The burden of cardiovascular disease in America continues to be the leading cause of death and costs significantly more to treat ($US298.2 billion in 2002) than any other disease in the US healthcare system. Incontrovertible evidence links elevated levels of total and low-density...

Educating patients about the proper care and control of asthma is a major component of asthma management that is stressed in most consensus reports. Nurses play a key role in providing individuals with the instruction, advice and support they require to manage their asthma. Positive patient...

Objective: To investigate the effect of an asthma care support program for patients under the age of 18 years. Study design: A 1 Patient groups: 318 asthma care support program participants and 318 matched non-participants. Main outcome measures: The rates of medical service utilization...

In an effort to improve patient outcomes and reduce resource use and costs associated with asthma care, asthma disease management programmes have now gained momentum. If a programme is to be effective, the identification of goals and outcomes relevant to the target populations is essential....

Asthma morbidity remains high worldwide despite the introduction of national guidelines for management and the increase in specially trained asthma nurses. Current interventions have not led to a demonstrable reduction in hospitalizations and emergency department visits in adult asthma. The role...

Intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) can provide improved postoperative pain control compared with traditional methods, while maintaining safety. However, poorly managed PCA cannot be expected to provide good analgesia and may increase the risk of adverse events. Effective use of PCA...

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways, affecting about 10% of children and 5 to 7% of the adult population. Improved asthma control will not only benefit the patient but will also result in reduced financial expenditure in asthma healthcare. This article summarises the tools...

In this article, we provide a practical and systematic framework to evaluate the cost effectiveness of health plans Research data indicate that cost effectiveness varies by clinical domain. Blood pressure control, use of aspirin, and influenza and pneumococcal immunizations are cost saving in...

Because of the extensive burden that diabetes mellitus imposes on individuals and healthcare systems, this disease state is frequently on the priority lists of managed-care organisations for improving quality of care while controlling costs. This article explains diabetes disease management...