Are Ontario’s primary care models delivering on their promises?

family doctor Ontario FHT family health team health care policy primary care

In the last decade, efforts to improve access to primary care in Ontario have led to major changes to how family doctors practice and are paid.  A recent report suggests that these newer models of primary care are not meeting the needs of vulnerable populations, and that Community Health Centres (an older model of care) do

Costs and consequences of unnecessary tests

Shelagh McRae www.healthydebate.ca blogger

I applaud Helen Walsh for her recent post about walking away from yet more invasive testing. Her post made me reflect on recent cases of medical expense from my own practice.  Patient details have been altered to protect their identities. One patient has an annoying condition that gives him pain with some activities, related to

Alberta driving quality improvement through clinical leadership

Strategic Clinical Networks

Alberta is introducing Strategic Clinical Networks in areas such as mental health and addictions, cancer care, diabetes, obesity and nutrition. These networks are meant to lead clinical practices province-wide, and improve the quality of care, outcomes and costs of health care services. This is an ambitious undertaking which may contain some lessons for Ontario. Alberta’s

Women’s health – how far have we really come?

March 8th, 2012 marked the 101st annual celebration of International Women’s Day.  Originally conceived in Europe in 1911 to draw attention to the struggle for women’s equal participation in society, IWD has become both a day of celebration and an opportunity to highlight the progress still needed to achieve women’s equality.  Certainly, great gains have

TechRx: building the apps pharmacy

Will Falk healhtydebate.ca blogger

Health Apps will be “prescribed” by clinicians for their patients in the near future. This article tries to sketch out how this “TechRx” and “Apps Pharmacy” process could/should develop. According to a recent report from Healthcare Information Management Systems Society, there are about 17,000 healthcare apps currently in use.  This compares to a reported 300,000

Assault on salt: should Canada actively reduce salt consumption?

Three quarters of our daily salt intake comes from prepared and manufactured foods. Experts suggest that the most effective approach to reducing salt consumption in a population is to more actively regulate the amount of salt in prepared foods. However, there is a debate about the best strategy to curb salt intake in Canada. Does

Frequent flyers: aeroplan and health care

Will Falk healhtydebate.ca blogger

This year I did not achieve Elite status on Air Canada/Aeroplan.  For the first time in a decade, I am without status on a major airline.  No number to call, no priority service, no lounge.  I will probably have to wait in line.  As you probably know, Aeroplan has Prestige, Elite, and Super Elite levels

The Drummond Report: diagnosis, prescription and implementation

I’m not an expert on health care in Ontario – I still live in Alberta – but from afar the health chapter of the Drummond Report looks good.  I think they got the diagnosis right!  The health care system isn’t a system, there are inefficiencies, and the system needs to be reoriented. The prescription is

Are Canadians too salty?

Salt intake is difficult for individuals to control, because more than three quarter of the salt we consume comes from processed foods, like bread, deli meats and dairy products. Most Canadians are consuming more than double the daily recommended amount of salt. While there is a link between salt consumption and heart disease and stroke,