Better Health Together – How Technology is Transforming Health Care

 Dr. Ewan Affleck is a physician practicing in Canada’s Northwest Territories. The remoteness of communities, the vast distances and the inhospitable climate all make health care access a special challenge there. “Last year we moved 27 per cent of our patients for health-care purposes,” he says. “The question is, can

New Hospital Funding Model is a Leap of Faith

 Activity-based funding may discharge patients from hospital ‘quicker but sicker’ Most Canadians probably don’t realize that health care in Canada is quietly undergoing a major transformation in funding that could significantly impact patients.  Three provinces—Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia—are implementing a new funding model for hospitals and other provinces are

Health in all Policies Approach Gaining Traction Across Political Spectrum in Canada

 By Danyaal Raza and Ryan Meili When counselling patients on health, physicians often focus on lifestyle changes such as diet, exercise or smoking. This kind of advice can be important for the individual, but does little to change underlying drivers of health like income, education and employment. These factors are

Look to Alberta Today, Not 20 Years Ago, for Guidance on Private MRIs

 Allowing private MRI clinics does not shorten wait times in public system  This past week, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall took to twitter to ask the question “Is it time to allow people to pay for their own private MRIs in Saskatchewan like they can do in Alberta?” This came after

Dr. Shadi Shadid – The Dentist Who Gives You a Reason to Smile

 Humour, warmth, understanding and excellent care. These are the things you can expect when you walk through the door at Dentistry at the Crossing. Ditching the guilty lectures on plaque build up or swollen gums, Dr. Shadi Shadid, the charismatic owner of Dentistry at the Crossing, instead focuses on the

A New Paradigm for Cancer Prevention

 There have been several advances in the treatment of cancer over the last 20 years. We have new targeted oncology drugs with fewer side effects and improved technology allowing for more sensitive and earlier detection. Evolving research guides oncologists not only when to use chemotherapy, but more importantly, when not

Five Things Most People Get Wrong About Canada’s Health-Care System

 By Kathleen O’Grady and Noralou Roos A recent court challenge before the British Columbia Supreme Court threatened to change the rules of the game for the Canadian health-care system—should the challenge have made its way to the Supreme Court of Canada and found success there. Dr. Brian Day of the

How Technology is Transforming Health Care – Cheryl-Anne’s Story

 Cheryl-Anne was diagnosed with a very rare form leukemia, a complex disease to understand. She believed part of getting well depended upon understanding her disease, her treatments and their effects. She needed to become a full, participating, engaged patient. She needed to get information. Before digital health tools were available

Why Canadian Medicare Should Neither ‘Go Dutch’ or ‘to the Dogs’

 Canada’s health care system faced some provocative comparisons recently. First was Sarah Boston’s new book, Lucky Dog, in which she details her personal experience with thyroid cancer and navigating the Canadian health system. Boston, a veterinary oncologist, claims Canadian dogs often have better access to health care than their human

Babes4Breasts and the OICC

 You have cancer. Breast cancer. Those are words that can instantaneously send bad chills up and down your spine and take your breath away in the worst way. A cancer diagnosis can leave a person feeling helpless and all alone, and, understandably, wanting care to start right away. The problem

Q & A with Canada Health Infoway

 1. How is digital health improving the health of Canadians? Canadians from coast to coast to coast are using digital health tools to manage their health and wellness. In fact, a recent Harris/Decima survey reveals 89 per cent of Canadians feel it is important that they personally have full advantage

The Damaging Effects of UV Light on the Human Eye

 As Canadians, we know a thing or two about eye protection. If we are not dealing with the bright, muggy Canadian summers, we are dealing with the snow-blindness inducing long winters. Heck, we even invented them! It was the Inuit who were living in what is now northern Canada, who

To the Editor of Ottawa Life

 Re: Report Card on Wait Times in Canada Omits Important Developments (published on July 3, 2014) Doctors Don Dick and Linda Woodhouse quite rightly note the great work Alberta has been undertaking to improve the standardization, collection and utilization of access and other health system performance related data. However, I

Why Canada Shouldn’t Compete with the U.S. for the Worst Performing Health System in the Developed World

 B.C. Court Challenge Looming The latest Commonwealth Study ranked Canada’s health care system a dismal second to last in a list of 11 major industrialized countries. We had the dubious distinction of beating out only the Americans. This latest poor result is already being used by those bent on further

BC Fails to Improve Primary Health Care After More Than a Billion Dollar Investment

 Increased doctor incentives do not improve access to care Since 2006, British Columbia has spent more than a billion dollars to improve primary health care.  So have BC patients benefited from such a massive investment?  Sadly, it appears not. Primary care -- access to doctors and nurses for general health

Report Card on Wait Times in Canada Omits Important Developments

 Canadians might have been inclined to take a sedative for an anxiety attack after reading about the Wait Time Alliance’s (WTA) 2014 report card on waits for medical care in Canada. The WTA gives Canada a failing grade on the structural changes it says are needed to have the timely

Better Health Together – How Technology is Transforming Health Care

 Founded in 2001, Canada Health Infoway is a federally-funded, not-for-profit organization whose role is to help improve health and health care by collaborating with every province and territory to propel Canada's move from paper to digital health. From 2007 to 2012, an estimated $8.6 billion in benefits accrued to Canadians

Why Medical Tourism is Not the Answer

 Medical tourism is not a ‘cash cow’ but a ‘many-headed Hydra’ So it looks like the ‘magic bullet’ solution has been found at last to cure Canada’s health care woes: medical tourism.  Last week, Toronto’s Sunnybrook hospital defended its position to court affluent medical patients from other countries who can

Thousands of Lives Could be Saved by Improving our Health Care System

 Not all health regions should receive equal funding When a health care system cannot make the best use of resources at its disposal, consequences can be dire, and such is the case with the Canadian health system.  A recent study from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) found that

Why our Health System Works for Canada

 The Future of Medicare Depends on our Ability to Change In the past 18 months I have required two major, but unrelated surgeries, experiencing first hand Ontario’s version of Medicare. The two interventions necessitated down-time and an enforced idleness for reflection on life and what it means to be Canadian.

Naturopathic Medicine 101: Care and Cost

 Health care: nothing fires up Canadians more than this topic. A recent Abacus Data poll found that it continues to top the list of priorities for Canadians and the cost of providing care continues to be a major concern for those who govern it, especially as Boomers age and make

Moving towards integrative oncology as a system of cancer care

 Over half of all people living with cancer use complementary medicine alongside standard treatments, such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. The Ottawa Integrative Cancer Centre (OICC) harnesses the best of what complementary medicine has to offer providing this in conjunction with conventional cancer care, according to an approach known

A 28-Year Partnership Lights the Way

 The First annual United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW Canada) Day was launched by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada (LLSC) on December 2, 2013 to highlight the incredible 28-yearlong fundraising partnership between the two organizations. UFCW Canada is the country’s leading and most progressive union representing 250,000+ members

Canada Health Infoway: Better Health Through Digital Technology

 Better Health Together through new technology. That’s what it’s all about. An important trend in health care these days is patient-centred care and convenience. The idea is that in a world driven by technological innovation, patients should be able to securely access their full medical records online. Many in the

David Dodge on Why Health Care Costs So Much

 by Trudy Lieberman We know that the U.S. has the most expensive health care in the world. But beyond noting that dubious achievement, we seldom ask why. On my recent visit to Canada as a Fulbright scholar, I stopped by to pose that question to one of their leading health