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Background: The DRGs compensation system has raised numerous concerns and has been met with skepticism, especially among the medical personnel, almost in every country that had been implemented. The adaptation of this specific compensation system in Greece was facilitated by the establishment of K.E.N (Global Unified Hospitalization Rates-KEN), a DRGs version adjusted to the funding the compensation needs of the Greek healthcare system. Aim: The aim of this study is to identify the weaknesses that emerged from policy reform as well as to reflect on doctors' views, regarding its acceptance. Methodology: A weighted questionnaire was used to record medical staff's perceptions, as referenced in similar previous international and Greek studies. The study was conducted in the hospitals of the 5th Health Region, located in the Central Greek mainland, with a sample of 245 doctors that work in seven distinct public general hospitals. Results: Respondents with a basic medical degree had a neutral attitude concerning their intended actions regarding DRGs implementation and their potential benefits while considering that patients' accessibility will be reduced. However, specialization, MSc and PhD holders were more positive in terms of their intentions towards DRGs application, supporting the notion that might be beneficial for the patients, while being less inclined to the idea of a reduction in patients' accessibility. Conclusions: The results supported that the hospitals included in this study showed signs of responding to the new compensation system, through its gradual acceptance by a significant part of the medical population. Further analysis should consider the reform's long-term effects, along with its effects on all Greek hospitals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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OBJECTIVE To compare the job satisfaction of the medical and nursing staff in two regional hospitals in Greece, with a different capacity (Corfu General Hospital, Filiates General Hospital), and to derive general conclusions about job satisfaction of medical and nursing in public hospitals in Greece. METHOD A survey was conducted from January to June 2012 on doctors and nurses in the two study hospitals. The data were collected using the questionnaire Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS). The items in this questionnaire are divided into 9 categories, concerning supervision, rewards, procedures, promotion, benefits, wages, partners, nature of work and communication. Additional questions were added covering the demographic, geographical and socio-economic characteristics of the respondents. The data were entered and processed using the software Microsoft Excel, the statistical software StatPlus (AnalystSoft 2009) and the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) IBM, version 20. RESULTS Of the 135 questionnaires collected, 60% (n=81) originated from the General Hospital of Corfu and the remaining 40% (n=54) originated from the General Hospital of Filiates. The workforce of hospitals at the start of the study period consisted of 87 doctors and 314 nurses for 231 beds in the General Hospital of Corfu and 50 doctors and 77 nurses for 84 beds in the General Hospital of Filiates. The overall job satisfaction at both hospitals as assessed by JSS was low, with no apparent significant difference between doctors p=0.14 and nurses p=0.36. The General Hospital of Filiates presented a generally slightly better job satisfaction rates in almost all categories. The category with the lowest score in job satisfaction for both hospitals was that concerning salaries. In contrast, the category with the highest score and slightly greater job satisfaction concerned questions about work partners. CONCLUSIONS It appears that the medical and nursing staff in both hospitals encounter huge problems in their work environment due to a rigid central system, which does not inspire their confidence or promote job satisfaction. These findings should be taken into consideration in seeking for solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Establishing sufficient primary health-care services in rural areas is of high interest in developing health systems. The objective of the present study was to describe the state of rural health services, in terms of personnel and equipment, in rural primary care settings in Greece. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

According to the Euratom Directives (96/29, 97/43), the doses received by the workers as well as the family of patients and third persons during medical exposures, should conform to the dose constraint levels (DCLs), established by the authorities for each group in the context of optimisation. This study deals with the implementation of a radiation protection protocol, concerning the aforementioned group members for patients undergoing treatment with 111In-DTPA-D-Phe1-Octreotide, after intra-arterial infusion. It is shown that by applying this protocol the annual doses to the medical and technical staff are considerably reduced and remain below the established DCLs. Following the post-release behaviour instructions given to the patient, doses to the family and third persons may be kept lower than the corresponding DCLs provided by the National Regulations.