Staff satisfaction surveys are a vital tool when trying to improve employee engagement. The connection between workplace health and quality patient outcomes is well documented. Yet, according to National Research Corporation Canada (NRCC), only two Ontario hospitals using their tool survey more frequently than once every year or two. Can an organization effectively focus on …
What do you first think of when you learn that a loved one has been hospitalized? Most of us worry about our loved one getting the best treatment, having appropriate follow-up care and being sent home when they are well. As the person’s family doctor, I may connect with the team in the hospital to …
In his State of the Union address, Barack Obama announced the intent to invest in personalized or “precision” medicine – the tailoring of treatments to an individual’s genetic code. Canadian funding agencies have also enthusiastically supported this idea, and all University of Toronto-affiliated hospitals promote their institutions’ forays into personalized or precision medicine. Collectively, these …
Three years ago, I commented on the then new (2012) OMA and Government agreement. I expressed scepticism at the time that the Agreement would truly result in the freeze (and indeed savings) the Government asserted that it would, especially without a hard or soft cap on utilization growth. As it turns out, at least according …
Can’t you do something, Judge? This was the question I was asked in Drug Treatment Court last week. Unfortunately, my answer was “I tried. But I can’t seem to get these doctors to change!” The issue was doctors charging their patients for one line notes stating they had been ill and had been seen in …
Last week, taking in the failed negotiations between the MOHLTC and the OMA, Dr. Mario Elia voiced his thoughts in the Healthy Debate column: “Ontario doctors vs. Ontario government: we need better”. The ‘we’ in Dr. Elia’s title refers to the collective group of physicians represented by the OMA, and his arguments draw attention to …
“Almost all LGBTQ people going into shelters have a fear of them, because it isn’t a matter of if it’s dangerous, but just how dangerous it will be. It is horrible to live in that fear everyday. ” – Mouse, 23 years old Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, queer, questioning, and 2-Spirit (LGBTQ2) youth are overrepresented …
Like most Ontario physicians, I’ve spent the past few days trying to digest our failed negotiations with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC). I don’t typically consider myself to be someone who is particularly passionate about matters of remuneration. I generally feel I’m paid adequately for the services I provide, and I think most physicians …
When I found out Toronto experiences four times the amount of suicides compared to homicides, I was shocked. I suspect this is in part because homicides are reported in the news more than suicides. For years, journalists have been told they need to be careful in how they tell their stories about suicide, a major …
Within our hospital walls there rages a nightly war in the Emergency Department. The front-line soldiers (a.k.a. ‘residents’ – medical doctors still in the throes of training) work endlessly through the night to admit patients to hospital and provide care to those in need. On occasion, the combination of consistently overburdened teams and overworked residents …
Last month I had a meeting at the Ottawa Hospital’s Civic campus. On my way through the hospital I passed by something called the Omega Laser Stop Smoking Clinic. According to their literature, “laser therapy treatment is a non-invasive method used to balance the energy flow between meridians“, and is reported by them to work …
“Patient-centred care” is on everyone’s lips these days. But, do we all agree what it is and when it has been achieved? And does patient centredness create new ethical dilemmas for patients and providers? The University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics (JCB) and Healthy Debate are partnering to explore some of the practical and …
Between 2008 and 2013, the number of Canadians receiving some form of home care grew by 55 per cent, to 1.4 million. And as our population continues to age, more and more Canadians expect that care at home will be a viable option. Since the beginning of many coordinated home care programs in the late …
On a daily basis both in hospitals and in our offices we deploy a dizzying array of medications and technologies designed to extend life. The problem is that most of these interventions have rarely been tested on frail seniors and have a much greater chance of causing them harm than providing benefit. Yet “rescue” care …
Should everyone have access to health care in a language they can understand? This is not a new question. In 2001, Health Canada released a report entitled ‘Language Barriers in Access to Health Care,’ calling for further research, including an exploration of the feasibility and cost of providing interpretation throughout the health care system. Since …
Women who get pregnant without using technology typically have one baby at a time. Women who use technology such as fertility drugs or in vitro Fertilization (IVF) are at increased risk of getting pregnant with twins, triplets or more. While this may seem like good news for women who might not otherwise get pregnant, multiple …
A while ago I finished two weeks working on the palliative care service at St. Michael’s Hospital. As usual it was a moving, stressful, rewarding, frustrating, exhilarating, humbling, human experience. Working clinically provides me with a reality check for the other parts of my professional life which focus mostly on health services research and health …
Entering medical school is like settling in a new country, you have to learn the language, adapt to the culture and figure out how to succeed. As medical students, we study the pathophysiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis and management of diseases. We learn how to effectively communicate with patients to get their stories and pair these …
Several recent commentaries have suggested that public health practitioners should ‘keep out of politics’. Commentators have suggested that public health should focus on its traditional roots of controlling the spread of infectious diseases, such as Ebola, rather than on social issues, such as poverty reduction. The work of public health should be evidence-informed and focus …
The federal government recently announced the Chief Public Health Officer – the physician at the head of the Public Health Agency of Canada – should no longer set the agency’s own budget, leaving this task to a soon-to-be appointed administrator. While the risks and benefits of this approach continue to be debated, a widely cited …