Articles

A national survey of ethnic differences in knowledge and understanding of supplementary health insurance

Knowledge and understanding of what health insurance covers is an important public health issue. In Israel, whereas national health insurance covers all residents, optional supplemental health insurance (SHI) ...

Authors: Manfred S. Green, Samah Hayek, Jalal Tarabeia, Mohammad Yehia and Neta HaGani

Prevention is better: the case of the underutilized failure mode effect analysis in patient safety

Prospective hazard analysis methodologies, like failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA), have been tried and tested in the engineering industry and are more recently gaining momentum in healthcare. Consideri...

Authors: Lewis Goodrum and Prathibha Varkey

Medical care epidemiology and unwarranted variation: the Israeli case

In an article in this Journal, Mendlovic and colleagues report on regional variation in medical care across Israeli regions. This study joins a growing literature demonstrating generally high variation in the ...

Authors: David C. Goodman and Andrew A. Goodman

Erratum to: Complying with the framework convention for tobacco control: an application of the Abridged SimSmoke model to Israel

Authors: David T. Levy, David B. Abrams, Jeffrey Levy and Laura Rosen

Pragmatic trials may help to identify effective strategies to reduce nursing home antipsychotic medication use

Despite widespread agreement that nursing homes’ use of antipsychotic medications for residents without specific psychiatric diagnoses is a marker of poor quality of care, prevalence remains high. Additionally...

Authors: Rosa R. Baier and Vincent Mor

Geographic variation in selected hospital procedures and services in the Israeli health care system

Medical practice variation refers to differences in health service utilization among regions in the same country. It is used as a tool for studying health inequities.

Authors: Joseph Mendlovic, Ethel-Sherry Gordon, Ziona Haklai, Jill Meron and Arnon Afek

The right to know one’s genetic origins and cross-border medically assisted reproduction

The use of donor sperm or egg for reproduction raises the issue of the right of donor-conceived individuals to know their genetic origins. This paper argues in favor of acknowledging such a right and explores ...

Authors: Vardit Ravitsky

Perceived health status in a comparative perspective: Methodological limitations and policy implications for Israel

The perceived health status indicator included in the OECD Health Statistics suffers from severe methodological limitations related to data collection. Furthermore, this indicator is also included in the OECD'...

Authors: Baruch Levi

Mortality, hospital days and treatment costs of current and reduced sugar consumption in Israel

Consumption of sugar causes tooth decay, overweight and obesity related morbidities. This paper in response to the Minister of Health’s request, provides estimates of the mortality, morbidity and health care c...

Authors: Gary M. Ginsberg

The IJHPR celebrates five years of quality publication

The Israel Journal of Health Policy Research (IJHPR) will soon be completing its fifth year of publication. In the 5 years since the IJHPR’s launch in January 2012, it has published over 250 articles, achieved...

Authors: Bruce Rosen and Avi Israeli

Between individualism and social solidarity in vaccination policy: the case of the 2013 OPV campaign in Israel

During the summer of 2013, after samples of poliomyelitis virus were found in sewage, Israel launched an intensive national oral polio vaccine (OPV) campaign. The clinical objective of the campaign was rather ...

Authors: Hagai Boas, Anat Rosenthal and Nadav Davidovitch

The burden of disease from air pollution in Israel: How do we use burden estimates to advance public health?

In an article recently published in the IJHPR, Ginsberg and colleagues from Israel’s Public Health Services estimate the disease burden from airborne particulate matter in Israel. Using national data on the co...

Authors: Jonathan M. Samet

Israeli medical education: international perspectives, and reflections on challenges and changes

Medical education is a dynamic and continually evolving process, some of which is style, and some of which is linked to changing perspectives in medical practice. A paper by Reis et al., taken in conjunction w...

Authors: David R. Katz

How to improve influenza vaccine coverage of healthcare personnel

Influenza causes substantial morbidity and mortality worldwide each year. Healthcare-associated influenza is a frequent event. Health care personnel (HCP) may be the source for infecting patients and may propa...

