Medical undergraduates' self-evaluation: before and after curriculum reform.

BACKGROUND: In 2013, Taiwan launched a curriculum reform-the 7-year undergraduate medical education program was shortened to 6 years. This study explored the evaluation results from students regarding the curriculum reform and investigated graduates' perceptions regarding the curriculum organization of the two academic training programs affected by this curricular reform. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted from May 14 to June 12, 2019. The 315 graduates from both the 7-year and 6-year curriculum programs in the same medical school in Taipei were invited to participate in this study. In total, 197 completed questionnaires were received, representing a response rate of 62.5%. The results of the principal component analysis confirmed the validity of the constructs employed in this self-administered questionnaire. RESULTS: The t-test results yielded two main findings. First, the graduates from the 6-year program had significantly lower scores for preparedness for the upcoming postgraduate-year residency training than did their 7-year program counterparts. Additionally, the male graduates had significantly higher scores in terms of perceptions regarding curriculum organization and preparedness for postgraduate-year residency training than the female graduates. The results of stepwise regression also indicated that the sex difference was significantly correlated with graduates' readiness for their postgraduate-year residency training. CONCLUSION: To avoid sex disparities in career development, a further investigation of female medical students' learning environment and conditions is necessary. In addition to the cross-sectional study of students' perceptions, further repeated measurements of the objective academic or clinical performance of graduates in clinical settings are desirable.

Assessment of knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards Zika virus among healthcare workers in St. Kitts.

BACKGROUND: Healthcare workers are usually the first responders during outbreaks and are instrumental in educating the populace about the prevention of different diseases and illnesses. The aim of this study was to assess the association between healthcare workers' characteristics and knowledge, attitudes and practices toward Zika virus. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study that collected data from healthcare workers at 3 medical facilities using a validated self-administered questionnaire between July 2017 - September 2017. Logistic regression models were used to examine the association between sociodemographic and knowledge, attitudes, and practices. RESULTS: A total of 190 healthcare workers were analyzed. Of these, 60, 72.6 and 64.7% had good knowledge, positive attitudes, and good practices toward Zika virus, respectively. Healthcare workers without a formal degree were less likely to have good knowledge of Zika virus (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0:49; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.24-0.99) compared to those with a formal degree. Reduced odds for positive attitude towards Zika virus were observed in healthcare workers with low income as compared to those with high income (AOR = 0.31; 95% CI =0.13-0.75). Being younger than 40 years old was associated with poor Zika virus practices (AOR = 0:34; 95% CI = 0.15-0.79). CONCLUSIONS: Significant association between healthcare workers' sociodemographic characteristics and Zika virus knowledge, attitudes and practices were observed. Public health interventions that seek to increase Zika virus awareness should aim to train healthcare workers who are younger, without formal degree and those earning low income.

Case study: international healthcare service quality, building a model for cultivating cultural sensitivity.

QUALITY PROBLEM OR ISSUE: In the context of medical tourism, cultural differences and language barriers are unneglectable factors, which compromise the shared decision-making between doctor and patients. INITIAL ASSESSMENT: This study constructs a cultural sensitivity cultivation (CSC) model that could be used to train medical professionals in the sector of medical tourism. CHOICE OF SOLUTION: Since 2016, there have been explorations in new strategies to offer better services. A critical step added is to include clients' perspectives in the re-examining process as a way to cultivate cultural sensitivity among the service providers. This practice expands to the sector of medical tourism. In our case study, we are able to conclude a new model that could yield quality international healthcare services. IMPLEMENTATION: The steps of our CSC model include (i) 'Promote Awareness' for shifting mindset, (ii) 'Share Scenarios' for developing empathy and compassion, (iii) 'Review Process' for collecting detail feedback, (iv) 'Identify Gaps' for targeting areas for improvement and (v) 'Improve Systems,' for changing standard operation procedures (SOPs) based on the strategies through Assmann's theory with a cultural-anthropological approach. EVALUATION: After Kuang Tien General Hospital (KTGH) implemented the new model for 1 year, the number of international patients has increased by 64%. More research could be done in the future to cover all the important aspects of providing international medical services and could apply the CSC model to different healthcare settings. LESSONS LEARNED: To optimize the shared decision-making between the doctor and medical traveler patients, healthcare providers should not only overcome language and cultural barriers but also should avoid unnecessary gestures in terms of status respect. Inviting patients to be co-investigator for quality improvement is a viable solution.

