Latest news with #CanadianInstituteforHealthInformation
Cision Canada
4 days ago
- Business
- Cision Canada
CIHI and GEMINI team up to modernize hospital data and improve patient care
TORONTO, June 4, 2025 /CNW/ - The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) and Unity Health Toronto's GEMINI Network have formalized a 3-year partnership. They will work together to ensure that rich clinical information can drive research, quality improvement and system-wide health care transformation, ultimately improving patient outcomes. Together, CIHI and GEMINI will explore ways to optimize near real-time hospital data to support the development of a pan-Canadian, integrated hospital data system. This system will enhance access to high-quality, standardized data for research, performance monitoring and quality improvement. CIHI is funded by Health Canada to support modernization of hospital data across Canada, and the GEMINI partnership aligns seamlessly with this mandate. GEMINI is Canada's largest hospital clinical data research network, helping health care providers and researchers understand and improve patient outcomes through advanced analytics and real-world data. "CIHI is proud to partner with GEMINI to unlock the full potential of hospital data in Canada," said Dr. Anderson Chuck, President and CEO, CIHI. "Together we are laying the groundwork for more responsive, data-driven health systems that deliver better care for all Canadians." About the partnership This partnership marks an important step forward in strengthening Canada's digital health ecosystem and accelerating the use of data to support smarter, safer and more equitable care. Transforming hospital data requires collaboration across health systems and other sectors. The CIHI–GEMINI partnership will build on digital health innovations, reduce duplication, improve timeliness and facilitate data sharing. By combining GEMINI's expertise in AI and advanced analytics with CIHI's trusted role in data standards, this collaboration will modernize CIHI's data systems, transform rich hospital clinical data into actionable insights to improve patient care, advance the development of sovereign AI models that reflect Canada's diverse populations, and strengthen connections with AI institutes and partners to support the responsible adoption of AI in health care. "We're excited to work with CIHI on this important initiative," said Dr. Fahad Razak, GEMINI Cofounder and Internist, St Michael's Hospital (Unity Health Toronto). "Together, we can create a data infrastructure that not only meets today's needs but also drives continuous learning and improvement across the health system." About CIHI The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) is an independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing essential health information to all Canadians. CIHI works closely with federal, provincial and territorial partners and stakeholders throughout Canada to gather, package and disseminate information to inform policy, management, care and research, leading to better and more equitable health outcomes for all Canadians. Health information has become one of society's most valuable public goods. For more than 30 years, CIHI has set the pace on data privacy, security, accessibility and innovation to improve Canada's health systems. CIHI: Better data. Better decisions. Healthier Canadians. About Unity Health Toronto Unity Health Toronto is Canada's largest Catholic health care provider with a wingspan across Toronto's core. The breadth of services we provide, strengthened by community partnerships and academic affiliations, positions us as a national model for collaborative, integrated, high quality care as we work to build a stronger, resilient and equitable health system for all. Guided by our mission and values, we aim to provide the best care experiences at every stage of our patients' health journey, from pediatric to primary care, urgent and acute care, specialty programs, seniors care, rehabilitation, long-term care, palliative care and advanced care for the most complex patients. Our strength lies in the combined expertise of our sites: a community academic and acute care hospital at St. Joseph's Health Centre, a research-intensive academic health sciences centre at St. Michael's Hospital, a campus of care for seniors, rehabilitation and long-term care at Providence Healthcare and a constellation of satellite clinics offering community-based and primary care. As a leading Canadian health research institution and learning destination of choice for health professionals, we are advancing health care for all united by one vision: The best care experiences, created together.
