The purpose of my Master's thesis in law is to analyse the legal position which the private healthcare providers (i.e. operators of private healthcare facilities) occupy in the Czech healthcare system, particularly in the system of public health insurance. Since the private providers emerged in the Czech Republic only after the Velvet Revolution in 1989, the development of their position within the system is relatively short and unsettled. The legal regulation of the field is quite complicated, yet is the subject of strong political controversies, partly due to the generous but vaguely formulated constitutional right to free healthcare. Currently, the Parliament is in the middle of adoption of the healthcare reform of larger scale which would make changes that deserve to be examined. The thesis is composed of Introduction, three chapters and Conclusion. Each of the chapters aims on different aspect of the topic; however, they are interlinked by common legal institutes which play role in the whole thesis. First two subchapters of Chapter I are most general and introduce the possible ways of financing healthcare (public and private insurers, direct payment) and its specifics. The options of foreign citizens are also clarified. After the conclusion that the most important system in the Czech context...

Many patients suffer from dermatological diseases throughout the world. Literature about this problem is emphasizing that it is getting worse. Factors such as poor hygiene, poverty and diseases such as HIV/AIDS, have increased the prevalence of dermatological diseases in developing countries such as Namibia. Understanding the different dermatological diseases and studying their prevalence will aid in ensuring patients better quality of life. The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence and medicinal treatment patterns of dermatological diseases in the private healthcare sector of Namibia, with special reference to Windhoek. The research methodology was divided into two sections, namely a literature analysis and an empirical study. The literature analysis has been done to ensure knowledge about dermatological conditions before the empirical study was started. The empirical study was divided into two phases and data were collected from the community pharmacy environment (Phase 1) and a dermatologist (Phase 2). A total number of 507 patients participated in this study. In the community pharmacy environment, data were gathered from dermatological prescriptions of general practitioners (Phase 1A) and from pharmacist-initiated therapy prescriptions (Phase 1B). The data collected from the dermatologist (Phase 2), were collected from patients files at the dermatologist‘s practise. Phase 1A indicated that urticaria (n=36) had the highest prevalence followed by eczema (n=28) and contact dermatitis (n=28). 49% of the patients that participated in this phase were seeking treatment for the same condition the second time. In Phase 1B, contact dermatitis (n=15) showed the highest prevalence with eczema (n=14) and urticaria (n=8) second and third respectively. 77% of the patients participating in this phase of the research study did not have a family history of the same dermatological diseases. Phase 2 indicated that the highest prevalence of dermatological diseases was acne vulgaris (n=30) and melasma (n=19). The treatment duration that occurred most often in this phase was 180 days. Over all, the data indicated that eczema was the dermatological disease with the highest incidence of 11.2% (n=57). Other diseases that played a significant part were acne vulgaris (10.5%), urticaria (9.0%), contact dermatitis (8.6%) and melasma (7.1%). Rare dermatological diseases such as Kaposi sarcoma showed relatively high prevalence (n=9). It was concluded that this could be due to the fact that the dermatologist consulted, had been the only dermatologist claiming directly from the government medical aid, and that most of the patients diagnosed with Kaposi sarcoma during this research study were government employees. Many dermatological diseases were not specifically defined or diagnosed, but still treated with topical corticosteroids which may suggest that the term eczema is undefined and easily used by different healthcare practitioners for dry-skin related conditions. It is concluded in this research study that the three most prevalent dermatological diseases in the private healthcare sector of Namibia are eczema, acne vulgaris and urticaria. These conditions are not considered to be life-threatening, but they do have a significant effect on the quality of life of patients. / MPham (Pharmacy Practice), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / An exploratory, cross-sectional, qualitative survey was conducted to describe the market of lower income mothers who had recently given birth to a child in a state hospital in the Western Cape (WC) region of South Africa. These mothers were viewed by the researcher as potential consumers of low cost maternity plans which would provide for maternity care in Active Birthing Units (ABUs) in the private healthcare sector in South Africa. The motivation behind the research stems from various sources. The currently inequitable healthcare system in South Africa, which has been described as a two tier system in the recent Policy Paper on National Health Insurance (Republic of South Africa, 2011: 4-5), is one such source. Reports of poor maternity care in the South African public healthcare system (Vogel, 2011: E1097-E1098), is another source of motivation behind the research report. It was apparent to the researcher that given the low quality of maternity care in state hospitals, a potential market of healthcare consumers – who would be willing to pay a small premium for what they considered to be a more acceptable level of maternity care in the private healthcare sector – could exist. This view was supported by research conducted by Joan Costa and Jaume Garcia (2003: 587-599) in which the “quality gap” was confirmed as a driving force behind the demand for private health care. This focus on the lower socioeconomic