Immunological Synapse Predicts Effectiveness of Chimeric Antigen Receptor Cells.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified T cell therapy has the potential to improve the overall survival of patients with malignancies by enhancing the effectiveness of CAR T cells. Precisely predicting the effectiveness of various CAR T cells represents one of today's key unsolved problems in immunotherapy. Here, we predict the effectiveness of CAR-modified cells by evaluating the quality of the CAR-mediated immunological synapse (IS) by quantitation of F-actin, clustering of tumor antigen, polarization of lytic granules (LGs), and distribution of key signaling molecules within the IS. Long-term killing capability, but not secretion of conventional cytokines or standard 4-hr cytotoxicity, correlates positively with the quality of the IS in two different CAR T cells that share identical antigen specificity. Xenograft model data confirm that the quality of the IS in vitro correlates positively with performance of CAR-modified immune cells in vivo. Therefore, we propose that the quality of the IS predicts the effectiveness of CAR-modified immune cells, which provides a novel strategy to guide CAR therapy.

A positive legacy of trauma? A study on the impact of natural disasters on medical utilization.

OBJECTIVE: The impact of natural disasters on medical utilization is largely unknown and often overlooked how it affects bereaving and non-bereaving survivors. The aim of this study is to determine the medical utilization between both survivor groups and long-term effects. STUDY DESIGN: A 10-year 1999-2009 population-based retrospective study by using the National Health Insurance claim database and the Household Registration database from the Department of Health, Executive Yuan, Taiwan. SETTINGS: Taiwan 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake-affected areas. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 49 834 individuals which included 1183 bereaving survivors and 48 651 non-bereaving earthquake survivors. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Medical utilization of bereaving and non-bereaving survivors. RESULTS: The results showed that bereaving survivors had significantly more outpatient visits before the earthquake, within 3-month period and 1 year after earthquake (odds ratio (OR) = 1.11, 1.16 and 1.08). However, after 1 year after earthquake their outpatient visits were not significantly different from non-bereaving, and even significantly less in some years. Inpatient visits of bereaving survivors had similar trend to outpatient visits, i.e. visits were more both before earthquake and within 3-month period after earthquake (OR = 1.59 and 1.89), however, they were not significantly higher than non-bereaving survivors for the following years of the study. CONCLUSION: Our study reveals that compared to non-bereaving survivors, bereaving survivors slightly had higher medical utilization in the beginning stage of earthquake, i.e. for the first 3-month period or 1 year after earthquake. However, there were no differences between these two groups in medical utilization including outpatient and inpatient visits in long run.

Value-added strategy models to provide quality services in senior health business.

OBJECTIVE: The rapid population aging is now a global issue. The increase in the elderly population will impact the health care industry and health enterprises; various senior needs will promote the growth of the senior health industry. Most senior health studies are focused on the demand side and scarcely on supply. Our study selected quality enterprises focused on aging health and analyzed different strategies to provide excellent quality services to senior health enterprises. DESIGN: We selected 33 quality senior health enterprises in Taiwan and investigated their excellent quality services strategies by face-to-face semi-structured in-depth interviews with CEO and managers of each enterprise in 2013. SETTING: A total of 33 senior health enterprises in Taiwan. PARTICIPANTS: Overall, 65 CEOs and managers of 33 enterprises were interviewed individually. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Core values and vision, organization structure, quality services provided, strategies for quality services. RESULTS: This study's results indicated four type of value-added strategy models adopted by senior enterprises to offer quality services: (i) residential care and co-residence model, (ii) home care and living in place model, (iii) community e-business experience model and (iv) virtual and physical portable device model. The common part in these four strategy models is that the services provided are elderly centered. These models offer virtual and physical integrations, and also offer total solutions for the elderly and their caregivers. Through investigation of successful strategy models for providing quality services to seniors, we identified opportunities to develop innovative service models and successful characteristics, also policy implications were summarized. CONCLUSIONS: The observations from this study will serve as a primary evidenced base for enterprises developing their senior market and, also for promoting the value co-creation possibility through dialogue between customers and those that deliver service.

