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Background: Interprofessional teamwork is a crucial competency in health professions education which improves patient care. However, interprofessional education is not a widespread practice in medical schools. To address this need, we developed an educational pilot utilizing a standardized patient simulation to teach interprofessional communication and teamwork to medical and nursing students. Methods: Ten teams of students consisting of a fourth year medical student, a senior nursing student and a patient family member (portrayed by a standardized actress) participated in a simulated scenario involving end-of-life decision making for a critically ill patient. Interprofessional teamwork and communication were essential to successfully determine next steps when a "code blue" was called. Results: This exercise was well received and medical students felt more prepared to work on an interprofessional team after completion. Conclusions: Simulation is an effective method for teaching interprofessional teamwork and communication to medical students and nursing students.

Studies characteristics of 29 pregnant homeless women (18 African Americans, 6 whites, and 5 others). In general, respondents are young, unmarried minority group members with no income other than entitlements, who have been without a home one year or less. These women have more health problems than the average population. (SLD)

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2006.02.048 Byline: Janet M. Wagner, Daniel G. Shimshak Keywords: Data envelopment analysis; Efficiency measurements; Data reduction Abstract: One of the most important steps in the application of modeling using data envelopment analysis (DEA) is the choice of input and output variables. In this paper, we develop a formal procedure for a 'stepwise' approach to variable selection that involves sequentially maximizing (or minimizing) the average change in the efficiencies as variables are added or dropped from the analysis. After developing the stepwise procedure, applications from classic DEA studies are presented and the new managerial insights gained from the stepwise procedure are discussed. We discuss how this easy to understand and intuitively sound method yields useful managerial results and assists in identifying DEA models that include variables with the largest impact on the DEA results. Author Affiliation: Department of Management Science and Information Systems, University of Massachusetts Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA 02125, United States Article History: Received 23 December 2004; Accepted 7 February 2006

ABSTRACT The coefficient of variation (CV), a commonly used measure of horizontal equity, has several important limitations. First, comparing CV for income groups with different average incomes is problematic because [...]

Pumping wells are the most effective means of containing pollutants which have contaminated groundwater suppliers. However, the optimal performance of pumping wells is largely dependent on their proper positioning along the contaminated groundwater line. A stochastic program with simple recourse was developed to assist pollution controllers decide on the optimal positioning of pumping wells.

Byline: Janet M. Wagner, Daniel G. Shimshak As an alternative to existing physician profiling methods, we used DEA to evaluate the efficiency of primary care physicians from a managed care organisation. Taking a case study approach, we discuss how data collected by this organisation regarding resource utilisation, cost, and quality can be used in various DEA models to determine physician efficiency. We consider several decisions regarding the selection of the DEA models and data to be used in these models. We introduce a 'guided stepwise' method to determine a small, but relevant, set of input and output variables. Physicians were analysed on the basis of both in-patient and out-patient performance. DEA not only provided measures of physician efficiency, but also identified a small set of reference groups to serve as role models for non-efficient physicians.