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Longwoods eLetter June 30, 2009

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QUOTE

“Despite what you may be hearing from those who oppose change, we are not searching for a third or fourth way of delivering care. We're focused on improving the public system we already have.” Ron Liepert, Minister of Alberta Health and Wellness, Edmonton. More.

ESSAY

Pay for Performance: The Wrong Time, the Wrong Place? By Steven Lewis

OFF THE CUFF

Integrating Healthcare in Hamilton and surrounds.
Kevin Smith has been appointed president and CEO for St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton and St. Joseph's Lifecare Brantford, as well as CEO for St. Mary's General Hospital Kitchener. With the restructuring, he also takes control of St. Joseph's Home Care and St. Joseph's Villa in Dundas, as well as St. Joseph's Hospital and Home in Guelph. The move is interesting because Smith says he knows of no other place in the province that has a similar structure. It takes advantage of the anomaly that the St. Joseph's system owns hospitals, home care and a long-term care facilities, Smith said. The move is being watched by other communities, he adds. "The St. Joseph's system has had a number of management structures historically and what this means is that we are collapsing those management structures into an integrated structure that will span the continuum of care." Smith says the changes will help break down the "silos" of hospital, home care, and nursing home care and better integrate the system. More.

ALC. On July 1, 2009, all acute and post-acute hospitals in Ontario will begin using the standardized Provincial Alternate Level of Care (ALC) Definition to designate patients as ALC. More.

WTIP. Starting in July, the Wait Time Information Program (WTIP) at Cancer Care Ontario will begin planning activities to support the capture of ALC data. More.

We get letters: Who can answer this inquiry?
I am currently pulling my hair out because I am having a real difficult time trying to get some benchmarks and metrics with which to operate our business. Our business being primary care clinics run by family doctors. So a couple of thoughts.
First do you know of a source where I can get some of this?
Second, ever thought about focusing on private sector family practice and private sector (doctors running their own practices) specialist practices for HealthcarePapers? I know that you try to have more cerebral content and peer review there. However often the authors you have writing those papers and responding seem to lack a real world touch. For example, you know we need to integrate care and we need to have chronic disease prevention without having any practical ideas of how to get to “pie in the sky” from where we are right now. Maybe dealing with the real, on the ground issues in private sector care provision would allow us to pave a pathway forward to the solutions proposed by the mandarins sitting in their academic offices? Anyone else interested? Write the editors here.

We have four ‘hot’ video presentations running at the moment. The four of them have more than 20,000 viewings. In order of popularity for the month of June:
1. Tom Closson | The Five Most Important Ideas to Improve Ontario Healthcare
2. Adalsteinn Brown | Find Out What Ontario’s Lead Health System Strategist is Thinking About The Day We Stop Caring
3. Mary Ferguson-Paré | Investment as a Deficit Reduction Strategy - Getting to No Vacancies in a Global Nursing Shortage
4. Ida Goodreau and Steven Lewis | Tough questions. Tough issues. Bright minds. Open forum.

Health Indicators 2009 is the tenth in a series of annual reports containing the most recently available health indicators data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information and Statistics Canada. Order Paper Copy or Download here: Health Indicators 2009.

We’re looking for your big idea: radical breakthroughs leading to a next generation health system
Neil Seeman writes in the National Post: "Health Care Moonshot" is a US$10-million prize, a project of the U. S.-based X Prize Foundation designed to yield "radical breakthroughs leading to a next generation health system." According to Dr. Vijay Goel, who leads the initiative, the goal is to "definitively improve quality while reducing costs." The U. S. project aims to improve health value by more than 50% in a 10,000-person community during a three-year trial.

One of the difficulties with innovation competitions in health care, and competitions of all kinds, is that they are self-selecting. It may also take considerable resources or time or special credentials in order to apply. The X Prize is a tremendously exciting effort, but it focuses on cost-reduction and the U. S. health-care system.

Using very few words -- in just 122 characters or fewer -- what would you say to launch your challenge? "We will each jog or walk three miles a day." "We will cure cancer." "We will end obesity as we know it."

How to Submit: If you have a Twitter account, you can tweet your ideas to change the face of health care in 10 years to: @sharemyidea #idea. You can also submit your ideas directly at myhealthinnovation.com or via email to secondopinionpost@gmail.com. On myhealthinnovation.com people can vote and comment on your ideas. In a follow-up column, Neil Seeman will profile strong messages and interview experts who can comment on their feasibility. Until July 20, the 40th anniversary of the first manned moon landing, send in your 122-character message to launch us on a 10-year journey to better global health. For Neil’s more detailed explanations click here.

Recommended Reading sponsored by HP Canada, including:
Adoption of Information Technology in Primary Care Physician Offices in Alberta and Denmark, Part 1: Historical, Technical and Cultural Forces (PDF)
Denis Protti, Steven Edworthy and Ib Johansen
This article evaluates the current state, driving forces and general health system factors that have impacted two culturally and historically different medical jurisdictions - Denmark, a member of the European Union, and Alberta, Canada.

