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- The portuguese public hospitals performance evolution before and during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic (2017–2022)Publication . Caldas, Paulo; Varela, MiguelCOVID-19 is a disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, which has spread worldwide since the beginning of 2020. Several pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical strategies were proposed to contain the virus, including vaccination and lockdowns. One of the consequences of the pandemic was the denial or delay of access to convenient healthcare services, but also potentially the increase in adverse events within those services, like the number of hospital infections. Therefore, the main question here is about what happened to the performance of Portuguese public hospitals. The main goal of this work was to test if the Portuguese public hospitals' performance has been affected by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. We used the Benefit-of-Doubt method integrated with the Malmquist Index to analyze the performance evolution over time. Then, we employed a multiple regression model to test whether some pandemic-related variables could explain the performance results. We considered a database of 40 Portuguese public hospitals evaluated from January 2017 to May 2022. The period 2017 to 2019 corresponds to the baseline (pre-pandemic), against which the remaining period will be compared (during the pandemic). We also considered fourteen variables characterizing hospital quality, divided into three main performance definitions (efficiency and productivity; access; safety and care appropriateness). As potential explanatory variables, we consider seven dimensions, including vaccination rate and the need for intensive care for COVID-19-infected people. The results suggest that COVID-19 pandemic features help explain the drop in access after 2020, but not the evolution of safety and appropriateness of care, which surprisingly increased the whole time.
- Patient satisfaction with healthcare services and the techniques used for its assessment: a systematic literature review and a bibliometric analysisPublication . Ferreira, Diogo Cunha; Vieira, Inês; Pedro, Maria Isabel; Caldas, Paulo; Varela, MiguelPatient satisfaction with healthcare provision services and the factors influencing it are be-coming the main focus of many scientific studies. Assuring the quality of the provided services is essential for the fulfillment of patients' expectations and needs. Thus, this systematic review seeks to find the determinants of patient satisfaction in a global setting. We perform an analysis to evaluate the collected literature and to fulfill the literature gap of bibliometric analysis within this theme. This review follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) approach. We conducted our database search in Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed in June 2022. Studies from 2000-2021 that followed the inclusion and exclusion criteria and that were written in English were included in the sample. We ended up with 157 articles to review. A co-citation and bibliographic coupling analysis were employed to find the most relevant sources, authors, and documents. We divided the factors influencing patient satisfaction into criteria and explanatory variables. Medical care, communication with the patient, and patient's age are among the most critical factors for researchers. The bibliometric analysis revealed the countries, institutions, documents, authors, and sources most productive and significant in patient satisfaction.
- Assessing the traveling risks perceived by South African travelers during pandemic outbreaks: the case of COVID-19Publication . Plank, Pia Antoinette; Gomes, Luís Filipe; Caldas, Paulo; Varela, Miguel; Ferreira, Diogo CunhaThe unprecedented global health crisis caused by COVID-19 is undoubtedly having a major impact on international tourism for two reasons. While the imposed travel restrictions have discouraged people from traveling, travelers are struggling with growing anxiety in coping with the new travel environment. We address the changing risk perceptions of travelers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our primary objective is to identify and weigh significant emerging travel risks and develop a Risk Score Index to measure destination performance and strategic interventions for South African travelers. In this case, we used MACBETH and web-Delphi to construct that index with the help of 32 experts in the field. We found that the risks perceived by tourists are multifaceted and encompass categories, such as additional costs, exchange rates, and reimbursement-related factors. These three criteria are most important to the general perception of travel risk. We applied the developed risk assessment index to five destinations to assess their performance relative to the identified risks. The UK was the best-performing country.