Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego and San Diego State University, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 109-117).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies, December 1999. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Los Angeles, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1972. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.P.A.)--Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 2006. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2948. Typescript. Abstract precedes thesis as 1 leaf (iii). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 150-153).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-105).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Stan N. Finkelstein. / "March 1980." / Bibliography: leaf 13.

M. Tech. / It is well known internationally that the high prevalence of back pain costs the economies of the world many billions of dollars annually. This has prompted a great deal of research abroad into means of reducing the deleterious economic effects of back pain. One of the results of this research is the realisation that Chiropractic treatment of back pain offers an efficacious and cost effective alternative to the conventional medical treatments currently employed in most countries. To this end there has been a move, by health management organisations in the USA and Canada, toward the integration of Chiropractic into their health care systems in a gatekeeper role with notable success in terms of cost reduction. Similar research has not been conducted in the Republic of South Africa and, notwithstanding the evidence emerging from abroad, Chiropractic, although integrated into many health care systems, remains inaccessible to most back pain sufferers, particularly those employed in the lower ranks of industry. This is in large part due to the unavailability of Chiropractic services in the more remote areas of the country where many mines are situated, but also partly due to the lack of incentive for mining companies to make use of Chiropractic services. The data used in this study was obtained from the in-house medical aid of a reputable South African mining company. The data was used to summarise the cost of treatment of selected categories of back pain by the various service providers within the medical fraternity. The medical costs were then compared to the similarly summarised Chiropractic cost of treatment for the same categories of back pain. The results indicate that Chiropractic costs compare favourably with those of the General Practitioner (GP) and Physiotherapists on a stand alone basis. The data indicates however that the medical approach invariable leads to specialist referral that in turn often results in surgery with the associated imaging, theatre and hospitalisation costs. When these costs are considered it becomes obvious that Chiropractic involvement at an early stage has the potential to considerably reduce the cost of treatment of back pain.

The Medicare Participating Physician Program was enacted in 1984 in an effort to increase physician assignment of Medicare claims, and thereby reduce beneficiary out of-pocket expenses. The program offers the physician the security of near-certain payment on all claims, although at rates that are in many cases, at levels substantially, less than actual physician fees. This paper examines the economic factors that influence the physician's decision on participation. Physicians of the Medical Society of Prince William County, Virginia, were surveyed for information relevant to making the participation decision and the responses tabulated and used as input to a regression equation estimated using the logit technique. Physicians are more likely to participate the higher the relative price received for participating and the lower the probability of payment by Medicare-eligible patients. Additionally, salaried physicians are more likely to partiCipate than those who are self-employed. / Master of Arts