Trondheim – 1981
Brief Report on the Seventh Meeting, held in Trondheim, Norway, 13th-17th July 1981
Edited by Duncan Boldy, Chairman of the Working Group, and Einar Matson – Organiser of the Meeting
Introduction
The Trondheim meeting represents the seventh annual meeting of the working group (W.G.) and was attended by 33 participants from 10 different countries. In addition, there were five guest speakers on Health Economics.
There was a total of 30 submitted and invited papers and, as none were refused, parallel sessions were planned for one of the afternoons. In the event, two speakers did not attend and hence no parallel sessions were held. It was generally agreed that we should try and avoid parallel sessions at future meetings, which may imply having a selection process for submitted papers.
In addition to Health Economics, sessions covered the following topics: - Nurse Manpower Planning, Hospital Studies, Primary Care, Computers and Care for the Elderly. A short presentation of the work of the Norwegian Institute for Hospital Research was also given. A copy of the programme is appended to this report. The papers of the five guest speakers on Health Economics (Bengt Jønsson, Pertti Kekki, Børge Lind et al, Alan Maynard and Gavin Mooney) have been brought together in a separate report. For availability etc., contact Einar Matson.
The W.G. and guests were greeted by the University of Trondheim and the Deputy Mayor. A number of social activities were organised and these were very much appreciated. A modest registration fee only was charged and we believe that this is important for future meetings.
Members attending the Trondheim meeting were given a paper summarising the W.G.’s activities to date and also a list of W.G. contact people and members, with an indication of particular interests. This first paper has recently been published as part of a “Report on the EURO Working Groups” and is available from the EURO Secretary (See EURO Bulletin, EJOR Vol.8, No.2, October 1981). The list of W.G. contact people and members is to be updated annually.
One of the longer term objectives of the W.G. is to develop joint projects between members. A number of possibilities are currently being explored, including the following:
Home Accident Prevention (Cost Effectiveness) – proposed project involving the United Kingdom, Germany and Sweden,
Primary Health Care – discussions between U.K. and Italy,
Cancer Early Detection – Clemens Dietrich questionnaire for completion by interested persons,
Drug Abuse Control – particular interest of Einar Matson, with request for information and suggestions of researchable problem areas.
As can be seen, there are a number of interesting ideas/proposals under discussion. The main difficulty is now obtaining the necessary finance.
In addition to the above list, Herbert Zöllner (W.H.O.) proposed a joint project related to the development of “Health O.R. Learning Modules”, for health service personnel, to be co-ordinated by the Chairman of the W.G. There is a possibility of the W.H.O. providing some funds for expenses in this connection.
One particular result of collaboration has been the publication, by Croom Helm, early in 1981, of the book “Operational Research Applied to Health Services”, edited by Duncan Boldy. There are a number of chapters by W.G. members, some developed from papers originally presented at a W.G. meeting.
As far as the future is concerned, next year’s meeting of the W.G. is to be organised by Aris Sissouras at the University of Patras, Greece from July 19-23 1982 i.e. the week after EURO V in Lausanne. This is planned as more of a “conference”, with possible 100+ attenders. Participation by health administrators/planners would be welcome and also from wider afield geographically (e.g. North America). Papers will be considered covering all aspects of the practice of Health O.R. but it was agreed to pay special attention to papers in the following areas: Care of the Elderly, Manpower Planning, Prevention and Health Promotion, Resource Allocation, Technology Impact, Computers as aids to Management and Planning, Hospital Management, Economic Evaluations. In addition, the idea of a joint discussion session, focused on particular topic(s), between Health O.R. Scientists and Health Economists was proposed and generally supported. A number of W.G. members were due to take part in an International Symposium on “The Use of Resources in Health Services” in Palermo in October 1981 and it was agreed that they should meet at this time to discuss next year’s W.G. meeting further.
In addition to the Palermo Symposium, the W.G. was also invited to take part in a W.H.O. working group on “Health Planning and Management” to be held in Athens in October 1981.
Following next year’s meeting in Patras, it was agreed that the W.G. should revert to its more normal smaller scale format, with July being the most favoured timing. Denmark and Italy were agreed as locations for our 1983 and 1984 meetings. Sune Petersen and Elvezio Montesarchio are to explore possibilities and decisions regarding 1983 (and perhaps 1984) will be finalised at the 1982 meeting.
Programme
“Health Care Expenditure – Trends, Determining Factors and Policy Implications” – Bengt Jönsson
“Health Output Valuation” – Gavin H. Mooney
“Economic Analysis of Different Methods of Treatment of Primary Cancer Mammae” – Børge Lind
“Critical Remarks on Cancer Early Detection” – Clemens Dietrich
“Prognistic Factors in Effects and Costs of Fract. Colli. Fem. Rehabilitation” – Stein Karlsen
“Estimating the Cost-minimising Primary Care Physician to Population Ratio (in Finland)” – Pertti Kekki
“Factors Affecting List Size of General Practitioners and Number of Drugs Prescribed – Findings of a Recent Study” – Alberto Renieri
“Development of Primary Care in Greece. The case of Health Centres: (O.R) progress and (socio-political) set backs.” – Aris Sissouras and G. Megalokonomos
“The Education/Service Conflict in the British NHS – Myth or Reality and the Potential O.R. Contribution to the Debate” – Ann Gwinnett and B. Moores
“A Cost Model of Norwegian Hospitals” – Harald Buhaug
“On the Economics of Manpower Planning in the Health Sector” – Alan Maynard
“Costs and Manpower for Care in the Future” – Márten Lagergren
“Health Economic Research Suggestions by the W.H.O. Regional Office for Europe” – Herbert Zöllner
“Information Technology and the Use of Resources in Health Care” – Pier Paolo Puliafito
“Decision Making in Hospitals by Computerised Accounting” – Heinz Harland
“The Effectiveness of Hospital-based Computer Information Systems” – Neil Howell and Ivan Kalman
“The Implementation of a Computerised Information System for a Department of a Medical Oncology” – D.J. Adcock
“Medical Care Processes in Hospitals” – Sune V. Peterson
“A Hospital Throughput Model to Help Reduce Waiting Lists” – R.W.Canvin
“Evaluation of the Hospital Discharge Records” – Elvezio Montesarchio
“Simulation and Management of Acceptance Services in Hospitals” – Gorgio Romani Jacur
“Nurse Manpower Planning – A Survey” – Brian Moores
“Nurse Manpower Planning – A U.K. Case Study” – Duncan Boldy
“Nurse Manpower Planning by Interactive Linear Programming” – Michael Grütz
“Nurse Staffing and (Re) allocation as a Hospital Management Problem” – Guus de Vries
“Measuring the Workload in Each Nursing Unit of the Hospital – the P.R.N. 80 System” – Charles Tilquin
“Two Contrasting Manpower Scheduling Projects” – P. Ciaran O’Kane
“A Sixteen Dimensional Health Utility Index for Measuring Health Status in Greece” – John Yfantopoulos
“Some Aspects in the Care for the Elderly” – Pier Paolo Puliafito
“Identification, Assessment and Measurement of Old People Need for Social/Health Services and Resources – The CMSTP 77 System” – Charles Tilquin