The objective of this study was to present evidence on the epidemiology, health outcomes and economic burden of cancer-related venous thromboembolism (VTE). Medline, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Econlit, Science Direct, JSTOR, Oxford Journals and Cambridge Journals were searched. The systematic literature search was limited to manuscripts published from January 2000 to December 2012. On the basis of the literature, cancer patients experience between two-fold and 20-fold higher risk of developing VTE than noncancer patients. They are more likely to experience a VTE event during the first 3-6 months after cancer diagnosis. In addition, an increased risk of VTE in patients with distant metastases and certain types of cancer (i.e. pancreatic or lung) was revealed. VTE was found to be a leading cause of mortality in cancer patients. The annual average total cost for cancer patients with VTE was found to be almost 50% higher than that of cancer patients without VTE. Inpatient care costs accounted for more than 60% of total cost. The existing evidence assessed in the present review demonstrated the significant health and economic consequences of cancer-related VTE, which make a strong case for the importance of its proper and efficient prevention and management.

The concept of error typically regards an action, not its outcome, and its meaning becomes clear when separated into categories (medical error, nurse perceptions of (medication) error, diagnostic error). One wrong action may or may not lead to an adverse event either because the abovementioned action did not cause any serious damage to patients' health condition or because it was promptly detected and corrected. The concept of error, on the contrary, which is used alternatively in the study, refers to the adverse outcome of an action. The responsibility for the emergence of errors in healthcare systems is shared among the nature of the healthcare system that is governed by organizational and functional complexity, the multifaceted and uncertain nature of medical science, and the imperfections of human nature. Medical errors should be examined as errors of the healthcare system, in order to identify their root causes and develop preventive measures. The main aims of this chapter are the following: (1) to understand medical errors and adverse events and define the terms that describe them; and (2) the most excellent way to comprehend how medical errors and adverse events occur and how to prevent them. Moreover it makes clear their classification and their determinants.

Background: Safety culture has been considered to be as one of the most crucial premises for the further development of patient safety in healthcare.Objective: To study the psychometric properties of a translated Greek version of Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (G-HSOPSC) of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) in the Greek healthcare settings.Methods: Factor analysis (FA) was performed to examine the applicability of the factor structure of the original questionnaire to the Greek data. In addition to the previously mentioned, internal consistency with Cronbach's coefficient alpha and construct validity was evaluated.Results: Ten factors with 37 items were extracted by FA, with acceptable Cronbach's coefficients alpha and good construct validity. The factors jointly explained 62% of the variance in the responses. Five items were removed from the original version of the questionnaire. The composition of the factors was similar to that of the original questionnaire and five items moved to other factors. All the composites consisted of two to eight items. Conclusions:The G-HSOPSC depicted sound psychometric properties for the evaluation of patient safety culture and therefore it is a reliable tool for use in research.

Bexsero®, a meningitis B vaccine, was recently included in the National Immunization Programme (NIP) in Greece, with restricted access to high risk groups only. To map the need to expand coverage, this study assessed pediatricians and parents' perceptions and attitudes towards meningitis B, inclusion of Bexsero® in the NIP and vaccination uptake.We analyzed data from 201 private practice pediatricians questionnaires and 1003 parents phone interviews. Both (pediatricians 64.7%, parents 88.5%) considered meningitis B a critical challenge. 77.6% of pediatricians would prioritize meningitis B vaccination in the NIP and 90.3% would recommend Bexsero® to parents. Of those who would not, 47% feared civil liability challenges and 11.8% hesitated to impose vaccine cost on parents. Only 28.9% of parents had their child vaccinated. Non-reimbursement constituted a major access hurdle. It is critical to expand immunization coverage in Greece through expanded access in the NIP, in line with pediatrician recommendations.

Background: In recent years, the issue of quality assurance in health services has emerged in the forefront, with strong research and practical interest. In addition, there is a number of changes to health service users who nowadays have higher expectations of satisfaction, efficiency and quality of health services.Aim: The aim of the present study is to assess the satisfaction of patients and, by extension, the quality of the services provided both in certified and non-certified private dental practices in Athens, to highlight the difference in the services provided and the areas in which it appears.Methods: This is a quantitative study of dental patients’ satisfaction in Athens using an anonymous and self-completed questionnaire. The aggregate sample collected is 317 patients within three months of the questionnaire being shared. In particular, the sample for certified dental places was 176 patients, while the sample of non-certified dental places was 141 patients. For the statistical analysis, the SPSS program for Windows version 25 was used, and the tables were created with Microsoft Excel 2010 based on the SPSS analysis data.Results: The results showed differences between the social level of patients, the permanent residence of the participants as well as differences in the reason for choice and visit to each dental place, while on the questions about the satisfaction of the services the differences were little. The questions with the most shared responses were those in the financial basis. Correlation coefficients did not show any statistically significant relationship between demographic characteristics and satisfaction, with the exception of the level of education of patients in certified dental clinics.Conclusions: Although the results of the research showed little differences in the satisfaction of the patients between certified and non-certified dental clinics, these results are quite limited due to the small number of certified dental clinics in Greece. Further research is needed to produce safer conclusions.