The social media (web 2.0) is radically changing the way we communicate, the information transaction and the relationship between consumers and healthcare professionals. The aim of this paper was to denote the continuously increasing power of the social media especially in the health sector and to propose reasons of this participating procedure for the quality improvement in health care. A thorough research in the Greek and international healthcare blogosphere was carried out in relation to Amalia Kalyvinou blog and its impact. The case of Amalia Kalyvinou, moved more than 400,000 people through the web, draw the attention of Greek politicians, as well as of national and global media and was the spark of social change and consciousness awakening as a new kind of social protest, which caused the immediate reaction of administrative and judiciary authorities.
Health literacy is widely considered as a key determinant of health and a priority in the public health policy agenda. Low health literacy has been associated with poorer health states, broader inequalities and higher health systems' costs. In the present study we bring into focus the functional health literacy among university students in Greece, researching and assessing mainly their ability to apply basic knowledge in a health context. The study was carried out during the period 15–30 April 2013, among a random sample of 1,526 students of 14 Higher Tertiary Public universities and Technological Educational Institutes in Greece. The objective of the study was to assess the functional health literacy among university students in Greece, adopting the short four-item comprehension test of Bostock and Steptoe. Summary statistics, correlations and regressions were used to assess the determinants of health literacy and the association with self-perceived health, health behaviours and health risks. Economic factors, such as family income, demographic factors, such as gender, and health behaviours and risks, namely consumption of alcohol, smoking and physical workout are associated with the level of health literacy and health status of the participant. While the results of the study are consistent with previous work in this area, several findings worth further research. Though, health promotion interventions in Greece include health literacy as one of the basic pillars of the public health policy agenda, it is clear, that health literacy needs to become a key policy issue in Greece, mainly focusing in young ages, where healthy (or unhealthy) behaviours are established affecting the health through the life span.
The pace of discoveries and advances in genomic research is not reflected in the pace of their translation and incorporation into day-to-day clinical medicine to individualize healthcare decision-making processes. One of the main obstacles is the poor understanding of the policies and the key stakeholders involved in these translation processes.We used the computerized version of the PolicyMaker political mapping tool to collect and organize important information about the pharmacogenomics and genomic medicine policy environment, serving as a database for assessments of the policy's content, the major players, their power and policy positions, their interests, and networks and coalitions that interconnect them.Our findings indicate that the genomic medicine policy environment in Greece seems to be rather positive, as the vast majority of the stakeholders express their medium to high support in the initially set goals of genomic medicine policy environment. The Ministry of Health and public healthcare insurance funds seem to oppose it, most likely due to financial constrains. These findings would contribute in selecting and implementing policy measures that will expedite the adoption of genomics into conventional medical interventions.
Background & methods: Economic evaluation in genomic medicine is an emerging discipline to assess the cost–effectiveness of genome-guided treatment. Here, we developed a pharmaco-economic model to assess whether pharmacogenomic (PGx)-guided warfarin treatment of elderly ischemic stroke patients with atrial fibrillation in Croatia is cost effective compared with non-PGx therapy. The time horizon of the model was set at 1 year. Results: Our primary analysis indicates that 97.07% (95% CI: 94.08–99.34%) of patients belonging to the PGx-guided group have not had any major complications, compared with the control group (89.12%; 95% CI: 84.00–93.87%, p < 0.05). The total cost per patient was estimated at €538.7 (95% CI: €526.3–551.2) for the PGx-guided group versus €219.7 (95% CI: €137.9–304.2) for the control group. In terms of quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) gained, total QALYs was estimated at 0.954 (95% CI: 0.943–0.964) and 0.944 (95% CI: 0.931–0.956) for the PGx-guided and the control groups, respectively. The true difference in QALYs was estimated at 0.01 (95% CI: 0.005–0.015) in favor of the PGx-guided group. The incremental cost–effectiveness ratio of the PGx-guided versus the control groups was estimated at €31,225/QALY. Conclusion: Overall, our data indicate that PGx-guided warfarin treatment may represent a cost-effective therapy option for the management of elderly patients with atrial fibrillation who developed ischemic stroke in Croatia. Original submitted 4 June 2014; Revision submitted 12 November 2014
The aim of this research is to investigate in- and out-patient satisfaction as revealed by patients’ assessment in the Konstantopouleio General Hospital of Athens. The sample of the study consisted of 745 inpatients and 420 outpatients from a survey performed from June 2011 till October 2012. An ordered logit approach was used that allows for different satisfaction response categories. Medical and nursery staff attention to patients along with the hospital environment and administration positively correlate with patient satisfaction in both groups of in- and out-patients. Among the demographic factors, only age positively relates to patient satisfaction in both groups. While the perceived health status plays a positive and significant role in shaping only the in-patient satisfaction, education and insurance positively associate only with out-patient satisfaction. Our study confirms the important role of hospital performance measures, proxied by the hospital care delivered, as well as the socio-demographic factors. In general, hospitals and healthcare systems that invest in citizens’ evaluation evolvement and patients’ assessment programmes, are expected to acquire valuable information to perform important transformational changes-reforms in their healthcare services.
