Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive chronic disease that is subject to acute exacerbations. Ideally, a patient with such a chronic disease should be provided with medical care that addresses these issues while empowering the patient to initiate rapid and definitive...

Point of care testing describes testing using handheld or benchtop technology, where the result will be used in the screening for, or the diagnosis and/or the management of, disease. It is an alternative to using the services of a centralized facility such as a laboratory. The successful use of...

This article describes 3 approaches to improving diabetes care in a health maintenance organisation (HMO) setting. The first approach was to identify which patients had not received a dilated eye examination in the past year, notify both them and their physician, and provide each with...

This article describes the issues associated with the development of services for people with intellectual disabilities (ID) and mental disorders [including challenging behavior (CB)] and reviews the evidence for providing effective community mental health services. Despite the fact that...

Background: Osteoporosis is considered a disease that affects elderly women. Younger, working-aged women are seldom considered to be at risk, although low bone mass may occur at menopause or even earlier. Bone density testing for working women may therefore be considered of low priority for both...

Clinical practice relies on structured learning that is applied to a patient care setting. Patients present with symptoms and providers try to fit these complaints into known disease categories. Providers depend on memorized algorithms to direct diagnosis and treatment. Well thought-out...

Outpatient parenteral antibacterial therapy (OPAT) is an increasingly popular means of containing the costs of antibacterial therapy, by avoiding the need for hospitalisation or allowing early discharge from hospital, in patients with serious infections. It also offers increased comfort and...

Development of self-management skills for the people with epilepsy is important to maintain optimum health. Self-management has been primarily conceptualised in the research literature as compliance. A conceptual analysis of self-management provided a framework for this literature review and...