Authors: David J. Weber, Walter Orenstein and William A. Rutala

Should Men who have sex with Men be allowed to donate blood in Israel?

The present permanent deferral policy in Israel for MSM was established in 1977 and was based on the previous (now outdated) USA Food and Drug Administration standards. This study analyses epidemiological data...

Authors: Gary Michael Ginsberg, Eilat Shinar, Eran Kopel and Daniel Chemtob

Ethics and regulation of inter-country medically assisted reproduction: a call for action

The proliferation of medically assisted reproduction (MAR) for the treatment of infertility has brought benefit to many individuals around the world. But infertility and its treatment continue to be a cause of...

Authors: Carmel Shalev, Adi Moreno, Hedva Eyal, Michal Leibel, Rhona Schuz and Talia Eldar-Geva

Ethical standards for medical research in the Israeli military - review of the changes in the last decade

The Israel Defense Forces Medical Corps (IDF MC) institutional review board (IRB) is one of approximately 50 IRBs active in Israel. In addition to routine IRB considerations it must also address in its deliber...

Authors: Ayal Hassidim, Raeed Kayouf, Nirit Yavnai, Naomi Panush, David Dagan, Tarif Bader and Michael Hartal

A feasibility study to assess the validity of administrative data sources and self-reported information of breast cancer survivors

Cancer survivorship has increasingly become the focus of research due to progress in early detection and advancements in the therapeutic approach, but high-quality information sources for outcomes, potential c...

Authors: Rola Hamood, Hatem Hamood, Ilya Merhasin and Lital Keinan-Boker

Help seeking in school by Israeli Arab minority adolescents with emotional and behavioral problems: results from the Galilee Study

Many distressed minority adolescents with little access to professional mental health services use teachers and school counselors as their main consultation sources. This paper presents data from the Galilee s...

Authors: Raida Daeem, Ivonne Mansbach-Kleinfeld, Ilana Farbstein, Raseem Khamaisi, Anneke Ifrah, Ahmad Sheikh Muhammad, Sylvana Fennig and Alan Apter

Social characteristics associated with disparities in smoking rates in Israel

Cigarette smoking is a major cause of health disparities. We aimed to determine social characteristics associated with smoking status and age at smoking initiation in the ethnically-diverse population of Israel.

Authors: Ofra Kalter-Leibovici, Angela Chetrit, Shlomit Avni, Emma Averbuch, Ilya Novikov and Nihaya Daoud

Do women prefer a female breast surgeon?

Patient preferences regarding the gender of their physicians is a highly sensitive issue, which can be particularly salient in intimate medical situations. Previously published studies found that women tend to...

Authors: Asnat Groutz, Hadar Amir, Revital Caspi, Eran Sharon, Yifat Amir Levy and Mordechai Shimonov

Mitigating pharmaceutical waste exposures: policy and program considerations

Pharmaceutical disposal and the environmental fate of medication metabolites directly impacts the public’s health in two significant ways: accidental medication ingestion of pharmaceuticals that were not dispo...

Authors: Eric D. Amster

Social media as a platform for science and health engagement: challenges and opportunities

Social media has become a major platform for debates on science and health. This commentary argues that while social media can present challenges to communicating important health matters, it can also provide ...

Authors: Graham Dixon

Mortality, hospital days and expenditures attributable to ambient air pollution from particulate matter in Israel

Worldwide, ambient air pollution accounts for around 3.7 million deaths annually. Measuring the burden of disease is important not just for advocacy but also is a first step towards carrying out a full cost-ut...

Authors: Gary M. Ginsberg, Ehud Kaliner and Itamar Grotto

Factors associated with choice of approach for Group B streptococcus screening

The crude rate of early-onset Group B streptococcus disease (EOGBS) in Israel has been consistently under 0.5 for 1000 live births for the past 8 years. The Israeli Ministry of Health has adapted the risk fact...

