Why Healthcare Is Different | The Health Care Blog

Why Healthcare Is Different | The Health Care Blog

Factbox: Healthcare by the numbers | Reuters U.S. edition (international comparisons)

Factbox: Healthcare by the numbers | Reuters

Demanding dignity, and competence, in older people's care : The Lancet (several links of interest)

Demanding dignity, and competence, in older people's care : The Lancet

Other Articles of Interest

Articles Effect of dignity therapy on distress and end-of-life experience in terminally ill patients: a randomised controlled trial

Articles Dignity in the terminally ill: a cross-sectional, cohort study

Public Health Rediscovering human dignity

Comment Dignity and inequality

Commentary Death and dignity: dogma disputed

Steven Lewis: This Just In: Systems Designed to Fail, Fail :: Longwoods.com (apology, inquiries, restitution....)

Blogger's Note: Steven Lewis is always worthwhile reading, this particular essay discusses several widely known national traumatic events of which harm was caused to many due to system failures, in part;  Longwoods Publishing (sometimes) requires registration (free/sometimes free)

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Essays -0001

This Just In: Systems Designed to Fail, Fail

Steven Lewis

"First there is the disaster that comes to light long after the fact. Then there is the inquiry. Then there is the scathing report that meticulously unearths the causes of the disaster. Then there is the apology (they're allowed now - it's the law!). Then there is restitution. Finally there is the commitment: never again. And then the same thing happens, somewhere else, again, and again, and again....."

"It is delusional to believe that everything is now out in the open, with nothing more to uncover. It's not just the outliers who cause harm; because medicine is so fraught with unjustifiable variations in practice, it is certain that the errors resulting from "satisfactory" practice far outnumber the misdeeds of the visibly incompetent. The graveyards are filled with anonymous victims whose stories will never surface in a public inquiry." 

Study examines research on overuse of health care services | e! Science News

"....However, the authors note the limited literature on overuse is understandable because of the challenges of developing standards to measure overuse.
"Expanding the evidence base and establishing appropriateness criteria for a broader range of services could help target and eliminate overuse in health care services, which could reduce health care spending without adversely affecting the health of the public," the authors conclude."

The Elephant in the Canadian Health Care System | thepatientfactor.com

Essay - Steven Lewis - The Fraser Institute Wait Time Reports: Madness in the Method, but Method in the Madness :: Longwoods.com

Essays 2011

The Fraser Institute Wait Time Reports: Madness in the Method, but Method in the Madness

Steven Lewis

"The answer lies in its (The Fraser Institute) mission statement, helpfully reproduced at the end of the wait times report: “Our vision is a free and prosperous world where individuals benefit from greater choice, competitive markets, and personal responsibility.” Public health care sucks because it must suck, because it’s public. Therefore, let’s gather skewed estimates on a hot-button issue, retail them as hard data, and lure Canadians toward the promised land of private medicine."

media: Canada: Leaving health care to provinces a dangerous strategy, Romanow says (eg. the political wars of healthcare)

Can Canada get on with national pharmacare already? (the politics of cancer/healthcare)

We believe the public’s choice would be health care. With Canadians suffering and, indeed, dying every day from inadequate drug coverage, and with a national pharmaceutical strategy already in place, the lack of action on pharmacare is inexcusable.

CIHI report 2011: Multiple chronic conditions, not age, main driver of health system use by seniors - debunking the myth

Interactive Infographic of the World's Best Countries - Newsweek

Note: includes healthcare but a variety of other indicators - interesting

The federal government's abandonment of health -- Canadian Medical Association Journal

Note: key excerpts; also interesting that until very recently the CMAJ was a proponent of privitisation and that fact will surely be on the minds and tongues of the critiques

"Stephen Harper has made no secret of his Conservative government’s
position on health care — health is a provincial matter.
Although this position has no basis in fact or law, many believe it,
especially when provincial and territorial leaders repeat and reinforce it.
The vacuum of federal leadership has resulted in a lack of overall
vision and coherent public policy, resulting in countless failures on
the part of national institutions and health systems coast to coast."

