Articles

Attitudes, knowledge, and preferences of the Israeli public regarding the allocation of donor organs for transplantation

There is a stark disparity between the number of patients awaiting deceased-donor organ transplants and the rate at which organs become available. Though organs for transplantation are assumed to be a communit...

Authors: Amir Elalouf, Joseph S. Pliskin and Tehila Kogut

Elderly bedridden patients with dementia use over one quarter of resources in internal medicine wards in an Israeli hospital

Elderly bedridden patients with dementia (EBRPD) are a growing segment of the population. We aimed to describe acute care hospitalization of EBRPD in internal medicine wards: the prevalence of EBRPD, their imp...

Authors: Inbal Weiss Salz, Yehuda Carmeli, Avi Levin, Noga Fallach, Tali Braun and Sharon Amit

Iodine deficiency in Israeli pregnant women – a time for action

Iodine is an essential micronutrient for thyroid gland function. Iodine deficiency disorders are a spectrum of conditions affecting the fetus, child, adolescent and adult. Iodine requirements are increased in ...

Authors: John H. Lazarus

Evaluating the consequences of health policy decisions

Uncertainty about intended and possible unintended side effects makes it important to evaluate changes following health policy decisions. A recent IJHPR article by Greenberg et al. evaluated changes in emergen...

Authors: Ulrike Nimptsch

Lessons learned from an evaluation of referrals to the emergency department

Emergency department (ED) crowding is an international phenomenon dependent on input, throughput, and output factors. This study aims to determine whether patterns of potentially unnecessary referrals from eit...

Authors: Roee Gorodetzer, Evan Avraham Alpert, Zvika Orr, Shifra Unger and Todd Zalut

Inequality in in-hospital mortality due to road traffic accident between ethnic populations in specified groups living in the same country

Road traffic accidents (RTA) are not equally distributed between ethnic groups, disproportionately affecting minorities. In Israel, Arabs are at higher risk of involvement in RTA relative to their proportion i...

Authors: Abebe Tiruneh, Maya Siman-Tov, Irina Radomislensky and Kobi Peleg

Toward risk adjustment in mental health in Israel: calculation of risk adjustment rates from large outpatient and inpatient databases

In 2015, mental health services were added to the Israeli National Health Insurance package of services. As such, these services are financed by the budget which is allocated to the Health Plans according to a...

Authors: Yoav Kohn and Amir Shmueli

Low intake of iodized salt and iodine containing supplements among pregnant women with apparently insufficient iodine status - time to change policy?

Iodine is an essential nutrient for human health throughout the life cycle, especially during early stages of intrauterine life and infancy, to ensure adequate neurocognitive development. The growing global re...

Authors: Shani R. Rosen, Yaniv S. Ovadia, Eyal Y. Anteby, Shlomo Fytlovich, Dorit Aharoni, Doron Zamir, Dov Gefel and Simon Shenhav

Patient satisfaction with primary care physician performance in a multicultural population

A key component of the quality of health care is patient satisfaction, particularly in regard to Primary Care Physician (PCP), which represents the first contact with health care services. Patient satisfaction...

Authors: Samah Hayek, Shany Derhy, Mathew Lee Smith, Samuel D. Towne Jr and Shira Zelber-Sagi

Enhancing primary care and preventive services through Interprofessional practice and education

Interprofessional (IP) practice and education are important when seeking to respond to the growing demand for primary and preventive care services. Multiple professions with synergistic expertise are needed to...

Authors: Terri Fowler, David Garr, Natalie Di Pietro Mager and Joan Stanley

Sex for seniors: how physicians discuss older adult’s sexuality

This study examined physicians’ perspectives on sexuality in later life.

Authors: Ateret Gewirtz-Meydan, Inbar Levkovich, Moshe Mock, Uri Gur, Khaled Karkabi and Liat Ayalon

Temporal trends in healthcare resource utilization and costs following acute myocardial infarction

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is associated with greater utilization of healthcare resources and financial expenditure.

Authors: Arthur Shiyovich, Harel Gilutz, Jonathan Eli Arbelle, Dan Greenberg and Ygal Plakht

Improved meals service and reduced food waste and costs in medical institutions resulting from employment of a food service dietitian – a case study

A recurring problem in medical institutions is patients not always receiving food meeting their nutritional and medical needs. A proposed contributing factor is non- inclusion of dietitians in food service sta...