Authors: H. Sefty, A. Klivitsky, M. Bromberg, R. Dichtiar, M. Ben Ami, T. Shohat and A. Glatman-Freedman

Policies to mitigate health inequity: a comparison of Israel and 24 developing countries

Efforts to mitigate health inequity are at the heart of health policy in Israel and in many developing countries seeking to advance toward universal health coverage. This commentary uses the conceptual framewo...

Authors: Daniel Cotlear

Social media as a platform for health-related public debates and discussions: the Polio vaccine on Facebook

Social media can act as an important platform for debating, discussing, and disseminating information about vaccines. Our objectives were to map and describe the roles played by web-based mainstream media and ...

Authors: Daniela Orr, Ayelet Baram-Tsabari and Keren Landsman

Parental regret regarding children’s vaccines—The correlation between anticipated regret, altruism, coping strategies and attitudes toward vaccines

Parental hesitancy for recommended childhood vaccines is a growing public health concern influenced by various factors. This study aimed to explore regret regarding parental decisions to vaccinate their childr...

Authors: Yaira Hamama-Raz, Eyal Ginossar-David and Menachem Ben-Ezra

A patient-centred approach to embryo donation for research

Most couples enrolled in Assisted Reproductive Technologies’ (ART) treatments need to make decisions regarding embryo disposition, as they are asked to sign a consent form about embryo donation for research. B...

Authors: Catarina Samorinha and Susana Silva

Donation of surplus frozen pre-embryos to research in Israel: underlying motivations

The high number of IVF procedures performed in Israel has had an unforeseen consequence: accumulation of large amounts of surplus frozen embryos. After five years that the frozen embryos are kept for free, pat...

Authors: Aviad Raz, Jonia Amer-Alshiek, Mor Goren-Margalit, Gal Jacobi, Alyssa Hochberg, Ami Amit, Foad Azem and Hadar Amir

Introducing a change in hospital policy using FMEA methodology as a tool to reduce patient hazards

Intravenous potassium chloride (IV KCl) solutions are widely used in hospitals for treatment of hypokalemia. As ampoules of concentrated KCL must be diluted before use, critical incidents have been associated ...

Authors: Fanny Ofek, Racheli Magnezi, Yaffa Kurzweil, Inbal Gazit, Sofia Berkovitch and Orna Tal

Dental reform in Israel’s National Health Insurance Law has helped children and their families, but what’s next?

Through a nationally-representative survey of 6 year-old children, Natapov, Sasson and Zusman demonstrate that the 2010 dental reform to the National Health Insurance Law (NHIL) has helped to improve the oral ...

Authors: Carlos Quiñonez

Influenza vaccination motivators among healthcare personnel in a large acute care hospital in Israel

Vaccinating healthcare personnel (HCP) against influenza is important to prevent transmission and morbidity among patients and staff.

Authors: Amir Nutman and Naomi Yoeli

Household medical waste disposal policy in Israel

Large amounts of expired and unused medications accumulate in households. This potentially exposes the public to hazards due to uncontrolled use of medications. Most of the expired or unused medications that a...

Authors: Zohar Barnett-Itzhaki, Tamar Berman, Itamar Grotto and Eyal Schwartzberg

What health care services does the public want and who should decide? Ask them!

Most of the parties involved in healthcare decisions – governments, politicians, healthcare professionals, pharmaceutical companies, special interest groups – actively work to make their desires known. In Isra...

Authors: Adele Diederich

Hyperemesis Gravidarum is associated with substantial economic burden in addition to severe physical and psychological suffering

Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) affects 1 % of all pregnant women and in western societies it is the most common cause for hospital admission during first trimester. The economic burden of the disease has barely b...

Authors: Jone Trovik and Åse Vikanes

Does dental health of 6-year-olds reflect the reform of the Israeli dental care system?

The National health insurance law enacted in 1995 did not include dental care in its basket of services. Dental care for children was first included in 2010, initially up till 8 years of age. The eligibility a...

Authors: Lena Natapov, Avi Sasson and Shlomo P. Zusman

Perception of primary care physicians on the impact of comprehensive geriatric assessment: what is the next step?