Abstract Background of context Priority setting and resource allocation across various healthcare functions are critical issues in health policy and strategic decision making. As health resources are limited while there are so many health challenges to resolve, consumers and payers have to make difficult decisions about expenditure allocation. Objective Our research focus on the (dis)agreement between citizens' preferences and actual public health expenditure across broad healthcare functions, on whether this (dis)agreement is persistent, on whether various demographic factors amplify this (dis)agreement and to derive useful implications for public health policies. Setting and participants Using survey data of 3029 citizens in Greece for the year 2012 and employing logit estimation techniques, we analysed the effect of demographic and other factors in shaping citizens' (dis)agreement with public health expenditure allocation. Results Our results demonstrate the important role of income, family members and residence in shaping citizens' preferences regarding health expenditure priorities in almost all healthcare functions, while other demographic factors such as job, age, gender and marital status do partly associate and play a significant role. Conclusions Government should encourage the citizens' participation in the decision‐making process in order to eliminate the unveiled and significant disagreement between citizens' preferences and actual public health expenditure across all healthcare functions.
Background: Understanding the factors that influence eHealth in a country is particularly important for health policy decision makers and the health care market, as it provides critical information to develop targeted and tailored interventions for relevant patient–consumer segments, and further suggests appropriate strategies for training the health illiterate part of the population.
The chapter aims to analyze the impact of cigarette taxes evolution over the period 1992-2017 on the revenue share of the main tobacco supply chain stakeholders in Greece. This empirical analysis uses a pooled time series from 1992 through 2017 including a data set of retail prices, three tax groups levied on cigarettes (specific tax, ad valorem tax, and V.A.T.), and revenue shares for three categories of stakeholders. The results indicate that the revenue share of the stakeholders is decreasing over the whole period, and specifically, their shares drop by half in the last 15 years. The regression results show that the revenue shares of tobacco companies are most affected by both excise taxes in a negative way, and similarly, both price and the excises affect significantly the revenue share of retailers, whereas the findings regarding distributors' revenues are insignificant. This knowledge is likely to be useful for policymakers in the development of effective tobacco control policies.
Medical tourism is a rapidly growing sector, and could become a major driver of tourism in Greece. This research examines the status quo and the potential of medical tourism on the island of Crete, Greece. A cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2021 to February 2022, with the administration of questionnaires. The study involved the participation of 97 hotel managers from four- and five-star hotels, 515 doctors representing various specialties, and 890 medical tourists. Hotel managers overwhelmingly (90+%) believe that medical tourism can significantly contribute to the domestic economy, as well as that the domestic market is ready for the provision of medical tourism services on a larger scale, while more than 70% of the tourists asked would be interested in travelling to Greece to receive medical treatment. IVF, eye surgery, and dental services are the ones that would interest tourists the most, which are also aligned with the services commonly provided by the doctors questioned. Thus, according to the perspectives of doctors, hotel managers, and tourists, medical tourism has the capacity to grow significantly and contribute to the development of the Greek economy. The government should assume a supportive role, facilitating medical tourism processes by addressing the administrative, financial, and promotional aspects.
