title: Temporal patterns in the use of health services leading to cholecystectomy: a process evaluation using insurance records.
abstract: Data from Saskatchewan's public medical and hospital insurance programs are used to estimate a multivariate model of health services utilization among cholecystectomy patients. A methodology is developed which partitions the care process into an assessment period, a waiting period, and a hospitalization period. The general hypothesis is that presurgical and surgical decisions of physicians are influenced by extra-medical factors, including the social condition of the patient and the availability of health resources. This hypothesis is only weakly supported by the data.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002763:Cholecystectomy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005705:Gallbladder Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006296:Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007344:Insurance Claim Reporting; D007902:Length of Stay; D008875:Middle Aged; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012525:Saskatchewan