Back Pain and Work Disability: The Need for a New Paradigm

Using a unique data set of workers' compensation claims from Ontario, this study analyzes the determinants of first returns to work and subsequent patterns of employment for a sample of workers with back pain and a comparison group of workers with other injuries. The results suggest that the costly and pervasive problem of work-related back claims could be reduced by abandoning the traditional work injury model in favor of a separate paradigm for back pain that reflects its unique characteristics. A change in economic incentives would increase the probability of return to work for back cases, and an expansion of employer-provided job accommodations would increase the probability of stable employment after the first return.     

When hospitals provide HR practices tailored to older nurses,will older nurses stay? It may depend on their supervisor

This longitudinal study tested a model of the mechanisms through which HR practices are linked to older nurses' intention to remain with their hospital. The participants were 528 registered nurses aged 45 to 67 years. The study focused on two HR practices, flexible work options and performance evaluation practices, which are more directly under the influence of the immediate supervisor. Supervisor-related procedural justice mediated the relationship between the HR practices and perceived supervisor support (PSS), and in turn, PSS was associated with enhanced perceived organisational support (POS). POS partially mediated the relationship between PSS and affective commitment, and affective commitment fully mediated the relationship between POS and older nurses' intention to remain with their hospital. The findings indicated that fostering older nurses' commitment and ultimately retention requires HR practices relevant to older nurses, supportive and fair supervisors, and a hospital that values their contribution and cares about their well-being.     

A Statistical Method for Monitoring a Change in the Rate of Nonacceptable Inpatient Claims

Abstract

This paper is an extension of earlier work (Rosenberg 1998; Rosenberg, Andrews, and Lenk 1999; Rosenberg and Griffith 2000) that introduced a statistical control model to supplement current efforts inexpensively to help reduce unnecessary expenditures. The application of the study was to predict the rate of nonacceptable inpatient claims (NACs). In that work, a statistical model was proposed to link information obtained through an expensive audit with inexpensive information that is readily available to estimate the probability that a claim is a NAC. The premise was that a statistical system can be developed to supplement the expensive audit for additional control between audits.

Estimates of the NAC rate obtained from the statistical model are used as input in a statistical monitor to assess whether the NAC rate had changed over time. The statistical monitor is the subject of this paper. The idea is that subgroups of claims can be analyzed inexpensively with the statistical monitor to determine whether any current intervention is required prior to the time of the next scheduled audit, or whether adjustments are needed in the determination of claims to be sampled for the audit. In this study, the estimate for the NAC rate at t ₀ is compared against the estimate of the NAC rate at some later time t ₁. A decision rule is proposed to assess whether a change in the NAC rate has occurred for that subgroup. The methodology is also applicable to other health care measurements.     

JORDANS potential tourism development

Following the peace accords with Israel, Jordans potential as a destination increased significantly. Jordan consequently sought advice from various international parties for developing tourism. However, almost identical development plans designed years before by some of the same parties remain unimplemented. This is because major responsibility lies with the government and its personnel policies, taxation rates, micromanagement, and unreliable record keeping. However, beyond these problems are issues having to do with guest\host relations, cultural values, and the legacy of over a half-century of wars and enmity toward those who now compose a large portion of its market—the Israeli tourists. This paper discusses whether tourism in Jordan will be an economic boon or a destabilizing factor.     

A note on the use of industry-relative ratios in bankruptcy prediction

The potential for industry-relative financial ratios to improve the prediction of firms in financial distress motivated this comparison of model specifications based on either unadjusted or industry-relative ratios. Both specifications yielded stable parameter estimates over the time periods examined. However, the industry-relative specification appeared to add incremental information not contained in the model based on the unadjusted financial ratios; the converse case did not hold. In addition, with the industry-relative specification, ex post forecast accuracy was slightly improved relative to the ex ante forecast, while with the unadjusted model specification, ex post forecast accuracy declined from that obtained ex ante.