Other Notables

Raisa Deber CBC Radio Interview on SARS

Raisa Deber, HPME Professor, was interviewed by CBC Radio on April 8, 2003 with respect to how the health system is managing Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

The discussion focused on cancelled patient procedures. In response Dr. Deber noted that "the system is attempting to maintain a balance. Authorities are trying to contain SARS without preventing patients from getting the care they need."

She added that "One of the lessons we learned from the Krever water inquiry is that the public doesn't particularly want us to make the errors of under-reacting."

Raisa Deber is Director of the Medicare to Home and Community Research Unit. Her current research centres around Canadian health policy. Projects include definitions of medical necessity, examination of specialized services under population-based models, public and private roles in the financing and delivery of health services (with a focus on long term care), and the study of medical decision making and issues surrounding patient empowerment.

Invitational Workshop on a Health Council

Along with the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto, and with support from the Atkinson Charitable Foundation, the Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (HPME) recently hosted an Invitational Workshop on a Health Council.

The event was chaired by Terry Sullivan, HPME Associate Professor.

In November 2002, the Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada released its final report, Building on Values: The Future of Health Care in Canada (the Romanow report). At a subsequent meeting of Canada's health ministers, most of the recommendations in the report were adopted, including the creation of a Health Council "to monitor and make annual public reports on the implementation of the Accord, particularly its accountability and transparency provisions."

The purpose of the Invitational Workshop was to review and analyze various health council models recommended by a number of diverse groups, distill the common features of health councils, and highlight the elements deemed necessary for a future Health Council that would oversee the implementation of the recommendations in the Romanow report. The event was attended by academics, practice leaders, key opinion leaders and officials from the federal and provincial governments.

Both Adalsteinn Brown, HPME Assistant Professor, and Raisa Deber, HPME Professor, participated in the Workshop. Professor Colleen Flood from the Faculty of Law and cross-appointed to HPME, delivered one of the day's presentations.

A full report is available on the Atkinson Foundation website.

HPME Researchers Involved in OHA Data Quality Conference

The OHA recently presented a conference on Data Quality: Understanding its Impact on the Health Care System at the Toronto Board of Trade. It was attended by 160 health records and data management personnel, system analysts and hospital CEOs.

The one-day symposium was chaired by Adalsteinn Brown, HPME Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator of the Hospital Report Project.

Other HPME participants included:

• Nizar Ladak, an SGS faculty member of HPME and Director of Health Services Information at the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) who described variations in coding practices at CIHI.
• Paula Blackstien-Hirsch, Project Director of the Hospital Report Project, and Therese Stukel, HPME Professor, who both participated in a panel discussing the impact of data quality on research and the reporting of provider performance.
• Sujit Choudhry, cross-appointed to HPME and an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto, who discussed the legal impact of data quality.

Mapa and Leatt, Co-Editors

Joseph Mapa, HPME adjunct faculty member, and President & CEO, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, has co-edited a new book with Peggy Leatt, Professor & Chair, Department of Health Policy and Administration, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and former Chair, Department of HPME, Toronto entitled "Government Relations in the Health Care Industry". Published by Greenwood Publishing Group, the co-editors and their panel of scholars, practitioners, and policymakers provide compelling reasons why the development and maintenance of effective government relations in the health industry must be a top priority for health industry management.

<<Previous Item

Table of Contents