The status quo is no longer good enough to deliver equitable access to high quality care in a cost-efficient manner
By Karen Palmer and Noah Ivers EvidenceNetwork.ca If there’s one thing provincial governments across Canada can agree on, it’s that the status quo in health care is no longer good enough to deliver equitable access to high quality care in a cost-efficient manner. Ontario’s Ministry of Health under the previous government led the way by…
Canadians have the highest rates of emergency room visits among high-income countries. We need a better care model
You get home after a long day at work and the cough that’s been bugging you just doesn’t seem to be letting up. Your muscles ache, you have chills and you hear a slight wheeze when you breathe out. Do you head to the local emergency department? A walk-in clinic? Or does your family doctor…
Vince Danielsen talks about how building the growing health-care provider was a lot like putting a winning football team together
Vince Danielsen is CEO of Wello. Calgary’s Business: What is Wello? When and why was it founded? Danielson: Wello is an innovative virtual health-care provider that gives people anytime, anywhere access to services that help them get well when they’re sick and keep well over the long term. We have a saying at Wello –…
An unlicensed doctor is free of the burden of bureaucratic make work, and can instead spend more time with a patient and keep up with medical research
I’m now an unleashed doctor! Since I retired from a busy family medicine practice, I discovered the benefits of having an MD degree and no licence to practice. Universities confer the academic degree MD (medical doctor) on students who complete a particular set of studies. The degree is worth less than it appears, because the…
It's clear the status quo isn’t meeting the needs of our aging population. So what can be done?
By Ruta Valaitis and Maureen Markle-Reid EvidenceNetwork.ca Despite having diabetes and arthritis, Verne was a thriving independent 72-year-old who lived at home with his wife when he had a stroke. He had excellent emergency care in the hospital and began his recovery there. But he didn’t adjust well after arriving home. He started to show…
The act of ending the life of another person raises fundamental questions of human dignity and rights
In the early days of Canada’s public conversation about medical assistance in dying (MAID), Dr. Jeff Blackmer, then vice-president of the Canadian Medical Association, expressed the gravitas of the policy choices that lay ahead as “no less than a sea change” to the ethos and culture of the medical profession. That was in 2016, after…
But across Canada a system that can help ensure a healthy population is being denied funding and support
By Trevor Hancock and Art Eggleton Contributors Troy Media In 2010, Canada’s ministers of Health stated in a Declaration on Prevention and Promotion that “the promotion of health and the prevention of disease, disability and injury are a priority and necessary to the sustainability of the health system.” So you would think that public health…
Manufacturers must overcome several federal government hurdles before patients have access to drugs
The federal government has proposed major changes to the role of the Patent Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB), whose primary function is to ensure that maximum Canadian prices for patented medicines aren’t excessive. The changes, due to come into effect in 2019, will impact all new drugs but especially those for patients with rare disorders…
Nursing home care aides are burning out but measures can be taken to improve their work conditions. And that will result in better care for their patients
By Carole A. Estabrooks and Stephanie A. Chamberlain Contributors Many of us have moms and dads or older friends and relatives in nursing home facilities. We care very much about their well-being and the supports they receive. But who’s caring for the care aides who do the bulk of the front-line work in nursing homes?…
The majority of deaths and injuries resulting from natural disasters involve seniors
By John Hirdes and Sandy van Solm EvidenceNetwork.ca The combination of an aging population with increases in natural disasters has had deadly consequences for seniors. Quebec health authorities estimate that as many 70 people died as a result of the recent heat wave with a humidex of over 40C. Most heat-related deaths in Montreal involved seniors with chronic conditions.…
The delivery and financing of education could produce better results for students and their families while saving money
By Jason Clemens and Sazid Hasan Fraser Institute As the new Ontario government begins to fully grasp the enormity of the task it faces to return the province to prosperity, education reform must be front and centre. The need to balance the budget while introducing tax relief to make the province more competitive and attractive…
Social assistance programs in Canada are falling behind. It's time we expanded basic coverage to include drug and dental care
By Arjumand Siddiqi and Odmaa Sod-Erdene EvidenceNetwork.ca Public health researchers have long known that poverty and poor health are linked, but new evidence suggests that social assistance – the government system designed to provide those in poverty with income support – is not succeeding at protecting health. Using data from national government surveys, we studied the…
In a world of turmoil, we can’t afford to waste precious resources – particularly the leadership and ingenuity of people with disabilities
The recently proposed Accessible Canada Act and the just released Senate report on essential fixes for Revenue Canada concerning the disability tax credit, Breaking Down Barriers, are stellar achievements for advocates with disabilities and the receptive politicians and public servants who listened. If both are implemented, they will remove the physical, social and financial barriers…
Solving long hospital wait times requires a fundamental shift in the way we care for the elderly
By David Wiercigroch and Caberry Weiyang Yu EvidenceNetwork.ca Hospital overcrowding is not a new issue. Limited bed spaces have plagued Ontario hospitals for years and are increasingly straining our system. Not only are long wait times a shameful expectation when patients arrive in the emergency department, providing care in a busy hospital hallway has become…
Securing a meaningful and enduring reduction in medical error requires a cultural transformation
In a 2003 Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) survey, “about a quarter [of adults] said that an adverse event had occurred in their own care, or that of a family member.” Half claimed that the adverse event had produced “serious health consequences.” Three-quarters claimed that it had “led to a hospital visit or longer…