Background: Increasing use is being made of routinely collected electronic patient data in health services research. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the potential usefulness of a comprehensive database used routinely in the public healthcare system in Hong Kong, using antihypertensive drug prescriptions in primary care as an example.

The World Health Organization advocates the goal of universal coverage of health systems to ensure that everyone can avail the services they need and are protected from the associated financial risks. Governments are increasingly engaging and interacting with the private sector in initiatives collectively referred to as public-private partnerships (PPPs) to enhance the capacity of health systems to meet this objective. Understanding the values that motivate partners and demonstrating commitment for building relationships were found to be key lessons in building effective PPPs; however there, remain many research gaps. This study focusses on the practice of PPPs at the inter-organisational (meso) level and interpersonal (micro) level in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). The influence of the structural components of different PPPs on stakeholder interpretation and actions, as well as the eventual outcomes of the PPPs, is examined, in terms of a realist evaluation, which applies a context-mechanism-outcome configuration as the research methodology. Seven key factors initiating commitment in a partnership, critical for sustainable PPPs, were identified as follows: (1) building of trust; (2) clearly defined objectives and roles; (3) time commitment; (4) transparency and candid information, particularly in relation to risk and benefit; (5) contract flexibility; (6) technical assistance or financial incentive behind procedural arrangements; and (7) the awareness and acceptability of structural changes related to responsibility and decisions (power and authority).

The aim of this study was to investigate the origin of globus pharyngis with particular reference to esophageal disorders such as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), motility disorders, structural abnormalities, other gastrointestinal tract diseases, and psychological profile. Previous studies on this subject using 24-hour pH monitoring give conflicting results and are hampered by the high background prevalence of asymptomatic GERD in the normal Western population. The local Chinese population is known to have a very low background level of GERD and therefore is an ideal study population. Twenty-six patients with globus pharyngis underwent 24-hour ambulatory pH monitoring, esophageal manometry, and esophagogastroduodenoscopy with lower esophageal biopsy. A control group of 20 patients presenting with non-ulcer dyspepsia was similarly investigated. Personality profiles of the globus pharyngis subjects and an appropriate control group were assessed. Eight of the globus pharyngis group (30.7%) had evidence of GERD, whereas only one of the controls (5%) demonstrated GERD on 24-hour esophageal pH monitoring (P < 0.05). The manometric and personality profile studies did not show significant differences between study and control groups. We concluded that the finding of GERD in patients with globus pharyngis is not a coincidental finding but that there is a true association between GERD and globus pharyngis.