Authors: Orit Yona, Rebecca Goldsmith and Ronit Endevelt

Socio-economic status, self-rated health and mental health: the mediation effect of social participation on early-late midlife and older adults

Socioeconomic status (SES) is a major determinant of diverse health outcomes, among these are self-rated-health and mental health. Yet the mechanisms underlying the SES—health relation are not fully explored. ...

Authors: Netta Achdut and Orly Sarid

Digital governance in tax-funded European healthcare systems: from the Back office to patient empowerment

Digital healthcare promises to achieve cost-efficiency gains, improve clinical effectiveness, support better public sector governance by enhancing transparency and accountability, and increase confidence in me...

Authors: Paola Mattei

Paramedics and Physician Assistants in Israel

Israeli emergency medicine is undergoing change. The paramedic is experiencing high separation rates because the position is understaffed, overworked, and underpaid. Physician assistants (PAs) were introduced ...

Authors: Roderick S. Hooker

From civilian service to military service: what led policy-makers to remove nursing care from field units of the Israeli defense force (IDF) and return it later?

From the very onset, Israeli military nurses served in supporting positions on the front lines, shoulder to shoulder with men. When the IDF was established in 1948, nurses were sent to serve near areas of conf...

Authors: Ronen Segev

A survey of primary-care pediatricians regarding the management of Helicobacter pylori infection and celiac disease

Adherence of primary-care pediatricians to guidelines in pediatric gastroenterology is essential to achieve optimal clinical outcomes. The study aim was to examine adherence of primary-care pediatricians to th...

Authors: Amir Ben Tov, Wasef Na’amnih, Amna Bdair-Amsha, Shlomi Cohen, Judith Tzamir, Gabriel Chodick and Khitam Muhsen

Private expenditures on healthcare: determinants, patterns and progressivity aspects

The mixture of public vs. private financing of the healthcare system has important fiscal and economic welfare implications. The consequences of this mixture for access to health services and for equity have b...

Authors: Leah Achdut

Integrating Israeli Defense Force (IDF) veterans with disabilities into the workforce: characteristics and predictors

According to the ICF Model, the central goal of rehabilitation is the returning of persons with disabilities to an active and fruitful life within society. The Israel Ministry of Defense Rehabilitation Departm...

Authors: Dan Segev and Miriam Schiff

The Israeli national population program of genetic carrier screening for reproductive purposes. How should it be continued?

The Israeli population genetic screening program for reproductive purposes, is a population-specific screening that includes all known, severe diseases and relatively frequent in a specific population (carrier...

Authors: Joël Zlotogora

International workshop on the future of community child healthcare

Increasing numbers of children with developmental, emotional, and psychosocial issues require adaptation of the services provided by pediatricians in the community. An international workshop that took place in...

Authors: Zachi Grossman, Boaz Porter, Joseph Meyerovitch, Lisa Rubin, Jacob Kuint, Efrat Wechsler, Doron Dushnitzky and Shai Ashkenazi

Preferences for mental health treatment for post-partum depression among new mothers

The prevalence rate of postpartum depression (PPD) is 9 to 17% among mothers, with higher rates among low income and immigrant populations. Due to the negative effects of PPD symptoms on both the mother and baby,...

Authors: Meital Simhi, Orly Sarid and Julie Cwikel

Innovation and The Israel Journal of Health Policy Research

The Israel Journal of Health Policy Research (IJHPR) is a peer-reviewed, on-line, open access journal, sponsored by Israel’s National Institute for Health Policy Research. We believe that it is both an innovat...

Authors: Bruce Rosen, Avi Israeli and Stephen Schoenbaum

Factors associated with childhood influenza vaccination in Israel: a cross-sectional evaluation

Vaccinating children against influenza has shown both direct and indirect beneficial effects. However, despite being offered free of charge, childhood influenza vaccine coverage in Israel has been low. Our obj...

