This review investigates the effectiveness of utilizing foreign physicians or International Medical Graduates to alleviate medical shortages in rural and underserved areas of developed countries. Conducted in February 2024, this systematic review follows PRISMA 2020 guidelines, analysing 15 English-language studies from the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The focus is on comparing physicians with international graduation to national graduates in rural and underserved contexts. Results reveal diverse trends across countries: in the United States, national graduates are generally more represented in rural areas, while foreign physicians are more prevalent in Health Professional Shortage Areas. In Canada, foreign graduates are more common in rural areas, varying by province. Australia and New Zealand show foreign physicians practicing more in rural areas than national counterparts. This study underscores significant reliance on foreign physicians to mitigate rural healthcare disparities. While this strategy partially addresses immediate shortages, long-term effectiveness is uncertain due to retention and integration challenges. Future policies should focus on sustainable solutions for equitable healthcare access and physicians’ retention in underserved areas. This review emphasizes also the need for Europe-specific studies and further evaluation of policy effectiveness.

Background Voluntary stopping of eating and drinking (VSED) is a way to end one's life prematurely. We synthesized the empirical data on VSED. Methods In this systematic mixed-methods review, we searched MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Google Scholar, and BELIT for English and German articles published between January 1, 2013 and November 12, 2021. We included quantitative and qualitative research examining the experiences, attitudes, and knowledge of people confronted with VSED. We inductively analyzed the data after quantitative data transformation. We assessed quality and confidence using the Mixed-Methods Appraisal Tool and GRADE-CERQual approach, respectively. This study was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42022283743). Findings We identified 22 eligible articles, comprising 16 studies. The participants were healthcare professionals and relatives, but not individuals undertaking VSED. We present here our findings on the challenges of accompanying VSED, positive experiences with VSED, and the identified needs. Support during VSED is needed at multiple levels (medical care, family relief, course planning), and the willingness to accompany VSED is very high among healthcare professionals. However, there are several problems, the most obvious being the lack of knowledge and expertise regarding VSED, placing a great burden on families and professionals. The confidence in the review findings ranged from moderate to low. Interpretation Evidence-based guidance, in-depth knowledge, and training of healthcare professionals can greatly reduce the burden and fear among individuals accompanying VSED.

The NHS is increasingly turning to the independent sector, primarily to alleviate elective care backlogs. However, implications for the healthcare system, patients and staff are not well understood. This paper provides a rapid narrative review of research evidence on NHS-funded elective care in the independent sector (IS) and the impact on patients, professionals, and the health care system. The aim was to identify the volume and evaluate the quality of the literature whilst providing a narrative synthesis. Studies were identified through Medline, CINAHL, Econlit, PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus. The quality of the included studies was assessed in relation to study design, sample size, relevance, methodology and methodological strength, outcomes and outcome reporting, and risk of bias. Our review included 40 studies of mixed quality. Many studies used quantitative data to analyse outcome trends across and between sectors. Independent sector providers (ISPs) can provide high-volume and low-complexity elective care of equivalent quality to the NHS, whilst reducing waiting times in certain contexts. However it is clear that the provision of NHS-funded elective care in the IS has a range of implications for public provision. These surround access and outcome inequalities, financial sustainability and NHS workforce impacts. It will subsequently be important for future empirical work to incorporate these caveats, providing a more nuanced interpretation of quantitative improvements.

This review investigates the effectiveness of utilizing foreign physicians or International Medical Graduates to alleviate medical shortages in rural and underserved areas of developed countries. Conducted in February 2024, this systematic review follows PRISMA 2020 guidelines, analysing 15 English-language studies from the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The focus is on comparing physicians with international graduation to national graduates in rural and underserved contexts. Results reveal diverse trends across countries: in the United States, national graduates are generally more represented in rural areas, while foreign physicians are more prevalent in Health Professional Shortage Areas. In Canada, foreign graduates are more common in rural areas, varying by province. Australia and New Zealand show foreign physicians practicing more in rural areas than national counterparts. This study underscores significant reliance on foreign physicians to mitigate rural healthcare disparities. While this strategy partially addresses immediate shortages, long-term effectiveness is uncertain due to retention and integration challenges. Future policies should focus on sustainable solutions for equitable healthcare access and physicians’ retention in underserved areas. This review emphasizes also the need for Europe-specific studies and further evaluation of policy effectiveness.

