Other Notables

Hospital Report 2002: Acute Care

On January 9, 2003, the Ernie Eves government and the Ontario Hospital Association released Hospital Report 2002: Acute Care -- a report that was independently gathered and analyzed by the Canadian Institute for Health Information with assistance from the Hospital Report Research Collaborative which is based in the Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto.

The Principal Investigator of the Hospital Report Research Collaborative is Adalsteinn Brown, HPME Assistant Professor, with research interests in performance measurement, cost-effectiveness analysis, small area variations, and quality of care. The original methods for this report were developed by researchers at the Department under the leadership of Ross Baker, HPME Associate Professor.

Hospital Report 2002 details the performance of acute care hospitals from across Ontario. Ninety-two hospitals from a total of 123 in Ontario (representing 173 hospital sites) participated in Hospital Report 2002: Acute Care. Measures of patient satisfaction, patient care, hospital finances, and keeping up with change are described in the report.

At the press release Dr. Brown noted that, "against the backdrop of calls for greater accountability in the Romanow and Kirby reports, this report card provides the most comprehensive set of data on hospital performance routinely available anywhere in North America". He highlighted encouraging aspects of the report, including increased patient satisfaction and improved clinical outcomes.

Summary, technical and managerial reports are available are either of the websites listed below:

• Hospital Report Research Collaborative
• Ministry of Health and Long Term Care

Raisa Deber Quoted in Economist

A recent issue of the Economist (British edition, December 7, 2002) summarized the outcome of the Romanow Commission and mentioned that the Prime Minister will be meeting with the provincial premiers in January to address the recommendations in the report.

Consensus amongst the premiers will be difficult to achieve but, as Raisa Deber notes within the article, "the strongest selling-point of Mr. Romanow's report is not his largely sensible proposals, but the fact that he spent 18 months listening to the views of ordinary Canadians. Politicians may not like what he has to say, but public pressure will ensure they listen closely."

Dr. Deber is a Professor in HPME and Director of the Medicare to Home and Community (M-THAC) research unit. Her research focuses on health policy, policy analysis, health economics, medical decision making, and the public-private mix.

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