecules due to their local environment. Here we present a detailed protocol for obtaining smFRET data and applying the Fast-NPS. We provide detailed instructions for the acquisition of the three input parameters of Fast-NPS: the smFRET values, as well as the quantum yield and anisotropy of the dye molecules. Recently, the NPS has been used to elucidate the architecture of an archaeal open promotor complex. This data is used to demonstrate the influence of the five different dye models on the posterior distribution.

[Health related costs of smoking from the viewpoint of the Health Insurance Fund in Hungary]. / A dohányzás egészségügyi hatásainak költségei az Országos Egészségbiztosítási Pénztár szemével.

UNLABELLED: In recent times, the topic of smoking has been extensively debated in Hungary. A new Act has been issued for the protection of non-smokers and for the regulation of tobacco product distribution. AIMS: The aim of the authors was to examine the economic burden of smoking on the society. METHODS: According to wildly accepted estimates, 30% of the Hungarian population smokes. Smoking leads to the development of several diseases, for example, it is responsible for 90% of lung cancer cases. RESULTS: 17.2% of the curative-preventive costs and 15% of the pharmaceutic costs are estimated to be spent on the health damages caused by smoking. In 2009, the Health Insurance Fund had to spend approximately 174.6 billion HUF for health damages including sick leave costs caused by smoking. Working days lost (patients on sick list) as a consequence of smoking decreased the GDP of Hungary by around 95 billion HUF in the same year. Literature suggests that smoking leads to a loss of approximately seven life years. Shortened life span might cause 594.9 billion HUF loss to the Hungarian economy not to mention the economical and emotional loss of the individual families. CONCLUSIONS: The authors estimated a total of 864.4 billion HUF loss to the Hungarian economy due to smoking.

Cost accounting methodologies in price setting of acute inpatient services in Hungary.

On the basis of documentary analysis and interviews with decision makers, this paper discusses the cost accounting methodologies used for price setting of inpatient services in the Hungarian health care system focusing on sector of acute inpatient care, which is financed through the Hungarian adaptation of Diagnosis Related Groups since 1993. Hungary has a quite sophisticated DRG system, which had a deep impact on the efficiency of the acute inpatient care sector. Nevertheless, the system requires continuous maintenance, where the cooperation of hospitals, as well as the minimisation of political influence are critical success factors.

Financing of health care services in Hungary.

In this paper we give a practical overview of the changes in the financing of health care in Hungary. We describe the financing system of general practitioners, home care (nursing), out-patient care and the acute and chronic care of hospitals. We show how the financial system has changed after the political changes of 1990. The global budget approach of the 1980s was replaced by performance-related financing methods including the ICPM (International Classification of Procedures in Medicine) code system of the WHO (World Health Organization) in out-patient care and the introduction of HBCS (Homogen Betegsegcsoportok, "Homogeneous Disease Groups") in in-patient care. We underline that the efforts made towards reforming health care financing resulted in an activity-related financing system.