Law S, Lehoux P; International Society of Technology Assessment in Health Care. Meeting.

Annu Meet Int Soc Technol Assess Health Care Int Soc Technol Assess Health Care Meet. 2000; 16: 194.

Quebec Health Technology Assessment Council (CETS), 201, boul. Cremazie est, bureau 1.03, Montreal, Quebec H2M 1L2, Canada.

Introduction: In Quebec, the 'virage ambulatoire' aims to shift care traditionally provided in hospitals into outpatient and community settings where appropriate. In 1998, CETS began a systematic review for six high-tech health care interventions likely to be used more widely in CLSCs (local community health centres) and ambulatory care centres in Quebec. The results of the first review are presented here, in terms of the implications for assessing HPN programs. Methods: The following databases were searched: Medline and pre-Medline, Current Contents, the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and Quebec MSSS and CETS resource centres. Recent issues of 'high-yield' journals were hand searched via the Internet. Results: HPN is an established intervention for a wide range of health conditions, although there remains scientific and ethical uncertainty regarding the benefit for certain patient groups, such as cancer and AIDS. There is sufficient evidence to indicate that the outcomes of HPN programs are linked to certain organisational factors, such as the quality of training for HPN professionals and carers and the presence of expert-led nutrition support teams. Clinical guidelines (based on scientific evidence and clinical consensus) exist in the US and the UK, and include recommendations for the critical mass of patients necessary to maintain skills. Several countries have HPN patient registries to contribute to monitoring, audit and research efforts. Funding and supply arrangements are often complex and reduce user-friendliness. Conclusion: Consideration of implementing new (or assessing established) HPN programs must include attention to organisational factors, in addition to the clinical and economic aspects, to maximize the health benefit >from HPN.

Publication Types:

• Meeting Abstracts

Keywords:

• Guidelines as Topic
• Home Care Services
• Humans
• Neoplasms
• Nutritional Support
• Parenteral Nutrition, Home
• Patient Education as Topic
• Quebec
• methods
• nursing
• hsrmtgs

Other ID:

• GWHSR0000206

UI: 102271880

From Meeting Abstracts