Adoption of Information Technology in Primary Care Physician Offices in Alberta and Denmark, Part 2: A Novel Comparison Methodology (PDF)
Denis Protti, Steven Edworthy and Ib Johansen
This article provides background to the driving forces for automation in primary care physician offices in Denmark and Alberta.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS – NOW OPEN
The HealthAchieve Awards include: Leading Best Practices | Award of Excellence in Nursing Leadership | Ted Freedman Award for Innovation in Education | All awards will be presented at HealthAchieve2009, November 16 to 18th in Toronto. Photo review of HealthAchieve2008 (PDF). For Awards Sponsorship Opportunities, contact Matthew Hart.

PANDEMIC UPDATE
H1N1 FLU REPORTS UPDATE as of noon, June 29, 2009
H1N1 flu in the US: 27,717 [last week: 21,449] laboratory confirmed cases. 127 deaths. [Last week: 87] (Source: CDC).
H1N1 flu in Canada: 7,775 [last week: 6,457] laboratory confirmed cases. 21 deaths. [Last week: 15] (Source: PHAC).
H1N1 flu in Mexico: 8,279 [last week: 7,624] confirmed human cases. 116 deaths. [last week 113] (Source: WHO)
H1N1 flu across the world: 70,893 [last week: 52,160] confirmed cases with 311 deaths. [last week 231] (Source: WHO).

INFLUENZA: RESOURCES
World Health Organization. More.
Public Health Agency of Canada: Human Swine Influenza – Latest updates. More + their site Fight Flu. More.
Up to the minute news on Swine Flu. More. New.

CALL FOR PAPERS
ElectronicHealthcare provides a forum for case studies which explore e-models, e-practices and e-products for e-health. Submissions should describe a typical e-health situation or problem. It is a written account, ideally from the decision-maker's point of view, of an undertaking as it actually occurred. The outcome of the situation described should generally be measured against selected criteria or benchmarks, and its presentation should contribute in one way or another to best practices and excellence. Finally, case studies offer an opportunity to relate real experience to the principles and practices of e-health. For more information please contact Ania Bogacka at abogacka@longwoods.com.

Intern in need of a temporary home
Tom Cantle, a young Brit, has just graduated with a degree in English Literature. He will be spending part of his summer with Longwoods as an intern. It’s a four-week gig. Tom is looking for a place to live. A place that is on the subway/streetcar would be great. Our offices are at King and Berkeley, near the Distillery District. If you can help, please write Adam Marien at amarien@longwoods.com.

The eLetter is enabled by an unrestricted educational grant from ...

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Visit our website. Please click here.

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BITS AND PIECES

Send your transitions, news and innovations to news@longwoods.com. Ever wonder what happens to all those eLetters? Stay tuned here. (This page has its own search engine.)
NEW. If we accept your submission to the eLetter, you will receive a free online subscription to the journal ElectronicHealthcare.
If you received this eLetter from a colleague, sign up for your own free issue here.

THE NEWS: Daily Health and Healthcare News compiled by our Editors and Canadian Press.

RECOMMENDED READING

Healthcare Quarterly
Service-Based Funding and Pay for Performance: Will Incentive Payments Give Canadian Healthcare the Quality Boost It Needs?
Jane Coutts and Jennifer Thornhill

HealthcarePapers
Healthcare Provider Education: From Institutional Boxes to Dynamic Networks
George Eisler

Nursing Leadership
Practice Doctorates in Nursing: Developing Nursing Leaders
Sonia Acorn, Kimberley Lamarche and Margaret Edwards

Healthcare Policy
Sorry, You Can't Have That Information: Data Holder Confusion Regarding Privacy Requirements for Personal Health Information and the Potential Chilling Effect on Health Research
Daryl Pullman, Sharon K. Buehler, Larry Felt, Katherine Gallagher, Jeannie House, T. Montgomery Keough, Lucy McDonald, Angela Power, Ann Ryan and Roy West

Electronic Healthcare
Genomic Medicine in Healthcare - The Tip of the Iceberg
Aditya Pai

World Health and Population
Work Status and Health of Women: A Comparative Study of Northern and Southern States of Rural India
Sharmishtha Basu and Shiv Narayan Sidh

LONGWOODS RADIO PODCASTS: listen and learn

Today’s featured Podcast:

Breakfast with the Chiefs: Tom Closson, President and CEO of the Ontario Hospital Association
Topic: The Five Most Important Ideas to Improve Ontario Healthcare

Running time: 43 minutes and 03 seconds

Listen here.
See it here.

Organizations interested in contributing to Longwoods Radio, read this . . . This is a great opportunity to effectively transfer knowledge using storytelling, compelling lectures or gripping interviews – using simple digital recordings that we distribute on the web. Formatted for iPod listeners, too. For criteria and specifications please contact Christina Hale here. All subject to editorial review and acceptance.

