Strength in numbers? Not everywhere
A look at the Health of Nations Index reveals a few seemingly anomalous results in the assessment of countries' healthcare inputs. Russia, for example, ranks alongside Norway, Japan, the Netherlands and other rich-world countries as "well above average".
Medical migration: more doctors needed
As with other professions, the international migration of doctors and nurses is growing. The OECD and WHO have tried, as far as is possible given highly inconsistent data, to track the presence of foreign medical personnel in developed countries.
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Healthy workers equals healthy business?
Providing a safe and secure working environment for staff is unquestionably a basic prerequisite for improved productivity. But a survey conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit indicates that those firms that do provide additional health benefits and incentives also happen to outperform the market.
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Smoking, dirty water and your health
Ever since 1854, when John Snow put cholera cases in London’s Soho district on a map for local authorities to show that a water pump was the likely source of the outbreak, the comparison and correlation of data have been at the heart of public health.
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In the recent, contentious healthcare debates in Washington, one of the very few points of agreement was that the system needs fixing. The resultant legislation is likely to address one major problem: the large number of uninsured Americans.
Stress, happiness and the bottom line
Being part of a winning team is usually a good feeling, particularly in the workplace. In a global survey of 554 executives, there is a striking correlation between businesses that are performing well relative to their peers and their relative levels of employee happiness.
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How to spend less and get more
For most things in life, people usually assume that paying a higher price results in a better quality good or service. But the same maxim is difficult to apply to healthcare.
Aging populations: joining the 20+ club?
In many societies, but particularly in the greying West, debates about the elderly all too often frame veteran citizens as a "challenge", a "burden" or an "issue", especially in terms of what they mean for healthcare systems. Although an aging global population is not news, the exact nature of the change has come as somewhat of a surprise to many.
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