East Asian Attitudes toward Death--A Search for the Ways to Help East Asian Elderly Dying in Contemporary America.
Sok K Lee, MD, MA

Most people in the West and the East wish to die at home; however, about 50% of Americans die in acute care hospitals. For better care of the dying elderly, this article is written to help American physicians understand the unique aspects of East Asian Confucian Ethics--the relational autonomy of family, Confucian creative self-transformation, and the unity of transcendence and the human being.
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SERVE Ethiopia.
Philip J Tuso, MD, FACP

The incidence of chronic kidney disease in Ethiopia is rising because of high blood pressure and diabetes mellitus; End Stage Renal Disease remains mostly fatal. Treatment considered the norm in industrialized countries is limited in Africa--dialysis is dependent on the availability of funding and charitable contributions; few governments cover the cost of renal replacement therapy.
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The World Health Organization’s Evidenced-Based Approach to Chronic Diseases: Primary Prevention or Caring for End-Stage Disease?
Tom Judd, MS, PE, CCE, CPHQ, FACCE

Several hundred evidence-based (EB), national and global Clinical Practice Guidelines have been mapped by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the past ten years, allowing simulation and analysis of the health services’ resource requirements of various countries. This approach reflects a balance between primary prevention interventions (eg, as demonstrated for hypertension and diabetes) and investing in ongoing EB Medicine treatment. Examples are cited from personal experience with WHO initiatives in Kyrgyzstan and Mexico.
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The Perfect System.
George Halvorson

Health care needs and deserves the perfect computer system. Here are ten criteria, detailed in a chapter from Health Care Will Not Reform Itself, for that ultimate American health care database system design: 1) patient focused, 2) complete, 3) accessible by all relevant parties, 4) current, 5) easy to use, 6) linked to care improvement programs, 7) accessible to patients as well as caregivers, 8) transportable, 9) interoperable, 10) confidential.
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