Bridging the gap: an economic case study of the impact and cost effectiveness of comprehensive healthcare intermediaries in rural Mexico.

BACKGROUND: In rural settings where patients face significant structural barriers to accessing healthcare services, the formal existence of government-provided health coverage does not necessarily translate to meaningful care delivery. This paper analyses the effectiveness of an innovative approach to overcome these barriers, the Right to Health Care programme offered by Compañeros en Salud in Chiapas, Mexico. This programme provides comprehensive free coverage of all additional direct and indirect medical costs as well as accompaniment through the medical system. Over 550 patients had participated from 2013 until November 2018. METHODS: Focusing on ten of the most frequently treated conditions, including hernias, cataracts and congenital heart defects, we performed a retrospective case study analysis of the quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) gained from treatment and the cost per QALY for 69 patients. This analysis used disability weights and uncertainty intervals from the Global Burden of Disease study and organisational micro-costing data for each patient. Each patient was compared to their own hypothetical counterfactual health outcome had they not received the secondary and tertiary care required for the specific condition. A mixed methods approach is used to establish this counterfactual baseline, drawing on pre-intervention observations, qualitative interviews and established literature precedent. RESULTS: The programme was found to deliver an average of 14.4 additional QALYs (95% uncertainty interval 12.4-15.8) without time discounting. The mean cost per QALY over these conditions was $388 USD (95% UI $262-588) at purchasing power parity. CONCLUSIONS: These numbers compare favourably with studies of other health services and international cost per QALY guidelines. They reflect the on-treatment effect for the ten conditions analysed and are presented as a case study indicative of the promise of healthcare intermediaries rather than a definitive assessment of cost-effectiveness. Nonetheless, these results show the potential feasibility and cost effectiveness of a more comprehensive approach to healthcare provision in a resource-limited rural setting. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study involves economic analysis of a programme facilitating access to public healthcare services. Thus, there was no associated clinical trial to be registered.

Impact of a community program for child malnutrition. / Impacto de un programa comunitario para la malnutrición infantil.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of a community program aimed at improving the children mal nutrition in a rural community of the State of Chiapas, Mexico, 2013. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Des criptive study of the evaluation program from a secondary database of nutritional data registry of 113 children under five years of age in a rural area of Mexico. The intervention and the survey were carried out during 2013. Baseline and 4-month measurements were recorded. The World Health Organization (WHO) Anthro software was used to calculate nutritional status indicators. According to WHO guidelines, the following data were estimated: weight for age (W/A), height for age (H/A), weight for height (W/H), and Body mass index for age (BMI/A). Position and dispersion measures were calculated; Student's T-test, Kruskal-Wallis, and MacNemar test were used for paired data and linear regression. RESULTS: Between the beginning and the end, the median of the Z W/H went from -0.7 (p25 -1.24, p75 -0.01) to -0.62 (p25 -1.09, p75 -0.15). The prevalence of low weight decreased from 5.31% (CI 2.38-11.44) to 4.42% (CI 1.83-10.32) (Z BMI/A). The appropriate weight according to Z score W/H increased from 78.76% (CI 70.12-85.43) to 84.96% (76.98-90.51). In the subgroup with low initial weight, the mean of Z BMI/A and Z W/H increased 0.4 (p = 0.003). The change in the mean of Z W/H was 0.02 points in the subgroup that received the direct transfer program and of -0.3 in which it did not (p = 0.020). CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that the community program during the four months of implementation contributed to improve some anthropometric indicators, although no apparent effects were found in indicators related to chronic malnutrition.

Promoting Patient-Centered Health Care and Health Equity through Health Professionals' Education in Rural Chiapas.

Since 2011, the nongovernmental organization Compañeros En Salud, as Partners In Health is known in Mexico, has worked in collaboration with the Mexican Ministry of Health to strengthen the health care system in the Fraylesca and Sierra Mariscal regions of Chiapas, Mexico. In response to the high proportion of abandoned and understaffed clinics in the area, Compañeros En Salud has developed a program to entice medical students from some of the top medical schools in Mexico to spend their "social service year" in these facilities, where they receive financial support, on-site clinical mentoring, supplies, clinical support tools, and training in global health and social medicine using a structural competency framework. The idea is to provide high-quality health care to a historically underserved population through a lens of health as a human right. Although other structurally competent global health curricula have been implemented worldwide, primarily in the Global North, the Compañeros En Salud model is unique in that it combines (1) the facilitation of theoretical lectures based on the Social Medicine Consortium's definition of social medicine, (2) global health case discussion and context-reflective experiential simulations, and (3) exposure to patients who suffer the burden of structural injustice. In this paper, we describe the motivations behind the training model, its holistic approach, and the impact of this initiative after a decade of implementation.

