Emerald Group Publishing Limited eBooks, Nov 14, 2011
The accuracy of forecasts has a critical impact on an organization. A new, practical, and meaning... more The accuracy of forecasts has a critical impact on an organization. A new, practical, and meaningful forecast performance measure, percentage forecasting error (PFE), was introduced by the authors in an earlier publication. In this chapter, we examined the accuracy of the PFE under several different scenarios and found the results to indicate that PFE offers forecasters an accurate and practical alternative to assess forecast accuracy.
Abstract A common problem that many universities face, especially with their specialized programs... more Abstract A common problem that many universities face, especially with their specialized programs, is coordinating faculty availability and class offerings. The schedule is usually developed using paper and pencil after numerous iterations. As a result, the objectives of the program, such as course integration, length of course, and student workload, are most likely compromised in lieu of faculty availability. This chapter describes a multiple objective approach to this class assignment problem that considers the program’s objectives and faculty preferences. The results of applying this class assignment model to an Executive MBA (EMBA) program are presented.
Project Description: For the past 30 months, the NYC Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association has b... more Project Description: For the past 30 months, the NYC Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association has been working with three NYC nursing homes to adapt the “Comfort Matters” approach to care of people with advanced dementia in long term care settings, developed by Beatitudes Campus in Phoenix, Arizona. Beatitudes Campus has invested considerable research and training into expanding knowledge and practice in the area of residentially-based care for people with advanced dementia, and Comfort Matters is the dementia-capable palliative approach they have developed. The presentation will focus on the key concepts of Comfort Matters, as well as the key organizational adaptations that need to be addressed by long term care facilities planning to incorporate these improved care practices. The Chapter’s work with the three nursing homes sites (and the three hospices with whom they interact) involved an initial training and education phase, a year-long pilot phase on one dementia unit in each facility, and a second year focused on sustaining and spreading the improved practices. The work of the Chapter in this project also involved a robust, fivecomponent evaluation that looked at staff knowledge and attitude, cost, pharmacy usage, resident outcomes, and overall dementia unit characteristics; findings from this evaluation will also be shared. One of the several findings from this project has been how to more effectivey use the MDS to address the needs of residents. The key concepts that form the basis for the practice improvements that the three facilities have worked to implement include better identification and treatment of pain, reduction/elimination of weight loss, reduction/elimination of sundowning, meaningful engagement for residents no matter how advanced the dementia, and the reduction/elimination of anti-psychotics, sedatives, anxiolytics.
Objective: To determine whether subjects with insomnia report greater reductions in quality of li... more Objective: To determine whether subjects with insomnia report greater reductions in quality of life (QoL) than subjects without insomnia when assessed with self-report instruments. Methods: Questionnaires were completed by individuals recruited through media advertisements and screened with a structured telephone interview. Data obtained from 261 individuals with insomnia (INS group) were compared with those of 101 individuals with no sleep complaint, or controls (CTL group). Results: Subjects in the INS group obtained lower mean sum scores on the Medical Outcomes Study Cognitive Scale than did subjects in the CTL group (25.34 +/- 0.34 vs 31.91 +/- 0.58, t = 9.53, p < 0.0001). The INS group also obtained lower mean scores on all subscales of the SF-36 Questionnaire compared with those in the CTL group (each, p < 0.0001 or lower), indicating impairments across multiple QoL domains. Psychiatric assessment revealed that subjects in the INS group obtained significantly higher mean item scores than subjects in the control group on the Zung Depression Scale (2.22 +/- 0.03 vs. 1.52 +/- 0.03, p < 0.0001) and the Zung Anxiety Scale (1.96 +/- 0.02 vs. 1.40 +/- 0.04, p < 0.0001). In addition, subjects in the INS group reported significantly greater impairments in specific QoL domains on the QoL inventory, and the Work and Daily Activities Inventory. No differences were observed between subjects in the INS group who were receiving treatment for insomnia versus those who were untreated. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that significant QoL impairments are associated with insomnia.
To determine whether subjects with insomnia report greater reductions in quality of life (QoL) th... more To determine whether subjects with insomnia report greater reductions in quality of life (QoL) than subjects without insomnia when assessed with self-report instruments. Questionnaires were completed by individuals recruited through media advertisements and screened with a structured telephone interview. Data obtained from 261 individuals with insomnia (INS group) were compared with those of 101 individuals with no sleep complaint, or controls (CTL group). Subjects in the INS group obtained lower mean sum scores on the Medical Outcomes Study Cognitive Scale than did subjects in the CTL group (25.34 +/- 0.34 vs 31.91 +/- 0.58, t = 9.53, p < 0.0001). The INS group also obtained lower mean scores on all subscales of the SF-36 Questionnaire compared with those in the CTL group (each, p < 0.0001 or lower), indicating impairments across multiple QoL domains. Psychiatric assessment revealed that subjects in the INS group obtained significantly higher mean item scores than subjects in...
This is a review protocol for systematic review. The review question is: What does the Open Payme... more This is a review protocol for systematic review. The review question is: What does the Open Payments Database say about gender differences in payments received by physicians from the pharmaceutical industry?
