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1 – 10 of over 2000Ghasem Abedi, Ghahraman Mahmoodi, Roya Malekzadeh, Zeinab Khodaei, Yibeltal Siraneh Belete and Edris Hasanpoor
The regulation defines patients’ rights as a reflection of fundamental human rights in the field of medicine and incorporates all elements of patients’ rights accepted in…
Abstract
Purpose
The regulation defines patients’ rights as a reflection of fundamental human rights in the field of medicine and incorporates all elements of patients’ rights accepted in international texts. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between patients’ safety, medical errors and patients’ safety rights with patients’ security feeling in selected hospitals of Mazandaran Province, Iran.
Design/methodology/approach
This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in selected hospitals of Mazandaran Province in public, social and private hospitals in 2016. In total, 1,083 patients were randomly selected for the study. The developed tool (questionnaire) was used for data collection. Questionnaire validity was verified through experts and its reliability was confirmed by Cronbach’s α coefficient (95 percent). Data were analyzed through multiple regressions by SPSS software (version 21).
Findings
The findings of this paper showed that the mean (standard deviation) medical error, patient’s safety, patient’s rights and patient’s security feeling were 2.50±0.61, 2.22±0.67, 2.11±0.68 and 2.73±0.63, respectively. Correlation testing results showed that medical error, patient’s safety and patient’s rights simultaneously had a significant relation with patient’s security feeling in the selected hospitals (p<0.05).
Originality/value
A simultaneous correlation between patient’s safety, patient’s rights and medical errors with patient’s security feeling in social security hospitals was higher than other hospitals. Hence, the authorities and officials of hospitals and healthcare centers were advised to make effective attempts to perceive the patient’s safety, medical errors and patient’s rights to improve the patient’s security feeling and calmness and also to make better decisions to promote the healthcare and therapeutic services.
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With the rapid and pervasive introduction of robots into human environments, ethics scholars along with roboticists are asking how ethics can be applied to the discipline of…
Abstract
Purpose
With the rapid and pervasive introduction of robots into human environments, ethics scholars along with roboticists are asking how ethics can be applied to the discipline of robotics. The purpose of this paper is to provide a concrete example of incorporating ethics into the design process of a robot in healthcare.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach for including ethics in the design process of care robots used in this paper is called the Care‐Centered Value Sensitive Design (CCVSD) approach. The CCVSD approach presented here provides both an outline of the components demanding ethical attention as well as a step‐by‐step manner in which such considerations may proceed in a prospective manner throughout the design process of a robot. This begins from the moment of idea generation and continues throughout the design of various prototypes. In this paper, this approach's utility and prospective methodology are illustrated by proposing a novel care robot, the “wee‐bot”, for the collection and testing of urine samples in a hospital context.
Findings
The results of applying the CCVSD approach inspired the design of a novel robot for the testing of urine in pediatric oncology patients – the “wee‐bot” robot – and showed that it is possible to successfully incorporate ethics into the design of a care robot by exploring and prescribing design requirements. In other words, the use of the CCVSD approach allowed for the translation of ethical values into technical design requirements as was shown in this paper.
Practical implications
This paper provides a practical solution to the question of how to incorporate ethics into the design of robots and bridges the gap between the work of roboticists and robot ethicists so that they may work together in the design of a novel care robot.
Social implications
In providing a solution to the issue of how to address ethical issues in the design of robots, the aim is to mitigate issues of societal concern regarding the design, development and implementation of robots in healthcare.
Originality/value
This paper is the first and only presentation of a concrete prospective methodology for including ethics into the design of robots. While the example given here is tailored to the healthcare context, the approach can be adjusted to fit another context and/or robot design.
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Jan M. Myszewski and Madhav Sinha
The purpose of this paper is to find determinants of the effectiveness of the business improvement processes that create value for services offered to patients in healthcare…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to find determinants of the effectiveness of the business improvement processes that create value for services offered to patients in healthcare industries. The words patients and customers are used interchangeably throughout without any distinction. The features that distinguish medical services of different types and their inter-related factors are examined. The aim is to come up with a model of value vs cost that can help healthcare managers examine and use this exercise as an example of improvement micro-projects to help reduce cost and eliminate the patient’s dissatisfaction gaps.
Design/methodology/approach
The list of factors or attributes influencing the creation of value of a given medical process or a single procedure is described. The factors in the value creation are examined that will help in the categories for the risk analysis to determine the value-added benefits for the patient outcome. The cost analysis is approached from two angles to include: the cost of the service, and the costs of poor quality of service.
