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This paper offers in-depth look at the convenient care/retail clinic industry in the context of today’s changing medical landscape with specific focus on Texas-based RediClinic. In addition to a detailed analysis of RediClinic, this paper proposes detailed advertising, marketing and social media recommendations that will aid RediClinic in bolstering its brand image and expanding its client base. Every suggested tactic is framed within the rapidly changing healthcare environment present in America, and specific focus is given to the recent passing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This paper attempts to aid RediClinic in understanding and leveraging its most important strengths: its strong position within the Texas market, and its service to those who are currently uninsured. / text

Research has showed that different light scenarios have a profound effect on hospitalized bipolar patients. Different light situations decrease the hospital stay for patients during both manic and depressive episodes. Nevertheless, a field study carried out during this thesis work of two arbitrary patient rooms in Swedish behavioral health clinics showed no incorporation of this knowledge in the light design of the rooms. Both patient rooms had insufficient light levels both in terms of circadian recommendations and perceived brightness. Hence this thesis suggests an improved light design for patient rooms housing bipolar patients. The basis of the improved design is to incorporate a dynamic, circadian lighting that varies depending on the patient's need and diagnosed episode.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 expanded rural Medicaid and Medicare coverage. However, different vehicles of delivering care (e.g., hospitals, health clinics, etc.) have differing organizational capacity that may or may not enable them to overcome the challenges of expanded provision. Consequently, this research employed structural contingency and organizational performance models to investigate the impact of organizational factors on productivity growth, while recognizing that contextual factors also affect the delivery of care. Latent growth curve modeling was used to study a national panel of 708 U.S. hospitalbased Rural Health Clinics for the years 2005 to 2008. Productivity was measured through dynamic slacks-based data envelopment analyses. Unconditional and conditional linear growth curve models were fitted to data. Findings revealed that 1) hospital-based clinics with higher baseline levels of productivity in 2005 had a slower rate of growth in productivity for the years 2006 to 2008, 2) hospital-based clinics with physicians had significantly higher productivity, 3) hospital-based clinics in urban focused areas had significantly higher productivity, 4) newer hospital-based clinics had significantly higher productivity, and 5) prospective payment system was negatively related to the rate of change in productivity growth. Organizational and contextual factors included in this study significantly explained initial differences in productivity but were unable to explain productivity growth. Future research could improve the study by 1) including additional explanatory variables, such as the use of technology and disease management programs, 2) adjusting productivity measures by case mix measures, and 3) conducting truncated panel data regression with Monte Carlo simulation.

The study explored professional nurses' experience of working in a remote rural hospital in the Eastern Cape Province. A qualitative phenomenological design was used and the study was conducted in a remote rural hospital in region `D'. Eight professional nurses were selected non-randomly from a population of professional nurses who had been working in the hospital for more than one year. Purposive sampling was used to select the participants and semi-structured phenomenological interviews were conducted to collect data. Colaizzi's eight-step method was used for data analysis. The themes that emerged from the data analysis were shortage of human and material resources, poor access, communication problems and lack of safety and insecurity. The study found that the professional nurses at the remote rural hospital experience many obstacles to quality service delivery. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

The purpose of the study was to explore and describe the professional nurse's perception of working in remote rural clinics in Limpopo Province. The research design was qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual. The research population was the professional nurses working in remote rural clinics in Limpopo Province. Purposive sampling was used and data collected by means of tape-recorded in-depth semi-structured individual interviews. The study revealed that the professional nurses perceived working in the remote rural clinics both positively and negatively and had concerns. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

The objectives of this study were to measure and describe the overall satisfaction of Hispanics/Latinos with services they receive from Chesterfield County's Health Department and compare it to that of African Americans and Caucasians. Also, the objectives were to analyze reasons for different levels of satisfaction, assess the nature and degree of satisfaction with particular services, and suggest implications of the Hispanic/Latino opinions for public policy. While the empirical literature revealed that Hispanics/Latinos experience lower levels of satisfaction with health care services, this study did not provide evidence to support this theory.This is a multi-method non-experimental research design combining a cross-sectional design and qualitative interviews. Quantitative data was collected through a patient satisfaction survey, in both English and Spanish, incorporating both closed and open-ended questions. Qualitative data was collected through taped in-depth interviews conducted with each subject to obtain their perspective on the services provided by the Health Department.The Spanish and English research instrument (Appendix C and D) was a self-designed survey to provide a more comprehensive approach to assess customer satisfaction of health services, collect demographic information, and determine how to better deliver these services. The survey consisted of 46 questions (and several follow-up questions) with 23 questions pertaining to the six satisfaction dimensions. These dimensions were measured by a Likert-type response scale ranging from strongly agrees to strongly disagree.Item identification was based on suggestions offered by staff of Chesterfield County's Health Department, theoretical concepts introduced in the literature review and miscellaneous information adapted from the following surveys: The Connecticut Surgical Group - Patient Satisfaction Survey (2004); SERVQUAL--an instrument for measuring quality service (1990); and The Patient's View on Health Care by RAND and UMQC (1994). Authors of these surveys suggest satisfaction be assessed across the following dimensions: reliability, responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication, credibility, security, understanding/knowledge of the customer, and tangibles (appearance of physical facilities). Data were collected from 166 non-Hispanic/Latino and 90 Hispanic/Latino patients that were 18 years of age or older and receive services, at Chesterfield County, Virginia's Health Department. The independent variables were sex, age, level of school completed, income, marital status, children, ethnic background, ability to speak English, modes of transportation, and length of residency in Chesterfield County, Virginia. Dependent variables in the analyses included the six dimensions of satisfaction--staff reliability, staff responsiveness, staff courtesy, staff communication, access to Health Department services, and Health Department Facilities. The data were analyzed through several inferential statistical techniques--univariate, bivariate, multivariate, and nonparametric.Results of the tests indicated that overall, ethnic background only influenced satisfaction with services across two dimensions--staff responsiveness and staff courtesy. However, there were noted differences in the measured levels of satisfaction across the racial/ethnic groups. This study also found that valid comparisons can be made among Hispanics/Latinos, African Americans, and Caucasians on their levels of satisfaction using the 23 measures. Population characteristics had no influence on the differences in satisfaction among the racial ethnic/groups. Results of the in-depth interview revealed that respondents were satisfied with the services as well as the quality of the services provided by the Health Department.

The purpose of the study was to explore and describe the professional nurse's perception of working in remote rural clinics in Limpopo Province. The research design was qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual. The research population was the professional nurses working in remote rural clinics in Limpopo Province. Purposive sampling was used and data collected by means of tape-recorded in-depth semi-structured individual interviews. The study revealed that the professional nurses perceived working in the remote rural clinics both positively and negatively and had concerns. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)