"To be fair, the status quo is not purely the fault of the federal government.
The list of challenges is daunting. Provincial and territorial leaders
have too readily adopted a “take the money and run” attitude rather than
collaborate to solve the major issues facing Canada’s health systems."

" The Harper Conservatives seem determined to focus on advancing a
law-and-order agenda, spending money on prisons and fighter jets as
well as tax cuts while ignoring health and health care. Regrettably, other
political parties have offered few if any substantive policy alternatives."

"A nationwide vision and action plan for health will require all
stakeholders to speak loudly with a common purpose — to remind
federal politicians that health is their responsibility."

UK media article: Patient safety at risk from eurosceptics (re: hours of work)

blogger's note: while the patient safety communities typically reflect on airline safety/rules, it is always interesting to observe that no, if any,  references are made to the transportation industry (as a whole) and in particular the fatigue issues. Many studies have been done on fatigue/commercial vehicle safety hours of work issues. In addition, studies have been done not only on fatigue but also on the effects of alcholism (impairment/performance).

2010 the Commonwealth Fund report: MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL: AN INTERNATIONAL UPDATE ON THE COMPARATIVE PERFORMANCE OF AMERICAN HEALTH CARE

Overall rankings: Canada and U.S. in last place, Netherlands takes 1st place

IPSOS poll and Canadians' view on healthcare + online debate June 6th

The sold out debate will be broadcast for free on the internet at http://www.munkdebates.com starting a 7:00 PM EDT.

Methods of consumer involvement in developing healthcare policy and research, clinical practice guidelines and patient information material.

Authors’ conclusions There is little evidence from randomised controlled trials of the effects of consumer involvement in healthcare decisions at the population level. The trials included in this review demonstrate that randomised controlled trials are feasible for providing evidence about the effects of involving consumers in these decisions.
   Comment 1:This paper is an issue for public health policy-makers not clinicians. Consumer involvement has a great risk of being tokenistic.  Comment 2:As a community health professional, the results will serve as an evidence to involve health care consumers in the process of policy and guideline formulation.  Comment 3:
The evidence presented that face-to-face interactions with consumers is the most effective type of involvement for developing patient educational materials is helpful for clinicians.

Healthcare users in Cochrane | Cochrane Consumer Network

Purpose

The World Health Organization (1978) states: The people have the right and duty to participate individually and collectively in the planning and implementation of their health care.

Our core function is to provide consumer input into developing Cochrane systematic reviews of best evidence in health care and in utilising this evidence.

The purpose of this website is to tell you about The Cochrane Collaboration and how we receivers and users of health care, parents and carers can benefit from its work..

Europe: (including e-health Health Executive Summit: Visions, Strategies, Best Practices

Patient Participation: Current Knowledge and Applicability to Patient Safety — Mayo Clinic Proceedings

"...Patient-related factors, such as acceptance of the new patient role, lack of medical knowledge, lack of confidence, comorbidity, and various sociodemographic parameters, all affect willingness to participate in the health care process. Among health care workers, the acceptance and promotion of patient participation are influenced by other issues, including the desire to maintain control, lack of time, personal beliefs, type of illness, and training in patient-caregiver relationships. Social status, specialty, ethnic origin, and the stakes involved also influence patient and health care worker acceptance.

Why doctors' stories matter

"...As I read the winning stories, I had a fantasy, which is probably not a good idea to apply literally, but it’s useful as what philosophers would call a thought experiment. My fantasy was that in a doctor’s waiting room, instead of old magazines and public health brochures, patients might pick up stories that the doctor had written—stories not unlike these winning stories. And maybe patients would then bring in their stories and leave copies of those on the rack next to the doctor’s stories. That would open the silent world on both sides."