Leading a Long-Term Care Facility through the COVID-19 Crisis: Successes, Barriers and Lessons Learned
The long-term care (LTC) sector has been the epicentre of COVID-19 in Canada. This paper describes the leadership strategies that helped manage the pandemic in one COVID-19-free LTC facility in British Columbia. Qualitative interviews with four executive leaders were collected and analyzed. The facility implemented most provincial guidelines to prevent or mitigate virus spread. Crisis leadership competencies and safety prioritization helped this site’s successful management of the pandemic. There was room for improvement in communication and staffing practices and policies in the facility. (Source: Healthcare Quarterly)
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - January 4, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Crowdsourcing Health Policy with the Provider Community during a Crisis
The COVID-19 pandemic presented the healthcare system with numerous challenges requiring an expedited process to address issues and identify necessary innovations. Crowdsourcing is a rapid, flexible and low-cost engagement approach that allows the user to collect substantial information from a large number of people. CorHealth Ontario worked with its cardiac, stroke and vascular stakeholders to develop provincial-level, evidence-based policy and protocol through data-driven crowdsourcing. The experiences of crowdsourcing through CorHealth's stakeholder forums, guidance memos, data and modelling activities and the resource ...
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - January 4, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Shortages of Palliative Care Medications in Canada during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Gambling with Suffering
This article explores the nature of these shortages, factors that have contributed to them and strategies to mitigate them. It calls on all levels of the healthcare system and the government to address this problem. Shortages in these medications are as serious as shortages in medications used to cure or control diseases. (Source: Healthcare Quarterly)
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - January 4, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
“Flying Blind”: Canada’s Supply Chain Infrastructure and the COVID-19 Pandemic
Canada's COVID-19 response has been described as slow, with reactive decision making that has left the most vulnerable populations at risk of infection and death from the virus. Yet, within and across the provincial health systems, the supply chain processes and data infrastructure needed to generate the relevant data for, and evidence of, the spread of COVID-19 and the health system's capacity to respond to the pandemic are non-existent in Canada. Emerging evidence from a national research study highlights the significance of supply chain data infrastructure and processes that offer transparent, real-time data to inform d...
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - January 4, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
New Data on Access to Mental Health and Addictions Services and Home and Community Care
As the population ages, more Canadians need home care to help manage their health conditions and live safely at home. For Canadians of all ages, timely access to mental health and addictions services is an area of growing concern. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its strain on health system resources have further highlighted the need to improve services in these areas. The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) is working with governments across Canada to bridge data gaps, develop indicators and publicly report results as part of a collective effort to improve access in these two sectors. Results for three...
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - January 4, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Were Snowbirds Disproportionally Impacted by COVID-19? An Ontario Analysis
Early in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, many older adult Canadians who routinely spend the winter months in warmer regions (colloquially known as "snowbirds") returned to Canada. While numerous infections were attributed to travel-related exposure at that time, little is known about the impact of COVID-19 on returning snowbirds. This population-based analysis from Ontario suggests that snowbirds were not disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. However, as older adults, they remain at high risk of complications once infected. These findings underscore the need for continued caution in this o...
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - January 4, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
From the Editors
(Source: Healthcare Quarterly)
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - December 15, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
The Editorial
(Source: Healthcare Quarterly)
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - October 28, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
A Rapid Primary Healthcare Response to COVID-19: An Equity-Based and Systems - Thinking Approach to Care Ensuring that No One Is Left Behind
Recent data from across the globe show that COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting those who are already adversely impacted by social determinants of health. In this paper, we explore how members of the Alliance for Healthier Communities – comprehensive, salary-based primary care organizations in Ontario – anticipated the same and rapidly responded by adapting their services to ensure continued equitable access to primary care services. Lessons from this project could be adapted in other primary care team–based models or partnerships to ensure ongoing support for populations that are most at...
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - October 21, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Electronic Health Record-Related Burnout among Clinicians: Practical Recommendations for Canadian Healthcare Organizations
This article reviews initiatives and strategies aimed at combatting EHR-related burnout and provides recommendations for Canadian contexts. While approaches for measuring and reducing EHR-related physician burnout were identified, this paper highlights a paucity of evidence surrounding EHR-associated burnout among non-physician clinicians and the efficacy of interventions aimed at reducing burnout. Based on the findings, this article proposes recommendations for optimizing EHR usage to potentially reduce burnout. (Source: Healthcare Quarterly)
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - October 21, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Electronic Health Record Related Burnout Among Clinicians: Practical Recommendations from The Literature for Canadian Healthcare Organizations
This article reviews initiatives and strategies aimed at combatting EHR-related burnout and provides recommendations for Canadian contexts. While approaches for measuring and reducing EHR-related physician burnout were identified, this paper highlights a paucity of evidence surrounding EHR-associated burnout among non-physician clinicians and the efficacy of interventions aimed at reducing burnout. Based on the findings, this article proposes recommendations for optimizing EHR usage to potentially reduce burnout. (Source: Healthcare Quarterly)
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - October 21, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Physician Initial Assessment Times Based on CTAS Scores: Are We Meeting the Recommendations?
The Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale prioritizes patient care in the emergency department (ED) by setting recommendations for physician initial assessment (PIA) times. However, adherence to the recommended PIA times may not be possible due to increasing ED visits, overcrowding and patient boarding in the ED. We conducted a retrospective review of adult patients who visited four community EDs from January 2016 to December 2017 and found that the overall compliance with the recommended PIA times was low. This brings into question the utility of the current target PIA times and prompts the need for changes downstream to enabl...
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - October 21, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Measuring Boards using Quantitative Tools from Natural Language Processing
Natural language processing (NLP) tools provide quantitative methods to analyze board minutes and better understand and measure the work of the board. Techniques such as riverbed graphs and sentiment analysis provide objective, measurable information about key areas (finance, quality, compliance) that boards focus their attention on. By comparing the key focus areas between different hospitals, this paper demonstrates that NLP tools can provide a robust and reproducible way in which boards can measure their progress toward the betterment of their goals, objectives and responsibilities for both peer-to-peer and int...
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - October 21, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Cost Impact of a Pharmacist-Driven Medication Reconciliation Program During Transitions to Long-Term Care and Retirement Homes
The current provincial funding model in Ontario, Canada, does not offer dedicated funding to drive medication reconciliation (MedRec) programs during transitions into long-term care and retirement homes. This economic analysis aimed to estimate potential cost savings attributed to hospitalizations averted and decreases in polypharmacy by a MedRec program from a healthcare payer perspective. From a pool of 6,678 pharmacist recommendations, a limited sample of recommendations targeting specific medication-related adverse events showed potential savings of $622.35 per patient from hospital admissions avoided and of $1,414.52 ...
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - October 21, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
A Rapid Primary Healthcare Response to COVID-19: An Equity-Based and Systems- Thinking Approach to Care Ensuring That No One Is Left Behind
Recent data from across the globe show that COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting those who are already adversely impacted by social determinants of health. In this paper, we explore how members of the Alliance for Healthier Communities – comprehensive, salary-based primary care organizations in Ontario – anticipated the same and rapidly responded by adapting their services to ensure continued equitable access to primary care services. Lessons from this project could be adapted in other primary care team–based models or partnerships to ensure ongoing support for populations that are most at...
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - October 21, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