Authors: Aharona Glatman-Freedman, Kanar Amir, Rita Dichtiar, Hila Zadka, Ifat Vainer, Dolev Karolinsky, Teena Enav and Tamy Shohat

The prevalence of iron deficiency anemia among African asylum seeking children residing in Tel Aviv

It has been the impression of pediatricians at the Terem Clinic for African asylum seekers in Tel Aviv that they encounter large numbers of anemic children.

Authors: Gideon Koren, Lielle Ross, Oren Zwang and Orel Benari

Ensuring HIV care to undocumented migrants in Israel: a public-private partnership case study

Undocumented migrants in Israel, mostly originating from HIV endemic countries, are not covered by Israel’s universal healthcare coverage. We initiated a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) to handle this public ...

Authors: Daniel Chemtob, Rivka Rich, Neta Harel, Nechama Averick, Eyal Schwartzberg, Israel Yust, Shlomo Maayan, Itamar Grotto and Ronni Gamzu

“Death is inevitable – a bad death is not” report from an international workshop

Palliative care is an approach meant to improve the quality of life of patients facing life-threatening illness and to support their families. An international workshop on palliative care took place in Caesare...

Authors: Adir Shaulov, Kassim Baddarni, Nathan Cherny, Dorith Shaham, Pesach Shvartzman, Rotem Tellem and A. Mark Clarfield

Disruptive behaviors among nurses in Israel – association with listening, wellbeing and feeling as a victim: a cross-sectional study

To examine the association between listening and disruptive behaviors and the association between disruptive behavior and the wellbeing of the nurse. To test whether constructive and destructive listening has ...

Authors: Sigal Shafran Tikva, Avraham N. Kluger and Yulia Lerman

Factors that affect Israeli paramedics’ decision to quit the profession: a mixed methods study

The rate of Israeli paramedics leaving the profession has been increasing in recent years: 50% leave the profession in three years, for the most part before retirement. While approximately 2500 paramedics have...

Authors: Keren Dopelt, Oren Wacht, Refael Strugo, Rami Miller and Talma Kushnir

Prevention of postpartum suicidality in Israel

Postpartum suicidality in Israel had not been systematically studied until the recent important investigation by Glasser and colleagues. The authors review rates, trends, and characteristics of postpartum wome...

Authors: Anat Brunstein Klomek

Harm reduction drug policy in Israel: what has been accomplished and what still needs to be done?

The leading formal drug policy in Israel is the traditional approach of abstinence, probation, and punitive measures based on three main pillars: Enforcement, Treatment and Rehabilitation, and Prevention. Howe...

Authors: Hagit Bonny-Noach

Financial incentives as a governmental tool to bridge the medical manpower gap between Israel’s center and periphery

One of the major health disparities between Israel’s center and periphery relates to the physician to population ratio. To overcome it, the Israeli government launched a financial incentive program in 2011, in...

Authors: Eyal Jacobson and Vered Ezra

Correction to: Hierarchy of hair loss stigma: media portrayals of cancer, alopecia areata, and ringworm in Israeli Newspapers

The original publication of this article [1] contained an incorrect title.

Authors: Daphna Yeshua-Katz, Shifra Shvarts and Dorit Segal-Engelchin

Commentary: seclusion and mechanical restraint of psychiatric patients in Israel - an update

Recently, Miodownik et al. reported in this journal the results of a study on seclusion and mechanical restraint of psychiatric patients in Israel (Isr J Health Policy Res 8:9, 2019). The study was a retrospec...

Authors: Yoav Kohn, Igor Barash and Gadi Lubin

The number of acute cerebrovascular events in Israel: a forecast until 2040

Acute cerebrovascular event is one of the leading causes of death in Israel and is the primary cause of neurological disability in adults. Although some evidence indicates that the incidence rate of acute cere...

Authors: Assaf Ben Shoham, Sigal Liberant-Taub, Mor Sharon and Inbar Zucker

Maximizing influenza vaccination uptake among healthcare personnel in Israel: lessons learned from mandatory vaccination policy in the United States

Maximizing vaccination uptake is crucial in generating herd immunity and preventing infection incidence (Quach et al., Am J Infect Control 11:1017–23, 2013). Vaccination of healthcare personnel (HCP) against i...