groups as a market for private sector goods and services was found to be well described by Prahalad (2005). The researcher conducted interviews amongst mothers who had delivered a child in a public hospital in the previous two years. A convenience sample of 100 mothers was selected in a shopping mall in the Western Cape (WC). The researcher administered a structured questionnaire during a face-to-face interview with each of the 100 respondents. The respondents were rewarded with a shopping voucher to the value of 50 ZAR, which was both a prerequisite specified by the management of the shopping mall and consistent with rewards offered in similar studies (Francis, Battle-Fisher, Liverpool, Hipple, Mosavel, Soogun, & Nokuthula, 2011). Data collected from the questionnaire included both data on willingness to pay (WTP), as well as demographic data, which provided interesting insights into a relatively under-researched market segment. A statistical analysis of the data collected revealed that 31 respondents (31%) reported a positive WTP for private maternity care. A statistically significant relationship was revealed between respondents’ WTP and the birth experience the respondents had had during their most recent pregnancy, whereby mothers who had described their most recent birth experience as “poor” were significantly more likely to exhibit a positive WTP for private maternity care (p=0.00006). Significant relationships between respondents' WTP for private maternity care and their age and household size were also discovered, whereby younger mothers were more likely to be willing to pay than older mothers (p=0.02) and mothers from smaller households were also significantly more likely to be willing to pay than mothers from larger households (p=0.02). Amongst a sub group of 32 respondents deemed to have potential monthly savings, those with a higher monthly household income were more likely to exhibit positive WTP (p=0.02753) than were those with higher levels of monthly expenditure (p=0.04093). The researcher acknowledged that the limitations of the research included the fact that respondents were selected non-randomly, as a small isolated sample, which made the extrapolation of the results to the larger population of South African mothers impossible. The research did, however, serve to describe the demographic characteristics of a new and relatively under researched target market of mothers from the lower socioeconomic segment of the WC. Data gleaned from this survey will serve to inform further research into this target market, so as to complete a more comprehensive feasibility analysis for the establishment of low cost maternity care packages and ABUs in South Africa.

Dans le contexte d’une population vieillissante, nous avons étudié l’impact de la présence de personnes âgées sur les dépenses catastrophiques de santé (DCS), ainsi que leur impact sur trois effets reliés (le fait d’éviter des traitements, la perte de revenu, et l’utilisation de sources de financement alternatives). Nous avons utilisé les données d’une enquête du National Sample Survey Organization (Inde) en 2004, portant sur les dépenses reliées à la santé. Nous avons choisi un état développé (Kerala) et un état en voie de développement (Bihar) pour faire une comparaison des effets de la présence de personnes âgées sur les ménages. Nous avons trouvé qu’il y avait plus de DCS au Kerala et que ceci était probablement lié à la présence accrue de personnes âgées au Kerala ce qui mène à plus de maladies chroniques. Nous avons supposé que l’utilisation de services de santé privés serait lié à une augmentation de DCS, mais l’effet a varié en fonction de l’état, du présence d’une personne âgée, et du type de service utilisé (ambulatoire ou hospitalisation). Nous avons aussi trouvé que les femmes âgées au Bihar utilisait les services de santé moins qu’elle ne devrait, que les ménages ayant plus de 4 personnes ont possiblement un effet protecteur pour les personnes âgées, et que certains castes et group religieux ont dû emprunter plus souvent que d’autres groupes pour payer les frais de santé. La présence de personnes âgées, les maladies chroniques, et l’utilisation de services de santé privées sont tous liés aux DCS, mais, d’après nos résultats, d’autres groupes retardent les conséquences économiques en empruntant ou évitant les traitements. Nous espérons que ces résultats seront utilisés pour approfondir les connaissances sur l’effet de personnes âgées sur les dépenses de santé ou qu’ils seront utilisés dans des discussions de politiques de santé. / In the context of an ageing population in India, we have examined the impact of the elderly on catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) and three related access impacts (avoidance of treatment, loss of income, and alternate sources of funding). We used data from the National Sample Survey Organization (India) survey on healthcare in 2004. We chose one developed state (Kerala) and one developing state (Bihar) to compare and contrast the impact of ageing on households. Our results showed that CHE was higher in Kerala and that this was likely due to more elderly that in turn have more chronic disease. We expected the use of private treatment to lead to higher levels of CHE, and while it did for some households, the impact of private treatment on CHE, varied by state, presence of elderly, and type of health service (inpatient or outpatient). We also found that elderly females in Bihar were at a disadvantage with regards to health services utilizations, that larger household size might have a protective effect on elderly households, and that some scheduled caste and Muslim households have to borrow more often than other groups in order to fund their treatment. While the elderly, chronic disease and private treatment are linked to CHE, our results suggest that other groups may simply be delaying the consequences of paying for healthcare, by avoiding treatment or borrowing money. We hope that these results be used to explore the impact of the elderly in more detail in future research, or that it contribute to health policy discussions.