The World Health Organization has reported that somewhere between 30-86 million people suffer fro... more The World Health Organization has reported that somewhere between 30-86 million people suffer from moderate to severe pain due to cancer, HIV/AIDS, burns, wounds and other illnesses annually and do not have access to proper opiate anesthetics to control the pain [1]. The vast majority of these people live in poor nations where medicinal opiates are either too expensive or not readily available. In this paper, it is argued that access to adequate healthcare is a human right and that adequate healthcare includes management of pain. The solution to this problem may be in Afghanistan, a country now overwhelmed with poverty and war. Afghanistan is the world's leading producer of heroin. The increase in heroin production in Afghanistan has caused the United States and the international community to begin to eradicate Afghanistan's poppy fields leading to increased poverty among poppy farmers. This paper proposed a paradigm that can be implemented in Afghanistan which would allow f...
International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing
Purpose This paper aims to explore gender differences in payments made to physicians by the pharm... more Purpose This paper aims to explore gender differences in payments made to physicians by the pharmaceutical and medical device industries via the performance of a systematic review of articles based on the Open Payments Database (OPD). Design/methodology/approach Three databases (Scopus, Web of Science and PubMed) were searched for articles published from September 30, 2014 to May 10, 2019, using two search terms: “Sunshine Act” and “Open Payments.” The systematic review is reported according to preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Findings The search identified 359 abstracts. Thirty-nine articles were selected for full review, and 17 of these met the inclusion criteria. Although the articles considered are based on the same database, they adopt diverse approaches and analyses are conducted in different ways. A substantial proportion of the studies show total payments from the two industries to be higher for male physicians than for ...
This chapter describes the capstone course in which students act as internal consultants and appl... more This chapter describes the capstone course in which students act as internal consultants and apply the knowledge they acquired from previous courses in the MBA curriculum (e.g., strategic thinking, competitive analysis, statistics, forecasting, financial analysis). Students form teams of complementary backgrounds and expertise (e.g., president physician services, director of nursing, community medicine physician, rheumatologist) to develop and write a strategic plan, demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of business knowledge and the competitive environment. Uniquely, in this capstone, the instructors collaborated with top management of Lancaster General Health (LG Health) to identify a set of strategic priorities focused on five issues: standardization, innovation, competition, growth/scale, and interaction with the University of Pennsylvania. Each of these became a project assigned to a team of students who concluded the course and the MBA program with a presentation of thei...
Emerald Group Publishing Limited eBooks, Nov 14, 2011
The accuracy of forecasts has a critical impact on an organization. A new, practical, and meaning... more The accuracy of forecasts has a critical impact on an organization. A new, practical, and meaningful forecast performance measure, percentage forecasting error (PFE), was introduced by the authors in an earlier publication. In this chapter, we examined the accuracy of the PFE under several different scenarios and found the results to indicate that PFE offers forecasters an accurate and practical alternative to assess forecast accuracy.
Abstract A common problem that many universities face, especially with their specialized programs... more Abstract A common problem that many universities face, especially with their specialized programs, is coordinating faculty availability and class offerings. The schedule is usually developed using paper and pencil after numerous iterations. As a result, the objectives of the program, such as course integration, length of course, and student workload, are most likely compromised in lieu of faculty availability. This chapter describes a multiple objective approach to this class assignment problem that considers the program’s objectives and faculty preferences. The results of applying this class assignment model to an Executive MBA (EMBA) program are presented.
Project Description: For the past 30 months, the NYC Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association has b... more Project Description: For the past 30 months, the NYC Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association has been working with three NYC nursing homes to adapt the “Comfort Matters” approach to care of people with advanced dementia in long term care settings, developed by Beatitudes Campus in Phoenix, Arizona. Beatitudes Campus has invested considerable research and training into expanding knowledge and practice in the area of residentially-based care for people with advanced dementia, and Comfort Matters is the dementia-capable palliative approach they have developed. The presentation will focus on the key concepts of Comfort Matters, as well as the key organizational adaptations that need to be addressed by long term care facilities planning to incorporate these improved care practices. The Chapter’s work with the three nursing homes sites (and the three hospices with whom they interact) involved an initial training and education phase, a year-long pilot phase on one dementia unit in each facility, and a second year focused on sustaining and spreading the improved practices. The work of the Chapter in this project also involved a robust, fivecomponent evaluation that looked at staff knowledge and attitude, cost, pharmacy usage, resident outcomes, and overall dementia unit characteristics; findings from this evaluation will also be shared. One of the several findings from this project has been how to more effectivey use the MDS to address the needs of residents. The key concepts that form the basis for the practice improvements that the three facilities have worked to implement include better identification and treatment of pain, reduction/elimination of weight loss, reduction/elimination of sundowning, meaningful engagement for residents no matter how advanced the dementia, and the reduction/elimination of anti-psychotics, sedatives, anxiolytics.
