Healthcare policy = Politiques de santé
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The occurrence of adverse events (AEs) in care settings is a patient safety concern that has significant consequences across healthcare systems. Patient safety problems have been well documented in acute care settings; however, similar data for clients in home care (HC) settings in Canada are limited. The purpose of this Canadian study was to investigate AEs in HC, specifically those associated with hospitalization or detected through the Resident Assessment Instrument for Home Care (RAI-HC). ⋯ The incidence of AEs from all sources of data ranged from 4% to 9%. More resources are needed to target strategies for addressing safety risks in HC in a broader context. Tools such as the RAI-HC and its Clinical Assessment Protocols, already available in Canada, could be very useful in the assessment and management of HC clients who are at safety risk.
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To describe the association between health information technology (HIT) adoption and family physicians' patient visit length in Canada after controlling for physician and practice characteristics. ⋯ Use of HIT is found to be associated with fewer patient visits and longer visit length among family physicians in Canada relative to NO users, but this association weakened in the multivariable analysis of 2010.
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Approximately 68% of Canadians receive prescription drug coverage through an employer-sponsored private plan. However, we have very limited data on the structure of these plans. This study aims to identify and describe the use of cost-control mechanisms in private drug plans in Canada and describe what private coverage looks like for the average Canadian. ⋯ The use of annual and lifetime maximums is increasing. Canadian private benefits programs use few cost-control measures to respond to increasing costs, particularly in comparison to their public counterparts. These results suggest there are ample opportunities for greater efficiency in private sector drug coverage plans.
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In the context of scarce public resources, patient interest groups have increasingly turned to private organizations for financing, including the pharmaceutical industry. This practice puts advocacy groups in a situation of potential conflicts between the interests of patients and those of the drug companies. The interests of patients and industry can converge on issues related to the approval and reimbursement of medications. ⋯ Using the Quebec example of Coalition Priorité Cancer (CPC) as a case study, we examine the ethical issues raised by such financial relationships in the context of drug reimbursement decision-making. We collected, compiled and analyzed publicly available information on the CPC's organization and activities; this approach allowed us to raise and discuss important questions regarding the possible influence exerted on patient groups by donors. We conclude with some recommendations.