Older adults are at high risk of developing multimorbidity, and the high levels of clinical and psychosocial complexity in this population pose special challenges for primary care physicians (PCPs). As a way t...

Authors: Pei Chen and Michael A. Steinman

Hyperemesis gravidarum in northern Israel: a retrospective epidemiological study

Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) is characterized by severe intractable nausea and vomiting in pregnancy leading to electrolyte imbalance, ketonuria, and weight loss. The cause is unknown. This study sought to inve...

Authors: Tom Konikoff, Tehila Avraham, Ella Ophir and Jacob Bornstein

The cost and value of cancer drugs – are new innovations outpacing our ability to pay?

Cancer drug expenditures have been increasing significantly in countries around the world. A recent paper in the IJHPR provides new knowledge and insights into this global phenomenon by analyzing how it is pla...

Authors: Daniel A. Goldstein, Salomon M. Stemmer and Noa Gordon

Medical education in Israel 2016: five medical schools in a period of transition

We reviewed the existing programs for basic medical education (BME) in Israel as well as their output, since they are in a phase of reassessment and transition. The transition has been informed, in part, by ev...

Authors: Shmuel Reis, Jacob Urkin, Rachel Nave, Rosalie Ber, Amitai Ziv, Orit Karnieli-Miller, Dafna Meitar, Peter Gilbey and Dror Mevorach

Complying with the framework convention for tobacco control: an application of the Abridged SimSmoke model to Israel

The World Health Organization Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC) established the MPOWER policy package to provide practical country-level guidance on implementing effective policies to reduce smok...

Authors: David Levy, David B. Abrams, Jeffrey Levy and Laura Rosen

Trends in annual drug expenditure – a 16 year perspective of a public healthcare maintenance organization

Modern drug therapy accounts for a major share of health expenditure and challenges public provider resources. The objective of our study was to compare drug expenditure trends for ten major drug classes over ...

Authors: Yossef Lomnicky, Daniel Kurnik, Ronen Loebstein, Itzhak Katzir, Janet Vesterman-Landes and Nava Siegelmann-Danieli

Maintaining helper wellness and competence in a shared trauma reality

As shared trauma reality becomes more common in Israel and other countries, this commentary argues that we need more research to inform how to best assist mental health professionals who are both victims and h...

Authors: James Halpern

Strengthening the capacities of a national health authority in the effort to mitigate health inequity—the Israeli model

The need for a national policy to mitigate health inequity has been recognized in scientific research and policy papers around the world. Despite the moral duty and the social, medical, and economic logic behi...

Authors: Tuvia Horev and Shlomit Avni

Shared War reality effects on the professional quality of life of mental health professionals

To date, studies on the outcomes of a shared war reality among mental health professionals (MHPs) in southern Israel have focused only on those residing and working in Otef Gaza. The aim of this study is to de...

Authors: Itay Pruginin, Dorit Segal-Engelchin, Richard Isralowitz and Alexander Reznik

Work experiences of ethnic minority nurses: a qualitative study

Recruitment and retention of a diverse ethnic workforce in healthcare settings contribute to the provision of culturally competent care in multicultural contexts. Nevertheless, the work experiences of ethnic m...

Authors: Yael Keshet and Ariela Popper-Giveon

Multi-faceted identities and interactions in mixed health teams

The literature in the area of the health workforce and societies in conflict encompasses a wide range of studies and potential directions. Lately, Keshet and Popper-Giveon reported on a study based on intervie...

Authors: Daniella Arieli and Miriam J. Hirschfeld

The role of knowledge transfer in health policymaking: the US experience

As Ellen et al. point out, there is room for improvement in knowledge transfer between academic research and policymaking. At the same time, retrospective analyses of health policy often identify research infl...

Authors: Sherry Glied

Commentary on a smoke-free medical campus in Jerusalem: data for action

Over the past 30 years, Israel has made great progress in attitudes and practices about smoking; probably nothing else has contributed more to the health of its population. Yet, a recent survey about a non-smo...

Authors: Steven A. Schroeder