February 14, 2011
E-health has the potential to promote a philosophy where patients are put first through innovation. E-health also bares a signature of solidarity, building the technological bridge to reach its patients because it considers timing and health information availability a must for a healthier Europe.
Overall, e-health reduces the risk of error in both prescription issue and processing, empowering patients and optimizing services and continuity of care. However, when looking towards the future of the EU healthcare policy, usability and accessibility stand out as barriers of implementation which need to be tackled with more urgency as we are facing many demographic and health-related challenges.
Posted in READ Portal, Reports & Papers | Tagged with e-health, Health care reform, Health technology, Information technology, Quality of care, Technology | 1 Comment
February 10, 2011
Outsourcing of non-core, non-clinical support services is a solution for many organizations. Most often, this is put into action one service provider at a time. In 2007, however, York Central Hospital (YCH) implemented Sodexo’s integrated Comprehensive Service Solutions (CSS) for all its support service functions. In doing so, YCH achieved significant improvements in patient and staff satisfaction rates, substantial cost savings through improved operational efficiency from process improvements and leveraging technology investments, and increased retail food revenue.
Posted in Journal Articles, READ Portal | Tagged with Benchmarking, Canada, Efficiency, Health care reform, Indicators, Program evaluation | No Comments
February 9, 2011
This Casebook of Primary Innovations from the 2010 “Picking up the pace” conference presents 47 key developments in Canadian primary healthcare implemented over the last year. The casebook covers topics from “Transitions from Hospital to Home” to “Thriving Models that haven’t Spread: Why not?”
The key findings of the report are that there are “two main types of organizational innovation in primary healthcare in Canada:
1) innovations arising from the “trenches,” that originally emerged in a given organization and gradually spread to other, similar organizations—and in some cases, even won the support of higher authorities who deliberately disseminated them (a bottom-up approach), and
2) innovations undertaken by decision-makers at the regional or provincial/territorial level that were deployed from the outset on a broad scale (a top-down approach).”
Posted in READ Portal, Reports & Papers | Tagged with Canada, Decision making, Evidence-based, Health care reform, Policy | 1 Comment
February 3, 2011
This 2010 white paper from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement presents a synopsis of the results of the eight year Pursuing Perfection Initiative. The goal of the initiative was to determine how healthcare organizations could improve their operations in order to have more efficacious and efficient healthcare systems.
In order to achieve this, the 13 organisations from US and Europe “designed, tested, and implemented changes in strategy, structure, and key processes, supported by IHI faculty and with frequent contact with each other in a collaborative learning model.” The study ended with all participants demonstrating significant improvements in one or more areas of operations, while also learning about the critical factors of optimal healthcare performance.
Posted in READ Portal, Reports & Papers | Tagged with Benchmarking, Efficiency, Evidence-based, Health care reform, Health technology, Hospital administration, Indicators, Patient-centered care, Program evaluation, Quality assessment | No Comments
January 15, 2011
Large gains in hospital efficiency can be made through streamlining patient flow and redesigning care processes. Once managed efficiently, US hospitals, on average, could achieve at least an 80–90 percent bed occupancy rate without adding beds at capital costs of approximately $1 million per bed. This article outlines a plan for hospitals to accommodate more patients without increasing beds or staff, and for policy makers to require hospitals to make these changes or provide incentives for them to do so.
Posted in Journal Articles, READ Portal | Tagged with Economics, Efficiency, Health care reform, Hospital administration | No Comments
January 6, 2011
This article reviews the role of registered nurses as primary care providers and advocates changing existing restrictive laws in order to grant primary care responsibilities to qualified nurses. It presents the physician argument against nurses having a greater role in primary health management and the IOM (Institute of Medicine) and RN argument for the opening of legislation to allow for more hands on action from nurses. The thrust of the physician point of view is that nurses, even those with a PhD, lack the years of education and training that doctors must undergo in order to work with the public as a healthcare practitioner. The IOM and RN opinion is that restricting nurses role increases barriers to timely and affordable healthcare, and as such these barriers must be brought down across the United States in order to provide greater benefit to the public.
Posted in READ Portal, Reports & Papers | Tagged with Access to care, Decision making, Health care reform, Nurses, Patient-centered care, Policy | No Comments
December 22, 2010
This report describes an environmental scan that was completed in May 2009 of primary care and public health in the province of British Columbia (BC) as one of a series of steps in a larger program of research: Strengthen- ing Primary Health Care through Primary Care and Public Health Collaboration Study (Strengthening PHC Study). It is one of three scans being completed for provincial health care systems, which include: British Columbia, Ontario and Nova Scotia. The purpose of the environ- mental scans is to provide current information about the provincial context of primary care and public health that may be contributing, either positively or negatively, towards integration and collaboration between these two health sectors.
Posted in READ Portal, Reports & Papers | Tagged with Canada, Decision making, Efficiency, Health care reform, Quality assessment | No Comments
December 17, 2010
An estimated 16 million Canadians live with some chronic condition. These Canadians and the families and friends who care for them need a healthcare system that meets all of their needs. Some people’s needs are relatively simple, involving the management of a single chronic condition, while other people’s needs are increasingly complex, requiring the management of several chronic conditions concurrently. At the same time, there are huge concurrent demands that challenge the sustainability of our healthcare system…
Posted in READ Portal, Reports & Papers | Tagged with Chronic disease, Economics, Health care reform | No Comments
December 2, 2010
As Ontario experiments with new patient-based payment methods under the Excellent Care for All Act, The Change Foundation offers analysis, examples, and advice on using funding models to improve the quality and experience of patient care.
Posted in Mass Media Articles, READ Portal | Tagged with Economics, Funding, Health care costs, Health care reform | No Comments
November 10, 2010
Poor performance in achieving population health goals is well-noted — approximately 10% of public health measures tracked are met. Less well-understood is how to create conditions that produce these goals. This article examines some of the factors that contribute to this poor performance, such as lack of shared responsibility for outcomes, lack of cooperation and collaboration, and limited understanding of what works.
Posted in Journal Articles, READ Portal | Tagged with Health care reform, Policy | No Comments
