Quality Improvement

We cannot teach ourselves out of a failing system

The College of Family Physicians of Canada's expansion of training will demoralize and financially penalize early career physicians. Education will not address systemic and structural barriers to comprehensive practice.

Pharmacist prescribers fill important gaps in the Canadian healthcare system

Pharmacist prescribing provides a win-win outcome for patients, health-care professionals and the health-care system as a whole.

Sometimes the truth is unbearable

The health-care system is failing Canadians with lethal consequences. Policymakers need to make urgent changes now to address delays in access to care.

We must overhaul how Ontario’s hospitals are governed. Our lives depend on it.

The Minden ED closure serves as a timely wake-up call on how our hospitals are governed. As citizens and stakeholders, it is our responsibility to demand better because our lives, and those of our fellow Canadians, depend on it.

‘A huge benefit’: Advances in blood products may save lives in rural communities

Blood supplies in rural areas can be low, leaving trauma patients at risk. But innovations in freeze-dried plasma could help save lives.

The wellness profiteers of virtual health care

The virtual care industry has boomed in part due to the decline of primary care. But with it has come a host of wellness scams blurring the lines between evidence-based and unproven health-care remedies.

Connecting the dots: Standardizing EMR data essential to improving care, easing burnout

The developers and engineers at eHealth are aiming to ensure that as patients move through the health-care system, their information follows them. But there are still obstacles to the development of effective electronic medical records (EMRs).

Team-based care key to alleviating primary-care crisis

Primary care is in crisis and there aren't enough doctors to go around. Done right, team-based care can expand the capacity of family doctors to care for more patients.

‘A new way to move people’: Fewer back injuries for health-care workers, more comfort for patients

New improvements to lifts and transfer devices could reduce the risks of work-related injury in health care staff and improve quality of care.

Let’s stop the bickering: Canadians are weary of finger-pointing amid the health-care crisis

Canadians love their publicly funded health care. But it is time to stop normalizing our broken health-care system. Political leaders need to quit bickering about who pays for what and get on with actually fixing the problem.

Will the first cut be the deepest? The debate on for-profit surgeries

As Ontario moves to fund private centres for select surgical procedures, will the province see a reduction in backlogs? Or is it a slippery slope towards further privatization of the provincial healthcare system? Our experts weigh in.

OurCare survey highlights lack of access to primary care

A nation-wide survey on the state of primary care in Canada illuminates pressing issues facing our health system. Dr. Tara Kiran and a team of collaborators with the OurCare project have launched an online dashboard with the findings.

Behind the scenes: The increasingly complex – and common – radiation treatment for cancer

Radiation therapy for cancer is becoming increasingly complex, sophisticated and personalized. Behind the scenes for most patients hides an invisible team hard at work.

The key to living longer and better? Dying at home

Despite our preferences, most Canadians do not have the privilege of dying at home. Although it is not possible to guarantee a good death, it is possible to reduce your risk of a bad death by thinking and talking about end-of-life.

Dr. Pharmacist?

Pharmacists can prescribe medications for certain ailments in eight provinces with Ontario about to follow suit. But while pharmacists knowledge of medications is invaluable, are they diagnosticians?

Health care needs to work smarter, not harder

Canada’s health system is on life support, and those in positions of authority need to act now to bring it back to life with intelligence and compassion. `

Even a child can see collaboration is essential to save the Canadian health-care system

Everything is related; solutions must once again be aligned, locally scaled and human centred. We need a more stable, unified approach in health care. We need more transformative models moving forward. Above all, we need primary care and public health to join forces to prepare us for the next big challenge – climate change.

What’s on a label? This simple intervention could improve patient safety and save money

Adding reason for use to the labels of prescriptions could be an opportunity to support patient health literacy and to improve communication within the health-care team.

Ontario taxpayers bearing the burden of ‘OHIP for all’ policy

Ten days into the COVID-19 pandemic, Ontario's public health insurance policy was expanded to include all uninsured patients, like temporary workers and tourists. But more sustainable solutions are needed in place of “OHIP for All.”

‘Please don’t come back’: Using virtual care to prevent readmissions

In Canada, one in 11 patients is readmitted within 30 days of being discharged from hospital. But virtual care can help reduce readmissions, cut costs, and reduce pressures on the health-care system.