Relationship between women's characteristics and continuum of care for maternal health in Kenya: Complex survey analysis using structural equation modeling.

The objective of this study was to understand and estimate the complex relationships in the continuum of care for maternal health to provide information to improve maternal and newborn health outcomes. Women (n = 4,082) aged 15-49 years in the 2008/2009 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey data were used to explore the complex relationships in the continuum of care for maternal health (i.e., before, during, and after delivery) using structural equation modeling. Results showed that the use of antenatal care was significantly positively related to the use of delivery care (ß = 0.06; adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.06; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.02-1.10) but not postnatal care, while delivery care was associated with postnatal care (ß = 0.68; AOR = 1.97; 95% CI: 1.75-2.22). Socioeconomic status was significantly related to all elements in the continuum of care for maternal health; barriers to delivery of care and personal characteristics were only associated with the use of delivery care (ß = 0.34; AOR = 1.40; 95% CI: 1.30-1.52) and postnatal care (ß = 0.03; AOR = 1.03; 95% CI: 1.01-1.05), respectively. The three periods of maternal health care were related to each other. Developing a referral system of continuity of care is critical in the Sustainable Development Goals era.

Associations in the continuum of care for maternal, newborn and child health: a population-based study of 12 sub-Saharan Africa countries.

BACKGROUND: Despite the progress in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5, inequity in the utilization of maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) care services still remain high in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The continuum of care for MNCH that recognizes a tight inter-relationship between maternal, newborn and child health at different time periods and location is key towards reducing inequity in health. In this study, we explored the distributions in the utilization MNCH services in 12 SSA countries and further investigated the associations in the continuum of care for MNCH. METHODS: Using Demographic and Health Surveys data of 12 countries in SSA, structural equation modeling approach was employed to analyze the complex relationships in continuum of care for MNCH model. The Full Information Maximum Likelihood estimation procedure which account for the Missing at Random (MAR) and Missing Completely at Random (MCAR) assumptions was adopted in LISREL 8.80. The distribution of MNCH care utilization was presented before the estimated association in the continuum of care for MNCH model. RESULTS: Some countries have a consistently low (Mali, Nigeria, DR Congo and Rwanda) or high (Namibia, Senegal, Gambia and Liberia) utilization in at least two levels of MNCH care. The path relationships in the continuum of care for MNCH from 'adequate antenatal care' to 'adequate delivery care' (0.32) and to 'adequate child's immunization' (0.36); from 'adequate delivery care' to 'adequate postnatal care' (0.78) and to 'adequate child's immunization' (0.15) were positively associated and statistically significant at p < 0.001. Only the path relationship from 'adequate postnatal care' to 'adequate child's immunization' (-0.02) was negatively associated and significant at p < 0.001. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, utilization of each level of MNCH care is related to the next level of care, that is - antenatal care is associated with delivery care which is then associated with postnatal and subsequently with child's immunization program. At the national level, identification of communities which are greatly contributing to overall disparity in health and a well laid out follow-up mechanism from pregnancy through to child's immunization program could serve towards improving maternal and infant health outcomes and equity.

Measuring inequality in physician distributions using spatially adjusted Gini coefficients.

