Introduction:Influenza virus is a common human pathogen that has caused serious respiratory illness and death over the past century. In April 2009, a new strain of Influenza virus A H1N1, commonly referred to as “swine flu”, began to spread in several countries around the world, and India confirmed its first case on 16 May 16 2009.Aim:To study the clinical and epidemiological profile of Influenza A H1N1 cases at the Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh.Materials and Methods:Clinical epidemiological characteristics of Influenza A H1N1 cases from May 2009 to April 2010 were retrospectively, descriptively analyzed using data from the Influenza A H1N1 screening center and isolation ward at the Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh. Data were Analyzed using MS Excel software.Results:At GMCH, till April 2010, a total of 4379 patients were screened for Influenza A H1N1, of which 365 patients were tested. The most common symptoms were fever (87.6%), cough (49.77%), sore throat (27%) and breathlessness (23.9%). The most common presentation (42.30%) of Influenza A H1N1 cases was fever and cold-like features, not cough. 29.58% (108) of the tested patients were found to be positive for the disease. Maximum cases were detected in the month of December, and the patients less than 40 years of age accounted for 81.4% (44 cases) of the cases. Influenza A H1N1 resulted in death of 54.9% (28) of the admitted cases, of which 46% (12) deaths occurred within 48 h of admission.Conclusion:On the basis of these findings, it can be safely hypothesized that prevalence of Influenza A H1N1 is high in the younger population, and fever, cough and sore throat are the most common symptoms with which the patients usually present.

Operating room services are one of the major cost and revenue-generating centres of a hospital. The cost associated with the provisioning of operating department services depends on the resources consumed and the unit costs of those resources. The objective of this study was to calculate the cost of operation theatre services at Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre, AIIMS, New Delhi. The study was carried out at the operation theatre department of Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre (JPNATC), AIIMS from April 2010 to March 2011 after obtaining approval from concerned authorities. This study was observational and descriptive in nature. Traditional (average or gross) costing methodology was used to arrive at the cost for the provisioning of operation theatre (OT) services. Cost was calculated under two heads; as capital and operating cost. Annualised cost of capital assets was calculated according to the methodology prescribed by the World Health Organization and operating costs were taken on actual basis; thereafter, per day cost of OT services was obtained. The average number of surgeries performed in the trauma centre per day is 13. The annual cost of providing operating room services at JPNATC, New Delhi was calculated to be 197,298,704 Indian rupees (INR) (US$ 3,653,679), while the per hour cost was calculated to be INR 22,626.92 (US$ 419). Majority of the expenditures were for human resource (33.63 %) followed by OT capital cost (31.90 %), consumables (29.97 %), engineering maintenance cost (2.55 %), support services operating cost (1.22 %) and support services capital cost (0.73 %). Of the total cost towards the provisioning of OT services, 32.63 % was capital cost while 67.37 % is operating cost. The results of this costing study will help in the future planning of resource allocation within the financial constraints (US$ 1=INR 54).

Introduction:For the Commonwealth Games 2010, Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre (JPNATC) of India had been directed by the Director General Health Services and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, to set up a specialized unit for the definitive management of the injured/unwell athletes, officials, and related personnel coming for the Commonwealth Games in October 2010. The facility included a 20-bedded fully equipped ward, six ICU beds with ventilator capacity, one very very important person observation area, one perioperative management cubicle, and one fully modular and integrated operating room.Objective:The objective of this study was to calculate the cost of disaster facility at JPNATC, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.Methodology:Traditional (average or gross) costing methodology was used to arrive at the cost for the provisioning of these services by this facility.Results:The annual cost of providing services at disaster facility at JPNATC, New Delhi, was calculated to be INR 61,007,334.08 (US$ 983,989.258) while the per hour cost was calculated to be INR 7061.03 of the total cost toward the provisioning of services by disaster facility where 26% was the capital cost and 74% was the operating cost. Human resource caters to maximum chunk of the expenditures (47%).Conclusion:The results of this costing study will help in the future planning of resource allocation within the financial constraints (US$ 1 = INR 62 in the year 2013).

Introduction Poor quality prescriptions, besides affecting patient safety, have a deleterious impact on the restricted purse of sick persons, especially those belonging to lower socioeconomic strata. Objective To study the prescribing practices in outpatient departments of an apex tertiary care institute of India. Methodology Descriptive and observational study of randomly taken sample of 300 prescriptions from pharmacy was carried out. Parameters for analysis were selected based on review of literature. Observations Of the total samples analyzed, OPD registration number, date of registration, patients name, gender and department were mentioned in 99.3% of prescriptions. Patient name was mentioned in all the prescriptions and gender was present in 99% prescriptions. Address of the patient was present in only 64.7% (194) prescriptions. 93.7% of the prescriptions were legible. Ninety-seven percent of the prescriptions carried diagnosis or presenting complaints. An average of 2.82 ± 1.77 (median – 3) drugs were prescribed per patient. Only 1.63% (14) prescribed drugs were generic. In our study, antacids (26.33%) followed by the vitamins (24%), analgesics (23.3%), antibiotics (22.8%) and antipyretics (18%) were the most commonly prescribed drugs. Drug strength, drug frequency and drug administration route was mentioned in only 62, 89 and 89% of the total prescriptions. Fifty percent did not carry the duration and mean duration of prescription was 17.75 ± 24.18 days. Signature, name, designation, address, stamp and medical registration number of the physician was mentioned only in 96.7, 7.3, 6.7, 2.7, 0.7 and 0% of the prescriptions respectively. Conclusion The study has brought out the need for sensitization and awareness programes for doctors to improve the quality of prescription-writing and periodic review of prescriptions. How to cite this article Siddharth V, Arya S, Gupta SK. A Study of Prescribing Practices in Outpatient Department of an Apex Tertiary Care Institute of India. Int J Res Foundation Hosp Healthc Adm 2014;2(1):31-35.