Objective: To determine whether subjects with insomnia report greater reductions in quality of li... more Objective: To determine whether subjects with insomnia report greater reductions in quality of life (QoL) than subjects without insomnia when assessed with self-report instruments. Methods: Questionnaires were completed by individuals recruited through media advertisements and screened with a structured telephone interview. Data obtained from 261 individuals with insomnia (INS group) were compared with those of 101 individuals with no sleep complaint, or controls (CTL group). Results: Subjects in the INS group obtained lower mean sum scores on the Medical Outcomes Study Cognitive Scale than did subjects in the CTL group (25.34 +/- 0.34 vs 31.91 +/- 0.58, t = 9.53, p < 0.0001). The INS group also obtained lower mean scores on all subscales of the SF-36 Questionnaire compared with those in the CTL group (each, p < 0.0001 or lower), indicating impairments across multiple QoL domains. Psychiatric assessment revealed that subjects in the INS group obtained significantly higher mean item scores than subjects in the control group on the Zung Depression Scale (2.22 +/- 0.03 vs. 1.52 +/- 0.03, p < 0.0001) and the Zung Anxiety Scale (1.96 +/- 0.02 vs. 1.40 +/- 0.04, p < 0.0001). In addition, subjects in the INS group reported significantly greater impairments in specific QoL domains on the QoL inventory, and the Work and Daily Activities Inventory. No differences were observed between subjects in the INS group who were receiving treatment for insomnia versus those who were untreated. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that significant QoL impairments are associated with insomnia.
To determine whether subjects with insomnia report greater reductions in quality of life (QoL) th... more To determine whether subjects with insomnia report greater reductions in quality of life (QoL) than subjects without insomnia when assessed with self-report instruments. Questionnaires were completed by individuals recruited through media advertisements and screened with a structured telephone interview. Data obtained from 261 individuals with insomnia (INS group) were compared with those of 101 individuals with no sleep complaint, or controls (CTL group). Subjects in the INS group obtained lower mean sum scores on the Medical Outcomes Study Cognitive Scale than did subjects in the CTL group (25.34 +/- 0.34 vs 31.91 +/- 0.58, t = 9.53, p < 0.0001). The INS group also obtained lower mean scores on all subscales of the SF-36 Questionnaire compared with those in the CTL group (each, p < 0.0001 or lower), indicating impairments across multiple QoL domains. Psychiatric assessment revealed that subjects in the INS group obtained significantly higher mean item scores than subjects in...
This is a review protocol for systematic review. The review question is: What does the Open Payme... more This is a review protocol for systematic review. The review question is: What does the Open Payments Database say about gender differences in payments received by physicians from the pharmaceutical industry?
The World Health Organization has reported that somewhere between 30-86 million people suffer fro... more The World Health Organization has reported that somewhere between 30-86 million people suffer from moderate to severe pain due to cancer, HIV/AIDS, burns, wounds and other illnesses annually and do not have access to proper opiate anesthetics to control the pain [1]. The vast majority of these people live in poor nations where medicinal opiates are either too expensive or not readily available. In this paper, it is argued that access to adequate healthcare is a human right and that adequate healthcare includes management of pain. The solution to this problem may be in Afghanistan, a country now overwhelmed with poverty and war. Afghanistan is the world's leading producer of heroin. The increase in heroin production in Afghanistan has caused the United States and the international community to begin to eradicate Afghanistan's poppy fields leading to increased poverty among poppy farmers. This paper proposed a paradigm that can be implemented in Afghanistan which would allow f...
International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing
Purpose This paper aims to explore gender differences in payments made to physicians by the pharm... more Purpose This paper aims to explore gender differences in payments made to physicians by the pharmaceutical and medical device industries via the performance of a systematic review of articles based on the Open Payments Database (OPD). Design/methodology/approach Three databases (Scopus, Web of Science and PubMed) were searched for articles published from September 30, 2014 to May 10, 2019, using two search terms: “Sunshine Act” and “Open Payments.” The systematic review is reported according to preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Findings The search identified 359 abstracts. Thirty-nine articles were selected for full review, and 17 of these met the inclusion criteria. Although the articles considered are based on the same database, they adopt diverse approaches and analyses are conducted in different ways. A substantial proportion of the studies show total payments from the two industries to be higher for male physicians than for ...
This chapter describes the capstone course in which students act as internal consultants and appl... more This chapter describes the capstone course in which students act as internal consultants and apply the knowledge they acquired from previous courses in the MBA curriculum (e.g., strategic thinking, competitive analysis, statistics, forecasting, financial analysis). Students form teams of complementary backgrounds and expertise (e.g., president physician services, director of nursing, community medicine physician, rheumatologist) to develop and write a strategic plan, demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of business knowledge and the competitive environment. Uniquely, in this capstone, the instructors collaborated with top management of Lancaster General Health (LG Health) to identify a set of strategic priorities focused on five issues: standardization, innovation, competition, growth/scale, and interaction with the University of Pennsylvania. Each of these became a project assigned to a team of students who concluded the course and the MBA program with a presentation of thei...
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