Background: Costs of inpatient days in hospitals are frequently the main drivers of total treatment costs, and their unit cost can markedly affect the outcomes of an economic evaluation. In many countries, the availability of unit cost data is limited and unit costs are often based on data from...

Background: Assessments of vaccination programmes should account for several important factors, including efficacy, safety and costs of preventing and treating the disease. Because patients with invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) are managed primarily in an inpatient setting, hospital costs...

Background:Background: Patients are vulnerable to issues that emerge after discharge from the hospital, and this susceptibility is compounded as patients attempt to navigate complex healthcare organizations. Post-discharge clinic appointments may provide the opportunity to mitigate risks posed...

Introduction: Streptococcus pneumoniae (Sp.) is a leading cause of paediatric bacterial meningitis, pneumonia and acute otitis media, as is non-typable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) for acute otitis media. In 2008, a 7-valent conjugated pneumococcal vaccine (PCV7) was included in the New Zealand...

Palliative care has been through a difficult development process, but now has the evidence and experience base to make a contribution in the changing health environment. There has now been a great deal of experience with different types of care, and research has shown that patients strongly...

Objective: To describe the use of hospital and community services for children infected with HIV and estimate the cost per patient-year by stage of HIV infection during the era of antiretroviral monotherapy. Design: Data on the use of hospital services were collected from case notes; the use of...

Stroke is a heterogeneous cerebrovascular disorder that is a major cause of death and disability in the industrialised world. Anecdotal clinical evidence and expert opinion has suggested that organised stroke care results in better patient outcomes compared with care provided in general medical...