The status quo is no longer good enough to deliver equitable access to high quality care in a cost-efficient manner
By Karen Palmer and Noah Ivers Women’s College Hospital If there’s one thing provincial governments across Canada can agree on, it’s that the status quo in health care is no longer good enough to deliver equitable access to high quality care in a cost-efficient manner. Ontario’s Ministry of Health under the previous government led the…
At its core, the problem is related to lack of funding. It's time for Ottawa to provide the necessary funds or launch full-scale medicare reform
Most Canadians think our health-care system is a national treasure and much superior to the American system, where poor people often don’t get the treatments they need and costs can be catastrophic. Instead of focusing on how Canada’s health-care system compares to America’s, we should be looking at European systems that offer better health outcomes…
So why aren’t we making use of this important human resource?
By Linda Silas Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions and Ivy Lynn Bourgeault University of Ottawa You can be forgiven if you’ve never heard of nurse practitioners. Most Canadians haven’t – and most don’t know their value to our health-care system. You may be even more surprised to learn that nurse practitioners could be the innovative…
Free prescription drugs won’t mean a thing if Canadians can’t access the drugs they need. There has to be a better way to manage our supply
By Susan Martinuk Research associate Frontier Centre for Public Policy The Liberal federal government made a pre-election promise to establish a single, universal pharmacare program that would cover all, or most, of the costs of prescription drugs for Canadians. The idea has been discussed for decades, but the public conversation has rarely gone beyond unproven…
The health and cost benefits of delivering smarter care while the patient stays at home could be enormous
Have you noticed how there are no more lines to talk to live tellers in banks? Twenty years ago, I remember having to think about scheduling my time to wait in line to do my banking and trying to strategize going at non-peak hours. Today, on the rare occasions I have to go, I can…
Individuals with developmental disabilities live longer than ever and that means the responsibility for care is shifting to siblings
A combination of better medical care and good lives in the community mean longer life expectancies for individuals with a developmental disability. That’s good news. But many are outliving their parents, who have taken care of them over their lifetimes. Once parents are no longer able to provide the same level of support or care,…
A growing body of research shows that most older adults will get the same long-term outcomes from less invasive treatment
By Eric Bohm University of Manitoba and Ivan Wong Arthroscopy Association of Canada Nearly half of Canadians aged 65 and over experience osteoarthritis in their knees. Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis and occurs when the protective cartilage on the ends of bones wears down over time leading to pain, stiffness and decreased…
A national seniors strategy needs to account for complexity in the aging process, including risk and vulnerability
By Russell Williams and John Muscedere Canadian Frailty Network Canadians 65 years and older now outnumber children 14 years and under, which means our needs as a society are changing. We’re succeeding in shifting the aging curve through preventive interventions and better public health – that’s good news. But the changing demographic is causing strains…
Public coverage in Quebec is not only more generous, but drug approval is more timely than anywhere else in the country
As the Oct. 21 election looms, the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau seems poised to make pharmacare a central issue of the campaign. In June, the Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare, led by former Ontario health minister Eric Hoskins, tabled a report proposing a single-payer government-run universal drug plan in Canada.…
A convoluted – and doomed – communication portal in Nova Scotia has failed the health care system and its users on both sides
Most businesses encourage clients to electronically access their own information because consumers value the efficiency and convenience of electronic access. Unfortunately, the Nova Scotia Department of Health (DOH) has a different idea. It has been a successful barrier preventing most Nova Scotians from retrieving and using their own health information. Few Nova Scotians have access…