简介：Healthcareconsumersnolongerwanttobepassivereceiversoftreatmentandcare,theywanttobetohealthinformation,thankslargelytotheInternet,andactivehealthconsumerorganizationshaveprovidedconsumerswithenablingindependenthealthinformation.Individualconsumersarealsomorewillingtoenterintoadialogue,participateandinfluencedecisionsconcerningtheirowncare.Atthesametimetheconsumerrolebecomesmorediverse.Populationsinmanycountriestodayareculturally,socially,anddemographicallydiverse.Understandingconsumerdiversityisoneofthegreatestchallengesfacinghealthcareproviders.Thereisariskthatthequalityofhealthcareprovidedtoconsumerscanvarydependingontheskillsoftheprofessionalstoruneintothevaluesandpreferencesoftheindividualconsumer.Healthcareprovidersneedtolistentoandincorporateconsumers'experiencesintotheirhealthserviceofferingsinnewandcreativeways.Theyneedtoengageinadialoguewithvariousconsumergroupsusingmultiplechannels.Thereisaneedforanewbusinesslogic,whichwouldstructurallyhelptheproviders,onanindividualbasistodealwithmoresophisticatedhealthcareconsumers.Thisisareviewpaperandprovidesaframeworkandasetofstrategiesfordealingwithhealthconsumerdiversity.Wedrawonthreeinterrelatedtheories-opensystemstheory,servicemanagementresearchandtheconceptofconsumersegmentationtounderstandhealthcareconsumers'attitudesandbehaviour,andtheirexpectations.

简介：Thispaperdealswiththeissueofprioritysettinginhealthcareunderuncertaintiesabouttheseverityoftheillnessandtheeffectivenessofmedicaltreatment.Weexaminetheeffectofadiseaseuncertainty(atreatmentuncertainty)ontheallocationofhealthcareresourcesinthepresenceofatreatmentrisk(adiseaserisk)andidentifypreferenceconditionsunderwhichthesocialplannerallocatesmoreresourcestohigherriskpopulation.Weallowforthesimultaneouspresenceoftworisksandinvestigatethejointeffectoftwo-sourceuncertaintiesonhealthcareallocationwhenthetworisksareeithersmallorpositivelyquadrantdependent.Theeffectofinequalityaversiononhealthcareallocationisalsoanalyzedbyintroducinganequityweightingfunction.Ourworkextendsthepreviousmodelofhealthcareprioritytotwo-riskframeworkandprovidesnewinsightsintotheproblemofhealthcaredecisionmakingunderuncertainty.

简介：Recentdevelopmentsincomputationalsciencesandcomputermodelinghaveallowedemergencypreparednessexercisestoincludesimulationmodelsassupportingtools.Thesesimulationmodelsaregenerallybuiltforpredictingtemporalandgeographicpatternsofdiseasespread.Howeversoleuseofsimulationmodelsinexercisedesignfallsshortintermsofincorporatingpolicydecisionmakers'preferencesintodecision-makingprocesses.Inthispaper,ageneralframeworkforexercisingpublichealthpreparednessplanswithadecisionsupportsystemispresentedtointegrateestimationofkeyepidemiologicalparameterswithasystemdynamicsmodelofanoutbreak.Amulti-criteriadecisionmakingframework,anAnalyticalHierarchyProcessmodel,isthendevelopedandintegratedwiththesimulationmodeltohelppublichealthpolicymakersprioritizetheirresponsegoalsandevaluatemitigationstrategiesinatable-topexerciseenvironment.