This report is a description of the phenomenon of methadone diversion as it exists now and places it in the context of prior research in this area. The intent here is to clarify issues around methadone diversion and to provide guidance to treatment administrators and program planners regarding efforts they can initiate to monitor this significant…

This report focuses on electronic fetal monitoring (EFM)--a technology that was developed during the 1960s and has rapidly spread into use in clinical obstetrics. The report includes a review of the extensive published literature on EFM and related subjects. It also contains original calculations concerning the technique's specificity and…

This NCHSR research program in the application of computers in health care--conducted over the ten year span 1968-1978--identified two areas of application research, an inpatient care support system, and an outpatient care support system. Both of these systems were conceived as conceptual frameworks for a related network of projects and ideas that…

This bibliography brings together much of the literature prepared by individuals, organizations, and agencies that have designed or are attempting to design instruments for the definition and measurement of the levels of health within a given population. It includes citations and abstracts of documents identified by the National Health Planning…

Clinical pharmacy is becoming more popular in the professional schools as pharmacists are adapting their roles to hospitals and clinics. Implications of the new programs for pharmacy certification procedures are discussed. (LBH)

The effect of a combined education and monitoring program on the use of gentamicin in a community hospital is described. The data support the tenet that the ways antibiotics are used can be altered by an education program. (Author/LBH)

The skills of interns in obtaining body fluids for analysis were observed after six months of a categorical internal medicine program. The results suggest that training in the proper technique in lumbar puncture in medical schools is inadequate. Recommendations for improvement are offered. (LBH)

Major dimensions of consumer perceptions were identified using factor analysis of survey data as follows: accessibility, availability of family doctors, and of hospitals/specialists, completeness of facilities, continuity of care, and physician conduct. Conduct was clearly the most important factor in general satisfaction. (Author/LBH)

A more productive approach to providing appropriate long-term care is to separate physical from psychosocial needs when performing functional assessment and to rearrange them into a matrix. By examining each need separately, and where needs overlap in the matrix, more direct assessment can be performed, and specified interventions can be designed.…

This study derives the economic costs of misclassification in nursing home patient classification systems. These costs are then used as weights to estimate the reliability of a functional assessment instrument. Results suggest that reliability must be redefined and remeasured with each substantively new application of an assessment instrument.…

The author reviews studies on the relationship between continuing medical education and its impact on physician behavior. These studies have supported the positive impact of education on physician behavior. The author calls for research on the effect of continuing medical education on patient outcomes. (Author/CH)

The authors are concerned that the health-care system has become depersonalized. They propose a prerequisite course for admission to all allied health programs to present a wider perspective on health and illness. The course would be modeled on humanistic rather than technological concerns. (Author/CH)

Examines psychosocial and behavioral variables affecting the wealth of Black women. The role of education is an important theme in many intervention strategies: to modify dietary habits and to encourage the use of medical services. Education is needed also to sensitize health care professionals to the special concerns of Black women. (ETS)

Examines the impact of medicaid coverage on access to and utilization of health care by poverty children during 1983 in Iowa. Survey results showed that poverty children receive less well care from private pediatricians and see the same health professional less often than do nonpoverty children. (SA)

Presents results of a 1982 descriptive study of female farmworkers receiving prenatal care at Tri-County Community Health Center in North Carolina. Recommends patient advocacy, minimum wage ensurance, improved housing, access to tax-supported public assistance, and social service programs to improve health status. (SA)