Authors: Rachel Gur-Arie

Evidence-based preschool-age vision screening: health policy considerations

There are many causes of visual impairment, and even blindness, which are treatable or at least preventable. Two such conditions are strabismus (crossed-eye, squint) and refractive error (visual image not focu...

Authors: Deena Rachel Zimmerman, Hadas Ben-Eli, Bruce Moore, Monique Toledano, Chen Stein-Zamir and Ariela Gordon-Shaag

Abstracts from the 7th International Jerusalem Conference on Health Policy

Authors:

Hierarchy of hair loss stigma: media portrayals of cancer, alopecia areata, and ringworm in Israeli newspapers

Over 300,000 people in Israel cope with temporary or permanent hair loss (alopecia) that results from diseases and medical treatments. For women, hair loss can be a highly traumatic event that may lead to adve...

Authors: Daphna Yeshua-Katz, Shifra Shvarts and Dorit Segal-Engelchin

Correlates of gastroenterology health-services utilization among patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease: a large database analysis

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is associated with high utilization of health care services. Diagnostic tests usually are not required to establish GERD diagnosis, but endoscopy is recommended for patie...

Authors: Wasef Na’amnih, Racheli Katz, Sophy Goren, Amir Ben-Tov, Tomer Ziv-Baran, Gabriel Chodick and Khitam Muhsen

Measuring the academic value of academic medical centers: describing a methodology for developing an evaluation model at one Academic Medical Center

Academic Medical Centers (AMCs) must simultaneously serve different purposes:

Authors: Rafael Hod, Oded Maimon and Eyal Zimlichman

No-shows in ambulatory clinics and non-utilized appointments for elective operations in selected surgical departments at a tertiary hospital in Israel

The phenomenon of a patient missing a medical appointment without notification is called a “no-show”. In contrast, “non-utilized appointments” are a broader phenomenon including all appointments that didn’t oc...

Authors: Lior Cohen-Yatziv, Matan Joel Cohen, Jonathan Halevy and Ehud Kaliner

Geographic variation of hysterectomy rates in the Israeli health care system during the years 2007–2016

In 2014 the OECD published a report regarding inter-regional variation of hysterectomies in 13 countries including Israel. Variance in hospital admission rates were also reported. The Israeli Ministry of Healt...

Authors: Roy Lauterbach, Mendlovic Joseph, Ziona Haklai, Lavie Gil and Lior Lowenstein

Vaccination uptake and income inequalities within a mass vaccination campaign

In July 2013, Israel was swept with fear of a polio outbreak. In response to the importation of wild polio virus, the Ministry decided to take preventive action by administering oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) to a...

Authors: Aviad Tur-Sinai, Rachel Gur-Arie, Nadav Davidovitch, Eran Kopel, Yael Glazer, Emilia Anis and Itamar Grotto

Specialty services offered by pharmacists in the community

In a recent IJHPR article, Schwartzberg and colleagues report on clinical and other specialty services offered by pharmacists in the community in Israel and in the international arena. The article covers examp...

Authors: Anthony P. Morreale, Julie A. Groppi and Heather Ourth

Health literacy in an Israeli elderly population

Health literacy is important for patients’ comprehension of the health and medical messages conveyed to them and their meaning for them so that they can better manage their health. The aim of the study was to ...

Authors: Michal Hochhauser, Michael Brusovansky, Maria Sirotin and Katerina Bronfman

Retraction Note to: Workplace bullying and its preventive measures and productivity among emergency department nurses

The Publisher has retracted this article [1] because it was published in this journal in error. This article is republished in BMC Health Services Research [2].

Authors: Suhair Hussni Al-Ghabeesh and Haya Qattom

Language practice and policy in Israeli hospitals: the case of the Hebrew and Arabic languages

Organizational language practice and policy are not neutral elements but reflect social and political power relations. The micro-level of working groups is subject to the influence of political conflicts and p...

Authors: Yael Keshet and Ariela Popper-Giveon

Digital recording and documentation of endoscopic procedures: physicians’ practice and perspectives

In recent years, it has become increasingly prevalent internationally to record and archive digital recordings of endoscopic procedures. This emerging documentation tool raises weighty educational, ethical and...

Authors: Maya Peled-Raz, Nadav Willner, Dan Shteinberg, Keren Or-Chen and Tova Rainis