What is best and at what cost? Cross-national differences in the treatment of ageing-related diseases Norwegian perspective from a comparative OECD-project

Aggregated medical spending differs widely across countries and large variations exist in the frequency and the mix of medical services provided, as well as the type of technology applied. The outcomes (mostly measured as survival rates) do not, however vary to the same extent as the spending. Policy makers in many countries compare their spending to each other, with no clear consensus about how systems are effective in treating patients. In each of these debates the issue of what medical care is buying arises: When countries spend more or less on health care, how does that affect resource allocation in the medical sector and ultimately the health outcomes? The goal of the project1 was to examine how different medical care systems will affect the allocation of resources in the medical sector. As the existing available macro data at an international level does not allow for satisfactory answers to such questions, this project wanted to use a microeconomic approach. An international comparison of treatments of conditions in older populations that lead to high expenditures could help to identify treatments that might be more effective in improving outcomes at lower cost. Therefore the project focused on international comparisons of treatments for a spectrum of conditions in older populations with high aggregate medical spending, well identified episodes of care, high prevalence and high policy relevance. Norway participated in studies on myocardial infarction and breast cancer 2. The choice of focus on older patients was partly motivated by the fact that in the future the elderly will probably take an increasingly proportion of the total spending in the health care sector. See documentation from the main project: http://www.oecd.org/EN/document/0,,EN-document-194-5-no-27-32316-0,00.htmlMedical care; allocation of resources; acute myocardial infarction; breast cancer; international comparisons of treatments

A modal model for diffraction gratings

A description of an algorithm for a rather general modal grating calculation is presented. Arbitrary profiles, depth, and permittivity are allowed. Gratings built up from sub-gratings are allowed, as are coatings on the sidewalls of lines, and arbitrary complex structure. Conical angles and good conductors are supported

High Tea at the Conviviality Café: Research Tool or Design Intervention?

The FLEX project asked how we might age convivially at home. In response to concerns about an ageing British population, we looked at social factors of wellbeing in the ambient realm of neighbourhood encounters. We report on how we asked our research participants in Newcastle, north England, and Dundee, Scotland, about their understanding of conviviality, using a café environment to inspire a relaxed and friendly exchange of views over tea. We consider the way that questions were designed into the two courses of the meal and ask: is this perhaps a form of research-through-design for social contexts? Certainly, participants responded to the environment and subtle questioning style. And we draw a contrast between this form of designing - for use in research - and the more summative purpose of the exhibits that also came out of the project

Finite element computation of grating scattering matrices and application to photonic crystal band calculations

We consider the calculation of the band structure and Bloch mode basis of two-dimensional photonic crystals, modelled as stacks of one-dimensional diffraction gratings. The scattering properties of each grating are calculated using an efficient finite element method (FEM) and allow the complete mode structure to be derived from a transfer matrix method. A range of numerical examples showing the accuracy, flexibility and utility of the method is presented. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Efficient slow-light coupling in a photonic crystal waveguide without transition region

We consider the coupling into a slow mode that appears near an inflection point in the band structure of a photonic crystal waveguide. Remarkably, the coupling into this slow mode, which has a group index n(g) > 1000, can be essentially perfect without any transition region. We show that this efficient coupling occurs thanks to an evanescent mode in the slow medium, which has appreciable amplitude and helps satisfy the boundary conditions but does not transport any energy. (C) 2008 Optical Society of AmericaPublisher PDFPeer reviewe

Postoperativ smertebehandling

Studentarbeid i sykepleie (bachelorgrad) - Høgskolen i Bodø, 201

Pasientbehandling innenlands eller utenlands? En analyse av ressursbruk i Pasientbroen

I etterkant av Stortingets vedtak om å bevilge 1 milliard kroner til behandling av pasienter i utlandet (Pasientbroen), inviterte Rikstrygdeverkets prosjektorganisasjon ”Kjøp av Helsetjenester i Utlandet” flere forsknings- og utredningsinstitusjoner til å komme med innspill til problemstillinger for en evaluering av ordningen. Denne rapporten utgjør andre del av et prosjekt som er blitt utført av Senter for helseadministrasjon ved Universitet i Oslo. Del 1 av prosjektet kartla sykehuslegers holdninger til Pasientbroen (Botten, Nerland og Hagen 2002). Dette arbeidet baserer seg hovedsakelig på tallmateriale som er levert av Rikstrygdeverket og spørreskjema som har blitt sendt til private helseinstitusjoner i Norge og til elektive avdelinger ved et utvalg av norske offentlige sykehus, samt data om behandling av pasienter i Norge. Formålet med rapporten er å presentere ulike kostnader forbundet med Pasientbroen i 2001, og å vurdere hvorvidt og til hvilke kostnader den samme pasientgruppen kunne blitt behandlet ved norske behandlingsinstitusjoner det samme året. Hovedutfordringen har vært å tilveiebringe tilstrekkelig informasjon om den pasientgruppen som ble behandlet i Pasientbroen i løpet av 2001, og å få tilstrekkelig med tilbakemeldinger på spørreskjemaene til private og offentlige helseinstitusjoner i Norge. Prosjektets ambisjonsnivå er noe redusert i forhold til den opprinnelige prosjektbeskrivelsen, og ferdigstillelsen av rapporten har tatt noe lenger tid enn først planlagt. Dette skyldes delvis at antallet pasienter som ble behandlet i Pasientbroen i 2001 ble færre enn man forventet seg i prosjektets startfase, delvis at responsen på de utsendte spørreskjemaene var lav, og delvis at det tok betydelig lengre tid enn forventet å få oversendt et anvendbart datagrunnlag fra Rikstrygdeverket.Pasientbroen; behandlingskostnader; pasientbehandling