The master thesis The Issue of the Satisfaction and Access of Foreigners into the Health Insurance (A Case of the Czech Republic) focuses on the topic of the situation of foreigners residing in Czechia and their access into the social security system, especially into the systems of public or private health insurance systems. The thesis brings to light the system of residences and legal statuses and how they affect the range of rights that foreigners can possess, with special emphasis put on their access into the public or private health insurance systems. It also offers an analysis of both public and private health insurance systems and critically compares them.

The thesis focuses on multilingual communication in healthcare centres in Prague. One of its main objectives is to compare and contrast the situation in the public- and the private sector. The theoretical part of the thesis presents interpreting in healthcare settings as one of the most important and most frequent types of community interpreting. The authors focus mainly on the current state of research in diverse world regions, and subsequently analyse the specific aspects of interpreting situations in the setting in question. An integral constituent of the theoretical part of the thesis is a global overview of the current situation in terms of quantity of foreign patients in Prague hospitals, including selected relevant demographic data. In conclusion of the theoretical part, the authors briefly elaborate on the phenomenon of medical tourism. The empirical part of the thesis is based on a questionnaire survey carried out among hospital employees in Prague, the aim of which was to analyse the current situation in terms of communication with foreign country nationals and to compare and contrast the public- and the private sector in this respect. The main focus of the research is to find out how the respondents perceive the situation and whether they are satisfied with it and to what extent this is...

Bakgrund: Ljumskbråck är den vanligaste operationen inom allmänkirurgin, varje år utförs nästan 20 000 operationer i Sverige. I Östergötland utförs ljumskbråcksoperationer på tre ställen inom ramen för dagkirurgi; vid Aleris Specialistvård i Motala (ASM), Närsjukvården i Finspång (NiF) samt Medicinskt Centrum i Linköping (MCL). Det finns en teori om att privata vårdgivare är mer tidseffektiva än offentliga vårdgivare. De privata anses kunna utföra fler operationer under en given tid, men ingen studie har gjorts på tidseffektiviteten kring operationerna hos respektive vårdgivare. Denna studie har genomförts för att detektera om det finns en skillnad i hur lång tid olika moment tar att utföra och vad denna skillnad i sådana fall beror på, samt om patientunderlaget skiljer sig mellan klinikerna. Metod: Studien omfattade 70 patienter fördelade på tre kliniker; ASM, MCL och NiF. Ljumskbråcksoperationerna delades upp i flertalet moment som mättes med digital klocka. Dessutom samlades uppgifter in om patientens ålder, ASA-klass, BMI samt information om vilka som närvarade i operationssalen. Statistisk analys gjordes enligt Kruskal-Wallis. Programvaran som användes var SPSS version 22. Resultat: Studien fann ingen signifikant skillnad i BMI, ASA-klass eller ålder mellan klinikernas patienter (p > 0,05 för samtliga). Däremot fanns stora skillnader vad gäller hur lång tid ett flertal av momenten under ljumskbråcksoperationen tog. Slutsats: Studien påvisar att det finns stora skillnader i olika moment vid ljumskbråcksoperationer. De privata klinikerna var alltid snabbare än den offentliga kliniken. Då det saknas studier inom området vore det intressant att se om det finns liknande skillnader vid andra ingrepp som utförs av olika aktörer. / Background: Inguinal hernia surgery is one of the most common surgeries within general surgery, with approximately 20 000 surgeries per year in Sweden. There are three places in Östergötland County where inguinal hernias are executed within outpatient surgery; at Aleris Specialistvård in Motala (ASM), Närsjukvården in Finspång (NiF) and at Medicinskt Centrum in Linköping (MCL). There is a theory that private health care providers are more time-efficient than public health care providers. The private health care providers are considered to perform more operations over a given time though no studies has been done on time efficiency. This study was performed to detect if there is a difference in time in the various steps during the surgery between the clinics, what causes these differences and if the patients differ. Methods: The study includes 70 patients distributed on three outpatient surgery clinics; ASM, MCL and NiF. The inguinal hernia operations were divided into shorter steps measured with a digital watch.  