thepatientfactor.com

Putting Patients First in Saskatchewan: A Small Step Forward

The Saskatchewan government recently entered into a contract with the Omni Surgery Centre in Regina and is now finalizing one with the Saskatoon Surgicentre to provide a certain number of day surgeries for patients in the province. The contracts are good news for some of the 26,915 Saskatchewan patients currently on waiting lists in the [...]

Quebec Government Now Funds IVF Treatments: Can Patients Afford to Wait?

The province of Quebec is now funding in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments. Proponents of government coverage for fertility treatments claim the decision will not only benefit patients but will also provide some cost savings to the Canadian health care system. However, the true cost of this decision remains to be seen. The increased demand for publicly funded IVF treatments is bound to create [...]

Doctors Adverse to Mixed Martial Arts Fights in Canada

Doctors in British Columbia recently passed a resolution at a meeting of their provincial medical association calling for a ban on mixed martial arts fights in Canada. They plan on taking this resolution to the annual general meeting of the Canadian Medical Association later this month. If it’s passed, members will begin lobbying the federal [...]

Transforming Canadian Health Care Takes More Than Words

The Canadian Medical Association (CMA), representing the interests of more than 72,000 members nationally, released its latest policy document titled “Health Care Transformation in Canada: Change that Works. Care that Lasts.” Many of the recommendations contained in the document are not new. For almost a decade the CMA has been advocating for the development of a [...]

How to Be a Queue-jumper in Canada’s Public Health Care System

Last year, media reports kept us abreast of the people jumping Canada’s health care queues for the H1N1 vaccine. Among those making the list were hospital board members and donors and professional athletes and their families. Many Canadians voiced their anger over these individuals receiving the vaccine ahead of priority groups identified by the government. This [...]

Losing Patients with the Canadian Health Care System

Perhaps you are a relatively healthy person and therefore feel little need to concern yourself with the plight of patients and doctors featured in news headlines across the country. Like a majority of Canadians you tend to believe that when you have a serious injury or illness that our health care system will provide the best medical [...]

Excellent Care For All is Just an Act

A new piece of legislation aimed at improving the quality of patient care in Ontario received Royal Assent on June 8th. The Excellent Care for All Act, 2010 comes into law as the province is desperately trying to contain its escalating health care costs in an effort to reduce its $21 billion dollar deficit. The title [...]

The Untimely Death of Madeleine Mendoza: A Husband’s Journey from Medical Tragedy to Patient Safety, Part II

A retired business systems analyst, Ed Mendoza recalls tackling his share of complex problems throughout his working career. Little did he know that one day he would be forced to question the logic of one of the largest systems in our country – Canadian health care. The untimely death of his wife Madeleine in March 2003 [...]

The Untimely Death of Madeleine Mendoza: A Husband’s Journey from Medical Tragedy to Patient Safety, Part I

“I’d like to tell you about Madeleine and who she was as a person. Can I do that?” asked widower Ed Mendoza. “Yes, tell me about her. I’d like to hear more about her,” I said. And so begins the story of Madeleine Mendoza’s untimely death. She enjoyed talking to everyone she met and was [...]

Private Matters Concerning Public Health Care

The government of Alberta is feeling the heat after halting bankruptcy proceedings against a private surgical facility in Calgary. The Health Resource Centre (HRC), owned by Networc Health Inc., performed about 1,000 orthopaedic surgeries for the government in 2009. Anticipating future increases in its government surgical contract, the HRC entered into a lease agreement with the [...]