Findings
The model describes the value for the patient satisfaction depending on the quality level or grade of the treatment or procedures used and the cost factor. The analysis is done at several levels with special reference to case examples. A search for various analogous models in similar service providing situation used in business process management of other process types is highlighted and discussed.
Originality/value
The model is an interesting generic illustration for considering value vs cost in all patient care strategies. It enables the position of various medical procedures that can be applied to the same disease in order to keep the variations as minimum as possible within the quality control specification limits. The importance in different aspects of check-points or hold points for inspection is also discussed.
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The purpose of this paper is to report on the use and content of written guidance produced by mental health services in England and Wales describing hospital leave for informally…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report on the use and content of written guidance produced by mental health services in England and Wales describing hospital leave for informally admitted patients.
Design/methodology/approach
Guidance on leave was requested from National Health Service (NHS) mental health trusts in England and health boards in Wales (n = 61) using a Freedom of Information submission. Data were analysed using content analysis.
Findings
In total, 32 organisations had a leave policy for informal patients. Policies varied considerably in content and quality. The content of policies was not supported by research evidence. Organisations appeared to have developed their policies by either adapting or copying the guidance on section 17 leave outlined in the Mental Health Act Codes of Practice for England and Wales (Department of Health, 2016; Welsh Government, 2016). Definitions of important terms, for example, leave and hospital premises, were either absent or poorly defined. Finally, some organisations appeared to be operating pseudo-legal coercive contracts to prevent informal patients from leaving hospital wards.
Research limitations/implications
Research should be undertaken to explore the impact of local policies on the informal patient’s right to life and liberty.
Practical implications
All NHS organisations need to develop an evidence-based policy to facilitate the informal patient’s right to take leave. A set of national standards that organisations are required to comply with would help to standardise the content of leave policies.
Originality/value
To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study to examine the use and content of local policies describing how informal patients can take leave from hospital.
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Olivia Mendoza, Anupam Thakur, Ullanda Niel, Kendra Thomson, Yona Lunsky and Nicole Bobbette
This study aims to describe patients presented in an interprofessional, virtual education program focused on the mental health of adults with intellectual and developmental…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to describe patients presented in an interprofessional, virtual education program focused on the mental health of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), as well as present interprofessional recommendations for care.
Design/methodology/approach
In this retrospective chart review, descriptive statistics were used to describe patients. Content analysis was used to analyze interprofessional recommendations. The authors used the H.E.L.P. (health, environment, lived experience and psychiatric disorder) framework to conceptualize and analyze the interprofessional recommendations.
Findings
Themes related to the needs of adults with IDD are presented according to the H.E.L.P. framework. Taking a team-based approach to care, as well as ensuring care provider knowledge of health and social histories, may help better tailor care.
Originality/value
This project draws on knowledge presented in a national interprofessional and intersectoral educational initiative, the first in Canada to focus on this population.
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Quinton Nottingham, Dana M. Johnson and Roberta Russell
Pressure from competition; inflexible third-party reimbursements; greater demand from government, regulatory and certifying agencies; discerning patients; and the quest of…
Abstract
Purpose
Pressure from competition; inflexible third-party reimbursements; greater demand from government, regulatory and certifying agencies; discerning patients; and the quest of healthcare entities for greater profitably place demands and high expectations for service quality impacting overall patient experience. Extending a prior multivariate, single-period model of varied medical practices predicting patient experience to a three-year time period to understand whether there was a change in overall assessment using data analytics. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
SEM was employed on a per year and aggregated, three-year basis to gain insights into qualitative psychometric constructs predicting overall patient experience and strength of the relationships.
Findings
Statistically significant differences were uncovered between years indicating the strength of the relationships of latent variables on overall performance.
Research limitations/implications
Study focused on data gathered from a questionnaire mailed to patients who visited various outpatient medical clinics in a rural community with over 4,000 responses during the three-year study period. A higher percentage of female respondents over the age of 45 may limit the generalizability of the findings.
Practical implications
Practitioners can gain a broader understanding of different factors influencing overall patient experience. Administrative processes associated with the primary care provider are inconsequential. Patients are not as concerned with patient flow as they are with patient safety and health.
Originality/value
This research informs healthcare quality management of psychometrics and analytics to improve the overall patient experience in outpatient medical clinics.