OBJECTIVE: To measure inequality in physician distributions using Gini coefficient and spatially adjusted Gini coefficients. DESIGN: Measurements were based on the distribution of physician data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) and population data from the Ministry of the Interior in Taiwan. SETTINGS: The distribution of population and physicians in Taiwan from 2001 to 2010. PARTICIPANTS: This study considered 35 000 physicians who are registered in Taiwan. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: To calculate the Gini coefficient and spatially adjusted Gini coefficients in Taiwan from 2001 to 2010. RESULTS: The Gini coefficient for each year, from 2001 to 2010, ranged from 0.5128 to 0.4692, while the spatially adjusted Gini coefficients based on travel time and travel distance ranged, respectively, from 0.4324 to 0.4066 and from 0.4408 to 0.4178. We found that, in each year, irrespective of the type of spatial adjustment, the spatially adjusted Gini coefficient was smaller than the Gini coefficient itself. Our empirical findings support that the Gini coefficient may overestimate the maldistribution of physicians. CONCLUSIONS: Our simulations demonstrate that increasing the number of physicians in medium-sized cities (such as capitals of counties or provinces), and/or improving the transportation time between medium-sized cities and rural areas, could be feasible solutions to mitigate the problem of geographical maldistribution of physicians.

Metafrontier frameworks for studying hospital productivity growth and quality changes.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate productivity growth and quality changes among different levels of accredited hospitals. DESIGN: This study used an attribute-incorporating Malmquist productivity index (MPI) under the metafrontier framework. This is the first attempt to compare productivity changes among hospitals operating under different production frontiers. PARTICIPANTS: The data consisted of 20 academic medical centers (AMCs), 61 metropolitan hospitals (MPs) and 112 local community hospitals (LCs) in Taiwan during the period 2007-2010. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: This study measured productivity growth and further identified technological gaps and catch-ups in different groups of hospitals with respect to the metafrontier. At the same time, comparisons of changes in quality among different levels of hospitals were also examined. RESULTS: We found that the sample hospitals of AMCs and MPs experienced productivity improvements mainly due to technological progress, but their efficiency and technology gap ratio (TGR) deteriorated. As for LCs, progress in technology along with improvements in their efficiency and TGR led to the highest productivity upgrade among the three groups of hospitals. We also found that the sample hospitals among the three groups showed improvements in quality. Moreover, hospitals in the local community group exhibited greater quality progress than the AMCs and MPs over the sample period. CONCLUSION: This paper presents a number of useful decompositions of the metafrontier MPI, which can provide useful insights into changes that are due to efficiency, quality improvements and/or technological changes in the healthcare sector.

Co-creating value through demand and supply integration in senior industry-observations on 33 senior enterprises in Taiwan.

OBJECTIVE: With global population aging, great business opportunities are driven by the various needs that the elderly face in everyday living. Internet development makes information spread faster, also allows elderly and their caregivers to more easily access information and actively participate in value co-creation in the services. This study aims to investigate the designs of value co-creation by the supply and demand sides of the senior industry. DESIGN: This study investigated senior industry in Taiwan and analyzed bussiness models of 33 selected successful senior enterprises in 2013. We adopted series field observation, reviews of documentations, analysis of meeting records and in-depth interviews with 65 CEOs and managers. SETTING: Thirty-three quality enterprises in senior industry. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty-five CEOs and managers in 33 senior enterprises. INTERVENTIONS: None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Value co-creation design, value co-creating process. RESULTS: We constructed a conceptual model that comprehensively describes essential aspects of value co-creation and categorized the value co-creation designs into four types applying for different business models: (i) interaction in experience spaces co-creation design, (ii) on-site interacting co-creation design, (iii) social networking platform co-creation design and (iv) empowering customers co-creation design. Through value co-creation platform design, the senior enterprises have converted the originally passive roles of the elderly and caregivers into active participants in the value co-creation process. CONCLUSIONS: The new paradigm of value co-creation designs not only promote innovative development during the interactive process, lead enterprises reveal and meet customers' needs but also increase markets and profits.

Observations on quality senior health business: success patterns and policy implications.