Bilateral Perthes Masking Morquio Disease.

Introduction: Perthes disease radiography can mask other diseases. Properly observing the X-ray and changes in other joints helps to discard Perthes-like conditions. Association with changes in other systems, as well as the pathological history and even the examination of family members can help diagnose early attenuated cases of rare diseases. Case Presentation: The case of a girl with hip pain, limp and doubtful radiographs is presented. Perthes disease was diagnosed elsewhere and physical therapy and analgesics were prescribed. As a second opinion, family look for another orthopedic physician, who looks beyond hip pain and limp. Full body X-rays are suggestive of skeletal dysplasia. Metabolic disease diagnosis is suspected with pathological history of the younger brother, with repetitive respiratory infections, as well as abnormal X-ray panel. Multiple dysostoses in both patients are demonstrated. The above findings help to diagnose Morquio disease in an attenuated variant after molecular examinations. Conclusion: Early diagnosis in progressive diseases is essential to avoid progression to multi-organ deterioration. It is important that physician become familiar with habitual characteristics of Perthes disease on the pelvis radiograph, in order to unsure the error in the diagnosis.

Impacto de un programa comunitario para la malnutrición infantil / Impact of a community program for child malnutrition

OBJETIVO: Evaluar el impacto de un programa comunitario destinado a mejorar la malnutrición de niños y niñas de una comunidad rural del Estado de Chiapas, México, 2013. MATERIAL Y MÉTODO: Estudio descriptivo de la evaluación de un programa a partir de una base de datos secundaria con datos nutricionales en 113 niños menores de cinco años de una zona rural de México. La intervención y el relevamiento se realizaron durante el 2013. Se registraron mediciones basales y a los 4 meses. Para el cálculo de indicadores del estado nutricional se utilizó el Software Anthro de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS). Se estimaron: Peso para edad (P/E); Talla para edad (T/E); Peso para talla (P/T); Índice de masa corporal para la edad (IMC/E), según los lineamientos de la OMS. Se calcula ron medidas de posición y dispersión, prueba T de Student, Kruskal-Wallis, test de MacNemar para datos pareados y regresión lineal simple. RESULTADOS: Entre el inicio y final la mediana del Z Peso/ talla pasó de -0,7 (p25 -1,24; p75 -0,01) a -0,62 (p25 -1,09; p75 -0,15). La prevalencia de bajo peso descendió de 5,31% (IC 2,38-11,44) a 4,42 % (IC 1,83-10,32) (Z Score IMC/edad). El peso adecuado según Z Score Peso/talla aumentó de 78,76% (IC 70,12-85,43) a 84,96% (76,98-90,51). En el subgrupo con bajo peso inicial la media de Z IMC/edad y Z Peso/talla aumentó 0,4 (p = 0,003). El cambio en la media de Z Peso/talla fue de 0,02 puntos en el subgrupo que recibió programa de trasferencia directa y de -0,3 en el que no (p = 0,020). CONCLUSIONES: Se concluye que el programa comunitario durante los 4 meses de implementación contribuyó a mejorar algunos indicadores antropométricos; aunque no se encontraron efectos aparentes en indicadores relacionados a la desnutrición crónica.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of a community program aimed at improving the children mal nutrition in a rural community of the State of Chiapas, Mexico, 2013. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Des criptive study of the evaluation program from a secondary database of nutritional data registry of 113 children under five years of age in a rural area of Mexico. The intervention and the survey were carried out during 2013. Baseline and 4-month measurements were recorded. The World Health Organization (WHO) Anthro software was used to calculate nutritional status indicators. According to WHO guidelines, the following data were estimated: weight for age (W/A), height for age (H/A), weight for height (W/H), and Body mass index for age (BMI/A). Position and dispersion measures were calculated; Student's T-test, Kruskal-Wallis, and MacNemar test were used for paired data and linear regression. RESULTS: Between the beginning and the end, the median of the Z W/H went from -0.7 (p25 -1.24, p75 -0.01) to -0.62 (p25 -1.09, p75 -0.15). The prevalence of low weight decreased from 5.31% (CI 2.38-11.44) to 4.42% (CI 1.83-10.32) (Z BMI/A). The appropriate weight according to Z score W/H increased from 78.76% (CI 70.12-85.43) to 84.96% (76.98-90.51). In the subgroup with low initial weight, the mean of Z BMI/A and Z W/H increased 0.4 (p = 0.003). The change in the mean of Z W/H was 0.02 points in the subgroup that received the direct transfer program and of -0.3 in which it did not (p = 0.020). CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that the community program during the four months of implementation contributed to improve some anthropometric indicators, although no apparent effects were found in indicators related to chronic malnutrition.