NURSING LEADERSHIP (CJNL) - Check out our journal on administration, practice, teaching and research at www.nursingleadership.net. Only $9 per article or an annual subscription for $98

The MFP Report

A Sabbatical Journey of Discovery: Patient Safety
Mary Ferguson-Paré

A Sabbatical Journey of Discovery: Aspects of Nursing Care Delivery along the Continuum of Service
Mary Ferguson-Paré

Be sure your individual subscription is up to date. Sign up online here or contact Barbara Marshall – bmarshall@longwoods.com or 416-864-9667.

BREAKFAST WITH THE CHIEFS

2009/2010 Line Up

Tuesday, September 15, 2009 - Toronto. ON
André Picard, Award-Winning Journalist, Globe & Mail
Topic: To be announced
Sponsors: OHA, ACAHO and HPME

Tuesday, October 6, 2009 - Toronto, ON
David Levine, President and CEO, Montreal Health and Social Service Agency
Topic: To be announced
Sponsors: OHA, ACAHO and HPME

Tuesday, November 3, 2009 - Toronto, ON
Joseph R. D'Cruz, Professor, Rotman School of Management, U of T,
Ida Goodreau, CEO, LifeLabs Medical Laboratory Services
Topic: To be announced
Sponsors: OHA, ACAHO and HPME

Tuesday, January 26, 2010 - Toronto, ON
Brian R. Golden, Rotman School of Management, U of T
Topic: To be announced
Sponsors: OHA, ACAHO and HPME

Thursday, February 11, 2010 - Toronto, ON
Adalsteinn Brown, Assistant Deputy Minister, Health System Strategy Division, MOHLTC
Topic: To be announced
Sponsors: OHA, ACAHO and HPME

For sponsorship information please contact Matthew Hart at 416-864-9667 x 113 or email at mhart@longwoods.com

Past Presentations

Breakfast with the Chiefs video from Tuesday, June 2, 2009 - Toronto
Tom Closson, President and CEO, Ontario Hospital Association (Runtime: 58:47)
The Five Most Important Ideas to Improve Ontario Healthcare.
Sponsors: ACAHO, Accenture, CGI, HPME, University of Toronto, Ontario Hospital Association, Philips, PricewaterhouseCoopers, SAS

Breakfast with the Chiefs video from Wednesday, May 13, 2009 - Toronto
Adalsteinn Brown, Assistant Deputy Minister, Health System Strategy Division, Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, (Runtime: 56:36)
The Day We Stop Caring
Sponsors: ACAHO, Accenture, CGI, IBM, HPME, University of Toronto, McKesson Canada, Ontario Hospital Association, PricewaterhouseCoopers

Breakfast with the Chiefs video from Tuesday, April 21, 2009 - Toronto
Mary Ferguson-Paré, Vice President, Professional Affairs & Chief Nurse Executive, UHN (Runtime: 48:27)
Investment as a Deficit Reduction Strategy - Getting to No Vacancies in a Global Nursing Shortage
Sponsors: Accenture, Association of Canadian Academic Healthcare Organizations, CGI, McKesson Canada, Ontario Hospital Association, HPME - University of Toronto

For more information on upcoming speakers or to view past presentations click here.

The small print: Breakfast with the Chiefs registration requirements:
Do you work at a publicly funded organization? If so, you must hold a current personal subscription for at least one Longwoods journal. This covers attendance for the full season. If you are not a subscriber, click here first. If you are a subscriber, go to this page for information on upcoming dates.

Registrants from private sector organizations, foundations and associations must be registered members of the Longwoods HealthcareBoard. If you are not sure of your status and want more information please contact Matthew Hart at mhart@longwoods.com

To see the photo archives click here. To see our video archives click here.

CONFERENCES & EVENTS

September 29-30, 2009: Edmonton, AB. 2nd Annual Medical Device Sterilization Forum: Infection Prevention and Control through Safe Sterilization and Reprocessing Practices Presented jointly by CSA and Accreditation Canada, this two-day forum will provide healthcare decision makers, administrators and their reprocessing staff with the knowledge, tools and operational recommendations to help develop and implement an effective infection prevention and control program through safe sterilization and reprocessing practices. For more information click here.

TRANSITIONS

Maureen MacDonald to Minister of Health, Nova Scotia
Mary Schryer to Minister of Health, New Brunswick
Kevin Smith to President and CEO of St. Joseph's Health System (effective in October). More in Off the Cuff.

[Don’t forget, we don’t make these up. Please send your promotions, appointments, retirements and other transitions to publisher@longwoods.com.] Our transitions come from sources we believe to be reliable. We do not guarantee that they are correct. But we are rarely wrong.

Review all recently reported Transitions here.

AWARDS
Dr. Barbara Vanderhyden, awarded a Y Women of Distinction Award. More.

CAREERS: sent to +40,000 people including Canada’s student nurses.

Visit our portal of more than 60 participating healthcare recruitment centres.
[Send your career opportunities to Susan Hale at shale@longwoods.com]

WEEKLY NEWS and more from OHA - Canada’s premier healthcare association: The Executive Report.

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The eLetter is also enabled by an unrestricted educational grant from 3M Health Care. Public Dissemination of Provider Performance Comparisons in the United States. Read it here. This support enables free online access to all eLetter content for seven days.

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