Search results

As a profession, healthcare management values commitment to lifelong learning and continuous professional development. Individual participation, however, is voluntary and healthcare managers choose to participate based in part on perceptions of organizational support (rewards, promotion and recognition) as well as on individual values. As women are narrowing the career attainment gap, participation in development activities may play a critical role. This paper aims to present a pilot study which assesses the differences in male and female healthcare managers' participation in professional development activities and perceived organizational support.

An exploratory survey was emailed to current and past members of three professional associations who share similar missions “to provide educational and networking opportunities” for their members in the southern region of Florida.

The findings suggest that women healthcare managers are less likely to pursue professional development activities than their male counterparts even when the outcome (i.e. obtaining professional certification) is associated with career advancement and salary increases. Furthermore, men are more likely than women to attend multiple continuing education programs when paying out of pocket.

This pilot study is one of the first attempts to account for the factors that explain gender differences in pursuing personal development activities. Rather than conclusive judgments, it provides directions for further research.

As professional and leadership competencies become more ingrained in the industry, women may need to recognize and commit to development activities associated with healthcare leadership and management.

Competencies gained through professional development activities may impact career attainment.

Universal helmet laws (UHLs) are widely believed to be effective in reducing motorcycle fatalities. In this chapter, we further investigate the effectiveness of such policies by focusing on their long-term impact as well as their effect on motorcycle use. Using state-level longitudinal data from 1975 to 2005, we estimate how the adoption and repeal of UHLs influence motorcycle safety. Our results confirm earlier findings that adoption of UHLs prevents fatalities, whereas repeals lead to higher fatality rates. We provide evidence that UHLs operate as intended, decreasing fatalities mainly by improving safety rather than by reducing motorcycle riding. Finally, using dynamic specifications, we show that the long-term effects of both adoption and repeal persist in the years beyond the policy change.

In March 2010, President Obama signed into law the most broad and sweeping reform of health care in U.S. history. This was done at a time when aggregate medical expenses are significantly higher than they have ever been:

This study has two main objectives: (1) to expand the application areas of grey system theory and (2) to select the most livable city in Turkey.

Choosing the most livable city is a complex problem that requires many criteria to be considered. It is important to select decision points according to which the criteria selection will be made and to what extent the criteria will affect the evaluation. For this purpose, a questionnaire was prepared to determine the criteria to be used in the assessment. The survey results were evaluated by the factor analysis (FA) and it was found that the criteria included in the survey were grouped under seven factors. Then, criteria weights were assigned to the determined criteria using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). At the last stage, Turkey's six most popular cities are graded using the grey relational analysis (GRA) to reduce the uncertainty existing in the process of evaluation.

The obtained results indicated that the most livable city in Turkey is Istanbul. Istanbul is followed by Izmir, Antalya, Eskisehir, Bursa and Ankara, respectively. Considering that Istanbul is a center of attraction in many respects, this result is not a surprise for many people. It is also observed that the results obtained overlap with similar studies in the literature.

Grey system theory and grey numbers have not been previously used to select the most livable city. With this aspect, this study has expanded the application of grey system theory and made an important contribution to the literature.