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Ata Jahangir Moshayedi, Nafiz Md Imtiaz Uddin, Xiaohong Zhang and Mehran Emadi Andani
This paper aims to explore and review the potential of robotic rehabilitation as a treatment approach for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and its impact on the health and quality of life…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore and review the potential of robotic rehabilitation as a treatment approach for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and its impact on the health and quality of life of AD patients.
Design/methodology/approach
The present discourse endeavors to provide a comprehensive overview of extant scholarly inquiries that have examined the salience of inhibitory mechanisms vis-à-vis robotic interventions and their impact on patients with AD. Specifically, this review aims to explicate the contemporary state of affairs in this realm by furnishing a detailed explication of ongoing research endeavors. With the objective of elucidating the significance of inhibitory processes in robotic therapies for individuals with AD, this analysis offers a critical appraisal of extant literature that probes the intersection of cognitive mechanisms and assistive technologies. Through a meticulous analysis of diverse scholarly contributions, this review advances a nuanced understanding of the intricate interplay between inhibitory processes and robotic interventions in the context of AD.
Findings
According to the review papers, it appears that implementing robot-assisted rehabilitation can serve as a pragmatic and effective solution for enhancing the well-being and overall quality of life of patients and families engaged with AD. Besides, this new feature in the robotic area is anticipated to have a critical role in the success of this innovative approach.
Research limitations/implications
Due to the nascent nature of this cutting-edge technology and the constrained configuration of the mechanized entity in question, further protracted analysis is imperative to ascertain the advantages and drawbacks of robotic rehabilitation vis-à-vis individuals afflicted with Alzheimer’s ailment.
Social implications
The potential for robots to serve as indispensable assets in the provision of care for individuals afflicted with AD is significant; however, their efficacy and appropriateness for utilization by caregivers of AD patients must be subjected to further rigorous scrutiny.
Originality/value
This paper reviews the current robotic method and compares the current state of the art for the AD patient.
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Yuan-Han Huang and Anand K. Gramopadhye
The purpose of this paper is to investigate violations against work standards associated with using a new health information technology (HIT) system. Relevant recommendations for…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate violations against work standards associated with using a new health information technology (HIT) system. Relevant recommendations for implementing HIT in rural hospitals are provided and discussed to achieve meaningful use.
Design/methodology/approach
An observational study is conducted to map medication administration process while using a HIT system in a rural hospital. Follow-up focus groups are held to determine and verify potential adverse factors related to using the HIT system while passing drugs to patients.
Findings
A detailed task analysis demonstrated several violations, such as only relying on the barcode scanning system to match up with patient and drugs could potentially result in the medical staff forgetting to provide drug information verbally before administering drugs. There was also a lack of regulated and clear work procedure in using the new HIT system. In addition, the computer system controls and displays could not be adjusted so as to satisfy the users’ expectations. Nurses prepared medications and documentation in an environment that was prone to interruptions.
Originality/value
Recommendations for implementing a HIT system in rural healthcare facilities can be categorized into five areas: people, tasks, tools, environment, and organization. Detailed remedial measures are provided for achieving continuous process improvements at resource-limited healthcare facilities in rural areas.
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Jason Scott, Yvonne Birks, Fiona Aspinal and Justin Waring
Keeping individuals safe from harm and exploitation is a clearly articulated goal within both the health and social care sectors. Two key concepts associated with achieving this…
Abstract
Purpose
Keeping individuals safe from harm and exploitation is a clearly articulated goal within both the health and social care sectors. Two key concepts associated with achieving this common aim are safety and safeguarding. The purpose of this paper is to critically appraise the differences in safety terminology used in health and social care, including opportunities and challenges for greater integration of safety systems across health and social care in England.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents the authors’ viewpoint based on personal, professional and research experience.
Findings
In healthcare, safety is usually conceptualised as the management of error, with risk considered on a universal level. In social care, the safeguarding process balances choice and control with individualised approaches to keeping adults safe, but lacks the established reporting pathways to capture safety incidents. Efforts to safely integrate health and social care services are currently constrained by a lack of shared understanding of the concepts of safety and safeguarding without further consideration of how these approaches to keeping people safe can be better aligned. As such, there is a need for a single, unified discourse of patient safety that cuts across the patient safety and safeguarding concepts and their associated frameworks in health and social care settings.
Originality/value
A single unified concept of safety in health and social care could coincide with an integrated approach to the delivery of health and social care, improving the care of patients transitioning between services.
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