The saying “you are what you eat” has taken on more meaning in Canadian society, with growing interest in the quality, origins and farming practices of the food we eat. For some hospitals, this phrase is “you are what you serve” with food service being increasingly scrutinized, and there are many Ontario hospitals with efforts …
On February 8th 2012, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care issued an Action Plan for Health Care, subtitled “Better patient care through better value from our health care dollars.” On page 7 of the document the Ministry says “Our Plan is obsessively patient-centred.” The document explains this term by saying that Ontarians …
The statistics are well known: 7-10% of hospitalizations include at least one “adverse event”, a broad definition including a variety of mishaps ranging in impact from the relatively benign to a lethal outcome. Health care systems have been late adopters of proactive policies in the area of patient safety. This delay can be partly attributed …
In November of 2011, I published an article in the Canadian Medical Association’s Future Practice journal on the benefits of the use of social media for physicians. Much of the feedback I received from healthcare professionals was positive. However, many commented on the lack of literature regarding patient use of social media. As a resident physician in Family Medicine, …
Have you ever wondered why ordinary people get involved in the healthcare debate? It seems that one or two voices will never achieve any change or improvement in the services Canadians receive and how they are provided. An overwhelming feeling of hopelessness and frustration kept me silent until recently, and I am an ordinary Canadian. …
Patients are increasingly interested in reading the information in their own medical records. Canadian laws and existing technologies support this in principle. However, most patients are not yet easily able to access their medical records in practice. Canadians today have easy access to a range of systems that store their personal information. The difference between …