Effective diabetes management can prevent avoidable diabetes-related hospitalizations. This review examines the impact of financial incentives for diabetes management in primary care settings on diabetes-related hospitalizations, hospitalization costs, and premature mortality. To assess the evidence, we conducted a literature search of studies using five databases: Medline, Embase, Scopus, CINAHL and Web of Science. We examined the results by health insurance system, study quality or diabetes population (newly diagnosed diabetes). We identified 32 articles ranging from fair- to high-quality: 19 articles assessed the relationship between financial incentives for diabetes management and hospitalizations, 8 assessed hospitalization costs, and 15 assessed mortality. Many studies found that financial incentives for diabetes management reduced hospitalizations, while a few found no effects. Similar findings were evident for hospitalization costs and mortality. The results did not differ by the type of health insurance system, but the quality of the studies did matter; most high-quality studies reported reduced hospitalizations and/or mortality. We also found that financial incentives tend to be beneficial for patients with newly diagnosed diabetes. We conclude that well-designed diabetes management incentives can reduce diabetes-related hospitalizations, especially for newly diagnosed diabetes patients.

The NHS is increasingly turning to the independent sector, primarily to alleviate elective care backlogs. However, implications for the healthcare system, patients and staff are not well understood. This paper provides a rapid narrative review of research evidence on NHS-funded elective care in the independent sector (IS) and the impact on patients, professionals, and the health care system. The aim was to identify the volume and evaluate the quality of the literature whilst providing a narrative synthesis. Studies were identified through Medline, CINAHL, Econlit, PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus. The quality of the included studies was assessed in relation to study design, sample size, relevance, methodology and methodological strength, outcomes and outcome reporting, and risk of bias. Our review included 40 studies of mixed quality. Many studies used quantitative data to analyse outcome trends across and between sectors. Independent sector providers (ISPs) can provide high-volume and low-complexity elective care of equivalent quality to the NHS, whilst reducing waiting times in certain contexts. However it is clear that the provision of NHS-funded elective care in the IS has a range of implications for public provision. These surround access and outcome inequalities, financial sustainability and NHS workforce impacts. It will subsequently be important for future empirical work to incorporate these caveats, providing a more nuanced interpretation of quantitative improvements.

Background Voluntary stopping of eating and drinking (VSED) is a way to end one's life prematurely. We synthesized the empirical data on VSED. Methods In this systematic mixed-methods review, we searched MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Google Scholar, and BELIT for English and German articles published between January 1, 2013 and November 12, 2021. We included quantitative and qualitative research examining the experiences, attitudes, and knowledge of people confronted with VSED. We inductively analyzed the data after quantitative data transformation. We assessed quality and confidence using the Mixed-Methods Appraisal Tool and GRADE-CERQual approach, respectively. This study was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42022283743). Findings We identified 22 eligible articles, comprising 16 studies. The participants were healthcare professionals and relatives, but not individuals undertaking VSED. We present here our findings on the challenges of accompanying VSED, positive experiences with VSED, and the identified needs. Support during VSED is needed at multiple levels (medical care, family relief, course planning), and the willingness to accompany VSED is very high among healthcare professionals. However, there are several problems, the most obvious being the lack of knowledge and expertise regarding VSED, placing a great burden on families and professionals. The confidence in the review findings ranged from moderate to low. Interpretation Evidence-based guidance, in-depth knowledge, and training of healthcare professionals can greatly reduce the burden and fear among individuals accompanying VSED.

This report summarizes the activities of the WHO Country Office in Azerbaijan during 2023. The Country Office supports national health authorities in improving public health and health-care access. Key accomplishments span three areas: advancing universal health coverage, responding to health emergencies, and promoting population health. Achievements include expanding mobile clinics, strengthening emergency services, enhancing laboratory capacity, improving infection control, bolstering immunization and expanding mental health services. The Country Office employed strategies such as ensuring stronger and more competitive workforce capacity, promoting knowledge generation and use for decision-making, fostering collaboration across institutions and countries, and enhancing public awareness of health issues. These efforts have advanced national health priorities and promoted equitable health-care access in Azerbaijan.