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Abstract Objective: To study the efficacy of continuous quality improvement (CQI) compared to ordinary management in an on-duty radiology department. Material and Methods: Because of complaints regarding delivery of on-duty radiological services, an improvement was initiated simultaneously at two hospitals, at the HUCH (Helsinki University Central Hospital) utilising the CQI-method, and at the OUH (Oulu University Hospital) with a traditional management process. For the CQI project, a team was formed to evaluate the process with flow-charts, cause and effect diagrams, Pareto analysis and control charts. Interventions to improve the process were based on the results of these analyses. Results: The team at the HUCH implemented the following changes: A radiologist was added to the evening shift between 15:00–22:00 and a radiographer was moved from the morning shift to 15:00–22:00. A clear improvement was achieved in the turn-around time, but in the follow-up some of the gains were lost. Only minimal changes were achieved at the OUH, where the intervention was based on traditional management processes. Conclusion: CQI was an effective method for improving the quality of performance of a radiology department compared with ordinary management methods, but some of this improvement may be subsequently lost without a continuous measurement system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To get an informative and detailed picture of the resource utilization in a radiology department in order to support its pricing and management.Material and Methods: A system based mainly on the theoretical foundations of activity-based costing (ABC) was designed, tested and compared with conventional costing. The study was performed at the Pediatric Unit of the Department of Radiology, Oulu University Hospital. The material consisted of all the 7,452 radiological procedures done in the unit during the first half of 1994, when both methods of costing where in use. Detailed cost data were obtained from the hospital financial and personnel systems and then related to activity data captured in the radiology information system.Results: The allocation of overhead costs was greatly reduced by the introduction of ABC compared to conventional costing. The overhead cost as a percentage of total costs dropped to one-fourth of total costs, from 57% to 16%. The change of unit costs of radiological procedures varied from -42% to +82%.Conclusion: Costing is much more detailed and precise, and the percentage of unspecified allocated overhead costs diminishes drastically when ABC is used. The new information enhances effective departmental management, as the whole process of radiological procedures is identifiable by single activities, amenable to corrective actions and process improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractPurpose: To get an informative and detailed picture of the resource utilization in a radiology department in order to support its pricing and management. Material and Methods: A system based mainly on the theoretical foundations of activity-based costing (ABC) was designed, tested and compared with conventional costing. The study was performed at the Pediatric Unit of the Department of Radiology, Oulu University Hospital. The material consisted of all the 7,452 radiological procedures done in the unit during the first half of 1994, when both methods of costing where in use. Detailed cost data were obtained from the hospital financial and personnel systems and then related to activity data captured in the radiology information system. Results: The allocation of overhead costs was greatly reduced by the introduction of ABC compared to conventional costing. The overhead cost as a percentage of total costs dropped to one-fourth of total costs, from 57% to 16%. The change of unit costs of radiological procedures varied from -42% to +82%. Conclusion: Costing is much more detailed and precise, and the percentage of unspecified allocated overhead costs diminishes drastically when ABC is used. The new information enhances effective departmental management, as the whole process of radiological procedures is identifiable by single activities, amenable to corrective actions and process improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data on the growth of 1063 children and their parents were analysed. Of the variation in height at prepuberty about 20%, and of the final height 30-46%, were explained by the variation in parental heights; the children's own height at the age of 1.0 year increased the proportion explained to half. Two equations were developed for increasing the accuracy of the evaluation of growth. One defines parent specific mean height standard deviation score, and the other includes the parents' heights and the child's height at the age of 1.0 year and defines expected standard deviation score for height. These equations are easy to use if they are converted to nomograms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty-three healthy males, aged 23 to 62 years, were examined by M-mode echocardiography and systolic time intervals for 3 h after (1) ethanol 1 g/kg by mouth taken over 60 minutes; (2) atenolol 100 mg by mouth; (3) ethanol (1 g/kg) + atenolol (100 mg). The peak mean blood ethanol (± s.e.) was 112 ±4 mg/100 ml in test 1 and 104 ± 7 mg/100 ml in test 3. During increasing blood ethanol, heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (BP), cardiac output (CO) and echocardiographic indices of left ventricular (LV) function were significantly augmented, while total peripheral resistance (TPR) decreased. During declining blood ethanol, systolic BP, L V end-diastolic and end-systolic diameters, stroke volume (SV) and circumferential wall stress were significantly reduced; echocardiographic indices of LV function were unaltered, but the pre-ejection period/LV ejection time ratio was increased, Atenolol decreased llR, systolic BP, SV, CO, and all estimates of LV function, but increased TPR. Ethanol + atenolol tended to cause smaller depressions in the indices of LV function than did atenolol alone, in spite of similar plasma atenolol concentrations (n = 6). It is concluded that ingestion of modest doses of ethanol evokes vasodilation and enhances LV function during increasing blood ethanol, and reduces LV preload and afterload during decreasing blood ethanol without impairing contractility. Social drinking and beta blockade seem not to have any harmful acute combined effects on the heart and circulation, at least in normal subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]