Other Notables

Medical Errors: Ross Baker Interviewed on CBC News

Dr. Ross Baker, HPME Associate Professor, was interviewed on Friday, August 30 by the host of CBC NewsWorld about the need to investigate the incidence and cause of adverse medical events in Canadian acute care hospitals. Along with Dr. Peter G. Norton, a Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Calgary, Dr. Baker is leading a study to examine the extent of adverse events, and the availability of data that could be used to track such occurrences. A research team in each of British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia will examine randomly selected patient records in four hospitals to identify indications of medical or surgical adverse events. Where initial review indicates such a possibility, the charts will be examined in depth by specially trained physicians. The study, commencing in June 2002, is expected to conclude in 2004.

Dementia Care Networks' Study Final Report

Dr. Louise Lemieux-Charles, HPME Chair and Associate Professor, along with Dr. Larry Chambers, President and Chief Scientist at the University of Ottawa Institute on Health of the Elderly, recently completed a multicentre examination of health care services in Ontario for those with Alzheimer disease and other dementias. The case study investigated the evolution, structure, and administrative and service delivery processes of four community-based dementia care networks in Ontario from 1999 to 2002 through review of agency documents, key informant interviews, focus groups, and survey of providers, caregivers and individuals with dementia. The findings, available in a full technical report (227 page pdf file) or summary report (84 page pdf file), have implications for care recipients, caregivers, health and social service professionals, and government policy makers.

Peter Coyte's Home Care Recommendations Accepted by Kirby Committee

Peter C. Coyte, HPME Professor, Co-Director of the Home and Community Care Evaluation and Research Centre (HCERC), and CHSRF/CIHR Chair in Health Care Settings and Canadians, was commissioned by the Honourable Michael J.L. Kirby to develop recommendations for the organization, delivery and financing of home care in Canada.

As chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology, Kirby plans to release the recommendations for health care policy reform on Friday, Oct. 25, 2002. More information about the Standing Committee is available on the Romanow Commission website.

Dr. Coyte's report, entitled Expanding the Principle of Comprehensiveness from Hospital to Home, suggests that home health care services should conform to the principles of universality, accessibility, comprehensiveness, portability and public administration as set out in the Canada Health Act. Nine recommendations are included in the report, based on three principles: first, reforms should be introduced in a phased manner with supports that further service integration; second, the comprehensiveness principle captured in the Canada Health Act should be broadened to include necessary health care wherever that care is sought, delivered and received; and finally, mechanisms that constrain government liabilities should be included in any reform package. Dr. Coyte's most notable recommendation is that hospitals should be paid to provide home care services and retain the option of out-sourcing where cost effective.

The full text of the report is available on the HCERC website.

David Zakus Advisor for Romanow Commission Report on Globalization and Health

Summary Report -- Putting Health First: Canadian Health Care Reform, Trade Treaties and Foreign Policy (Acrobat PDF)

Davis Zakus, HPME Associate Professor and Director of the Centre for International Health in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto, served on a panel of national advisors to the Romanow Commission in developing a report on globalization and health.

The report describes key trade provisions affecting Canadian health care and the implications of trade treaties for health care policy, including commercialization of hospital and clinical services, health insurance and financial services rules, home care, and pharmacare. The report also suggests options for maintaining and enhancing flexibility in health care policy that involve reducing uncertainty and strengthening coherence in trade and foreign policy. The full text of the report is available on the Romanow Commission website.

Ross Baker to Deliver Closing Plenary at Patient Safety Conference

Ross Baker, HPME Associate Professor, will be delivering the closing plenary session at the 5th Joint National Conference on Quality in Health Care. The conference theme is Patient Safety: A Leader's Role in Quality Care. It will take place on February 13 and 14, 2003 at the Hilton Toronto Hotel.

The conference schedule/registration form (Acrobat PDF) are available from the CCHSE website.

Dr. Baker will be jointly offering the plenary session with Dr. Peter G. Norton, a Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Calgary. Together they are leading a study to examine the extent of adverse events, and the availability of data that could be used to track such occurrences.

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