Furthermore, data were noted about the patients’ age, ASA-score, BMI and who were present in the operating room. Statistical analyses were performed with the Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance. The software used was SPSS version 22. Results: The study found no significant difference in BMI, ASA-score and age between the health care providers (p > 0,05). However, regarding the time efficiency, there were significant differences between the clinics. Conclusions: The study concludes that there are big differences in time, within the various steps in the inguinal hernia surgeries, between the clinics. The private health care providers were always faster than the public health care provider. Since no earlier studies have been made in this area, it would be interesting to see if there are similar differences in other types of surgeries.

Dans le contexte d’une population vieillissante, nous avons étudié l’impact de la présence de personnes âgées sur les dépenses catastrophiques de santé (DCS), ainsi que leur impact sur trois effets reliés (le fait d’éviter des traitements, la perte de revenu, et l’utilisation de sources de financement alternatives). Nous avons utilisé les données d’une enquête du National Sample Survey Organization (Inde) en 2004, portant sur les dépenses reliées à la santé. Nous avons choisi un état développé (Kerala) et un état en voie de développement (Bihar) pour faire une comparaison des effets de la présence de personnes âgées sur les ménages. Nous avons trouvé qu’il y avait plus de DCS au Kerala et que ceci était probablement lié à la présence accrue de personnes âgées au Kerala ce qui mène à plus de maladies chroniques. Nous avons supposé que l’utilisation de services de santé privés serait lié à une augmentation de DCS, mais l’effet a varié en fonction de l’état, du présence d’une personne âgée, et du type de service utilisé (ambulatoire ou hospitalisation). Nous avons aussi trouvé que les femmes âgées au Bihar utilisait les services de santé moins qu’elle ne devrait, que les ménages ayant plus de 4 personnes ont possiblement un effet protecteur pour les personnes âgées, et que certains castes et group religieux ont dû emprunter plus souvent que d’autres groupes pour payer les frais de santé. La présence de personnes âgées, les maladies chroniques, et l’utilisation de services de santé privées sont tous liés aux DCS, mais, d’après nos résultats, d’autres groupes retardent les conséquences économiques en empruntant ou évitant les traitements. Nous espérons que ces résultats seront utilisés pour approfondir les connaissances sur l’effet de personnes âgées sur les dépenses de santé ou qu’ils seront utilisés dans des discussions de politiques de santé. / In the context of an ageing population in India, we have examined the impact of the elderly on catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) and three related access impacts (avoidance of treatment, loss of income, and alternate sources of funding). We used data from the National Sample Survey Organization (India) survey on healthcare in 2004. We chose one developed state (Kerala) and one developing state (Bihar) to compare and contrast the impact of ageing on households. Our results showed that CHE was higher in Kerala and that this was likely due to more elderly that in turn have more chronic disease. We expected the use of private treatment to lead to higher levels of CHE, and while it did for some households, the impact of private treatment on CHE, varied by state, presence of elderly, and type of health service (inpatient or outpatient). We also found that elderly females in Bihar were at a disadvantage with regards to health services utilizations, that larger household size might have a protective effect on elderly households, and that some scheduled caste and Muslim households have to borrow more often than other groups in order to fund their treatment. While the elderly, chronic disease and private treatment are linked to CHE, our results suggest that other groups may simply be delaying the consequences of paying for healthcare, by avoiding treatment or borrowing money. We hope that these results be used to explore the impact of the elderly in more detail in future research, or that it contribute to health policy discussions.