There’s a growing conversation in medicine that patients should know about
Choosing Wisely
It’s time to address the overtreatment of thyroid cancer
Increasing access to surgery without considering appropriateness leaves patients in the dark
Over the last decade, most Canadian provinces have shortened wait times for many surgical procedures, including hip and knee replacement. However, while provinces have poured resources into improving access, they have paid relatively little attention to measuring outcomes of these surgeries. The result, experts believe, is that some patients may be undergoing surgery when it is not …
Improving the appropriateness of diagnostic tests
The number of diagnostic imaging tests performed on Canadian patients has been increasing rapidly in recent years. Although the cost of each test is small, the aggregate costs add up quickly. The costs have become sufficiently large that both doctors and the government have raised questions about whether all the tests that are being performed …
Hey Doc, do you know how much that test costs?
For our health care system to remain sustainable, scarce resources must be managed effectively both at the system level and on the front lines. In health care, decisions by doctors have a major impact on resource management in front-line care. But our health care system does not provide doctors with all of the information they …
“Choosing Wisely” – time to import an American initiative into Canadian health care?
Here’s a startling but true story. In 2008, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care paid about 10 million dollars for 13 million blood sugar test strips. They were used by 49,000 Ontarians aged 65 or older who had diabetes. What’s so startling about that? The people who used the strips were not receiving …