Faculty & Student News
Baker and Norton Named in Who's Who in Healthcare Award
Professors' Ross Baker (HPME) and Peter Norton ( University of Calgary ) have been selected as winner's in the Canadian Healthcare Manager Magazine's Sixth Annual Who's Who in Healthcare Award in the category of Medical Research. Baker and Norton led the investigation of The Canadian Adverse Events Study: the incidence of adverse events in hospital patients in Canada, published in the May 25 edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
This award recognizes the contributions of doctors, researchers, CEOs, pharmacists, policy- and decision-makers in the categories of employer, government, group insurance, healthcare provider, integrated health, hospital management, medical research, pharmaceutical and technology.
In an interview in the People section of the August 2004 issue of Canadian Healthcare Manager, Safety in Numbers, Baker emphasized the need for greater measurement, leadership and getting information to clinicians. The next step is for healthcare organizations to look at their own practices and begin to implement changes that will reduce adverse events at the local level.
Professor Baker will present at the Systems and Processes to Reduce Adverse Events in Canadian Health Care Conference to be held in Toronto on November 1 and 2, 2004.
Michael Decter Appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada
Michael
Decter, HPME adjunct faculty, was among 79 new appointments to the Order
of Canada, five of which were related to health care (see
healthcare appointments). A leading authority on health policy and
reform, Dector is the Chair of the newly formed Health Council of Canada,
Chair of the Cancer Quality Council of Ontario, and former Chair of
the National Board of Directors of the Canadian Institute for Health
Information. In an article in the Globe and Mail (Globe
and Mail, July 30, 2004), he is quoted as saying, "there is
no greater honour than to be recognized by your country and I am deeply
and enormously honoured." For more information on Decter's involvement
in health policy and health care reform, see his Health Canada biography.
New appointments to the CIHR Institute Advisory Boards
The Canadian Institution for Health Research (CIHR) has selected 51 new members for its Institute Advisory Boards. Each of CIHR 's 13 Institutes has an advisory board composed of a diverse group of national and international representatives of the public, private and non-profit sectors, including the research community and health practitioners. New members will serve 3 year terms, effective September 1, 2004 . HPME Faculty appointed to the Institute of Health Services and Policy Research Advisory Board include Heather Boon (Assistant Professor), Paula Goering (Professor) and John Lavis (Associate Professor). John McLaughlin (Associate Professor) was appointed to the Institute of Population and Public Health.
Barnsley and Baker to Study Leadership for Change in Primary Care
A new HPME primary care study is about to be launched with a grant of $564,000 from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Primary Health Care Transition Fund. The study, Building Knowledge and Skills for Effective Leadership for Change in Primary Care, will be carried out over 18 months by principal investigators, Jan Barnsley , Ross Baker and Yves Talbot, and co-investigators Austin Zubin, Louise Barton, Whitney Berta , Louise Lemieux-Charles , Brian Gamble, Peter Norton, Monica Riutort, William Sibbald and Tina Smith.
Investigators in this project will create a leadership development project based on an action-learning model. Project participants will learn and apply best practices in four areas critical to the advancement of primary care: information management, work redesign, collaboration and integration, and performance improvement. Participants will be teams of primary care practitioners and staff from a variety of Ontario practices. They will participate in three learning sessions with faculty and experts, test and evaluate local changes to improve their practices, and share their learning with other participants. To validate the four areas of critical knowledge an assessment of practitioner's needs, identification of existing best practices and review of the scholarly literature will be conducted The project will be evaluated in terms of individual learning and changes in practice. Materials developed through this project will be disseminated electronically and through conference presentations.
Hawker Receives Physicians' Services Incorporated Grant
Dr. Gillian Hawker was awarded a Physicians' Services Incorporated (PSI) Grant in the June 2004 competition for her research project, "What does an improvement in self-reported osteo-arthritis pain and disability really mean?"
Adam Topp Appointed Board Chair
Adam R. Topp, HPME Doctoral candidate and Trustee of East York CCAC, has been appointed as the new Board Chair of Healthcare Insurance Reciprocal of Canada (HIROC), Toronto . HIROC is the largest health care liability insurer in Canada.
Gill and Chan Win Awards for Research Projects
Sudeep Gill (supervisor: Paula Rochon) won the Kaufman Prize for best research presentation - Prescribing cascade involving cholinesterase inhibitors and anti cholinergic drugs - by a resident/fellow at the Canadian Geriatrics Society annual meeting in Toronto in May. This is the second time that Dr. Gill has won this award.
At the Department of Medicine's Division of Oncology Annual Research Day, Kelvin Chan (supervisor: Lillian Siu) won third prize for his project, Willingness of older people with cancer to participate in cancer clinical trials .
Primary Care Practice Management and Performance Indicators Website Launched
The Performance Indicators and Benchmarks in Primary Health Care study, led by HPME's Dr. Jan Barnsley, has launched a new website:
www.utoronto.ca/hpme/primarycare
The website was designed and developed by Anas Nader, University of Toronto Work-Study Program student, and Paula Heiniger, Administrative Assistant, Hospital Management Research Unit (Department of HPME). Visitors to the site can find out more about the research team's previous and continuing work. A download facility is available on many of the publications. Visitors can use the site to find out about links to other relevant web sites, access information on primary care performance assessment or gather information about special events. They can also use the site to contact individual member of the research team. For additional details about study activities, contact Judith MacPhail, Project Coordinator at email address: primary.care@utoronto.ca
"Name That Journal" Contest
Longwoods Publishing Corp, the Canadian Association for Health Services and Policy Research (CAHSPR), and the Institute of Health Services and Policy Research (IHSPR) of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) are launching a new Canadian Health Services and Policy Journal.
Nominations are currently being accepted for the positions of editor-in-chief and editor(s) until October 15, 2004. Ideas for a journal name are being accepted until November 30, 2004. A call for papers will be announced when the editor-in-chief and editor(s) are appointed for the first issue in the Spring 2005.
For information on how to submit a nomination or journal name, please see the Longwoods announcement at: www.longwoods.com/opinions/NewJournalAnnouncement.pdf