OBJECTIVE: Population ageing is a global issue that affects almost every country. Most ageing researches focused on demand side and studies related to supply side were relatively scarce. This study selected quality enterprises focus on ageing health and analysed their patterns on providing quality services successfully. DESIGN: Our study selected quality senior health enterprises and explored their success patterns through face-to-face semi-structured in-depth interviews with CEO of each enterprise in 2013. SETTING: Thirty-three quality senior health enterprises in Taiwan. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-three CEO's of enterprises were interviewed individually. INTERVENTION: None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Core values and vision, historical development, organization structure, services/products provided, delivering channels, customer relationships and further development strategies. RESULTS: Our results indicated success patterns for senior enterprises that there were meeting diversified lifestyles and substitutive needs for the elderly and their caregivers, providing a total solution for actual/virtual integration and flexible one-stop shopping services. We classified these enterprises by used degree of clicks-and-mortar of services and residing situation of the elderly. Industry characteristics and policy implications were summarized. CONCLUSIONS: Our observations will serve as a primary evidenced base for enterprises developing their senior market, and also for opening dialogue between customers and enterprises to facilitate valuable opportunities for co-creation between the supply and demand sides.

Family Structure Types and Adequate Utilization of Antenatal Care in Kenya.

Features of the health care delivery system may not be the only expounding factors of adequate utilization of antenatal care among women. Other social factors such as the family structure and its environment contribute toward pregnant women's utilization of antenatal care. An understanding of how women in different family structure types and social groups use basic maternal health services is important toward developing and implementing maternal health care policy in the post-Millennium Development Goal era, especially in the sub-Saharan Africa where maternal mortality still remains high.

The efficacy of blueberry and grape seed extract combination on triple therapy for Helicobacter pylori eradication: a randomised controlled trial.

Helicobacter pylori is a major risk factor for gastritis, gastric ulcers and gastric cancer. Traditional therapy with proton pump inhibitor and antibiotics is regarded as optimal for H. pylori eradication whereas, the eradication rate is unsatisfactory. Studies have reported that cranberry may inhibit H. pylori adhesion to the human gastric mucus but lack of other berry extracts have been evaluated in clinical study. Thus, a 9-week add-on randomised controlled trial was conducted to explore the impact of blueberry and grape seed extract (BGE) combinations traditional therapy for H. pylori eradication. In results, we found that there was no significant difference of eradication rate between the berry extract group and placebo group in the intention-to-treat analysis and in the per-protocol analysis (94.64% versus 84.62%, p = 0.085). Diarrhoea, constipation and epigastric pain were observed increasing during ingestion of the berry extract in some cases. In conclusion, this study indicated that no significant difference existed between the BGE extract group and placebo group in eradication rate under triple therapy.

The relationship between accessibility of healthcare facilities and medical care utilization among the middle-aged and elderly population in Taiwan.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between accessibility of healthcare facilities and medical care utilization among the middle-aged and elderly population in Taiwan. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study from 2007 Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TLSA) survey. SETTING: Community-based study. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 4249 middle-aged and elderly subjects were recruited. INTERVENTIONS: None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Outpatient visits within 1 month, and hospitalization, emergency visits as well as to shop in pharmacy stores within 1 year, respectively. RESULTS: Adjusting for important confounding variables, the middle-aged and elderly with National Health Insurance (NHI) and commercial insurance compared with those with NHI alone tended to have outpatient visits. The middle-aged and elderly with longer time to access healthcare facilities were less likely to shop in pharmacy stores compared with those with <30 min. The middle-aged and elderly who perceived inconvenient to access health care tended to shop in pharmacy stores compared with those with perceived convenience. CONCLUSIONS: Our study of Taiwan's experience could provide a valuable lesson for countries that are planning to launch universal health insurance system, locate budgets in health care and transportation. The middle-aged and elderly who were facing more challenges in accessing health care, no matter in perceived accessibility or real time to access health care, had less outpatient visits and more drug stores shopping. Strategic policies are needed to improve accessibility in increasing patients' perception on access and escalating convenience of transportation system for improving accessibility.