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Evidence-Based Health Care Management introduces the principles and methods for drawing sound causal inferences in research on health services management. The emphasis is on the application of structural equation modeling techniques and other analytical methods to develop causal models in health care management. Topics include causality, theoretical model building, and model verification. Multivariate modeling approaches and their applications in health care management are illustrated. The primary goals of the book are to present advanced principles of health services management research and to familiarize students with the multivariate analytic methods and procedures now in use in scientific research on health care management. The hope is to help health care managers become better equipped to use causal modeling techniques for problem solving and decision making. Evidence-based knowledge is derived from scientific replication and verification of facts. Used consistently and appropriately, it enables a health care manager to improve organizational performance. Causal inference in health care management is a highly feasible approach to establishing evidence-based knowledge that can help navigate an organization to high performance. This book introduces the principles and methods for drawing causal inferences in research on health services management

The objective of this article is twofold: first, to examine the meaning of predatory organised crime (POC), which is defined according to the network governance theory, and, second, to identify the key elements that POC groups need in order to start, grow and expand. POC is a type of organised crime that occurs mostly in developing countries and that feeds on fraud, financial blackmail and shakedowns. This practice imposes heavy financial costs and physical dangers on legal businesses and represents the most detrimental hindrances to the economic growth. The network governance theory helps explain the necessity of flexible organisational structures in a global, fast-changing world. A key finding in this analysis is that POC groups tend to be successful, thanks to network governance; they practice a form of co-ordination characterised by informal social systems rather than by bureaucratic structures within groups and formal contractual relationships between them.

This study investigated the impact of state nursing home staffing standards on nurse staffing levels for the year 2011. Specifically, the study attempted to measure state staffing standards at facility level (i.e., nurse staffing levels that each individual nursing home must retain by its state staffing standards) and analyzed the policy impact. The study findings indicated that state staffing standards for the categories of registered nurse, licensed nurse, or total nurse are positively related to registered nurse, licensed nurse, or total nurse staffing levels, respectively. Nursing homes more actively responded to licensed staffing requirements than total staffing requirements. However, nursing homes did not increase their staffing levels as much as those required by state staffing standards. It is possibly because the quality-oriented inspection allows flexibility in nursing homes' control of nurse staffing levels.

A positive relationship has been demonstrated between the quality of care delivered in nursing homes and the quality of nursing staff providing the care. The general perception, however, is that there is a decline in registered nurses' staff hours in nursing homes. The primary objective of this study is to investigate whether the levels of registered nurses (RNs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs), and nursing assistants (NAs) as well as skill mix has changed in nursing homes between the years 1997 and 2007. A descriptive research design was employed on data derived from Online Survey Certification and Reporting System database. After accounting for facility size and ownership, it was found that more nursing homes have increased—rather than decreased—LPN and NA hours per resident day between 1997 and 2007. On the other hand, more nursing homes have decreased—rather than increased—RN hours per resident day and skill mix during the same time period.