Vancouver Sun
28-05-2025
- Health
- Vancouver Sun
Opinion: Lack of access to primary care is bankrupting our health-care system
On a beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon recently, a healthy young man came to my emergency department with a sore throat and cough, worried that he may have strep throat. He told me, 'I cannot believe I had to tell the same story about what brings me here six times to six different people in the ER. This is absolutely ridiculous.' As I explained the workflow in the ED and apologized to the patient, I thought to myself what will likely shock the patient more is that their visit to the ED that day will likely cost taxpayers more than six times than if they went to their family doctor or a walk-in clinic for the same problem. On average, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, every time a patient visits an ED, it costs taxpayers between $304 and $323 , whereas it would normally cost between $40 to $50 if the patient went to their family physician or a walk-in clinic instead. In a family physician's office, a patient would normally tell their story once to the doctor, who will come up with a diagnosis and management plan. However, in the ED, they would often tell the same story to the registration clerk, the triage nurse, the flow coordinator nurse, the bedside nurse, sometimes a medical student or resident, then the attending physician. Each time they tell their story, it costs taxpayers more money. The patients often get more frustrated as well. A daily roundup of Opinion pieces from the Sun and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Informed Opinion will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. In addition, the services of every health-care worker the patient comes in contact with in the ED — from the lab and ECG techs to the X-ray and CT techs to the nurses and social workers and pharmacists — often would cost more than if they were delivered outside the hospital due to the frequent overtime pay required as a result of dire staffing shortages . For example, the ED physician fee alone for that visit for a sore throat could cost taxpayers up to three times what it would cost for the entire family physician or walk-in-clinic visit, depending on the time of day. However, over 20 per cent of Canadians do not have a family physician. Even more are not able to access their doctor on an urgent basis. I cannot count the number of times I have been told by patients that they are not able to get an appointment with their family doctor until two or three weeks down the road, or that their family physician only does phone appointments. Likewise, the walk-in clinics close to the ED I work at oftentimes only offer phone appointments or have very limited spots that get filled up quickly. As a result, I increasingly see patients coming to the ED for non-emergent conditions. From sore throats and coughs, to skin infections and UTIs, to rotator cuff injuries and rashes, to prescription refills and chronic pain, on some days, more than a third of the patients I see on an ED shift have presentations better suited for a walk-in clinic or their family physician. Frequently, people blame patients for coming to the ED with non-emergencies. However, it is not the patients' fault that the ED is the only place where they can access timely care. Why would any patient wait over five hours for a sore throat or prescription refill if they were able to see their primary care provider urgently? Woven into the creed of being a Canadian is the tenet that access to health care is a basic human right. Every Canadian deserves ready access to a family physician. An underappreciated cause of our current crisis is that family doctors often get paid the same if they do a phone appointment and send the patient to the ED for a physical exam or stitches, compared to seeing them in person and providing additional services such as laceration repairs or skin biopsies or joint injections. While countless excellent family physicians provide fantastic and timely care regardless of the incentives, we should reward family physicians who provide in-person visits, who go the extra mile to arrange urgent outpatient investigations and referrals, and who provide ample same-day appointments to patients with urgent concerns. We must also train far more family physicians than we do right now. There are innumerable bright young Canadians who would be eager to become family physicians if given the chance. In 2024, there were six times more Canadians who want to become physicians — including many who would love to become family physicians if given the chance — than there are medical school spots in Canada. We need to vastly increase the number of spots in our medical schools and create streams that are earmarked specifically for training family physicians. Our total spending in health care is $9,053 per Canadian , or $12.40 out of every $100 that Canadians make. With our aging population, health-care costs will continue to skyrocket. Despite this, countless Canadians cannot see a doctor when they need to and end up going to the ED for their primary care. If this crisis is not fixed soon, more and more people are going to end up going to the ED for non-emergencies, and taxpayers would have to pay much more to maintain our health-care system. With innovation, collective determination and political will, we can fix this crisis. And we can do it in a way that does not bankrupt our health-care system. Dr. Danny Liang is an emergency physician in the Greater Vancouver area and a clinical assistant professor at UBC.
Global News
21-05-2025
- Health
- Global News
The secret to faster hip and knee surgeries? Fixing referrals, study says
About one in three Canadians needing a new hip or knee are waiting longer than they should, but instead of turning to private clinics, researchers say a more centralized referral system could help fix the backlog. A study published Tuesday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) found that organizing referrals and surgeries through a coordinated, team-based approach could help with long wait times for hip and knee replacements. 'Canada performs poorly for access to scheduled surgery … access to care is a weakness in the Canadian health system, this has really been the Achilles heel of the Canadian health system,' said Dr. David Urbich, study author and head of the department of surgery at Women's College Hospital in Toronto. 'But the good news is, there are very good solutions. They're not difficult. They are not expensive.' Story continues below advertisement 2:24 Health Matters: Long wait times for surgery, treatment costing Canadians Reducing wait times for hip and knee replacement surgeries could be as simple as reorganizing how patients are referred to surgeons — no need for extra operating rooms, more surgeons or additional funding, the study argued. In Canada, the benchmark wait time for hip and knee replacement surgery is 182 days — six months. According to the latest data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information, around 66 per cent of patients get their surgery within that window. But that still leaves a third waiting longer. The numbers are even lower for knee replacements, with just 59 per cent getting the procedure within six months. Get weekly health news Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday. Sign up for weekly health newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy To address this issue, some Canadian provinces have been experimenting with private for-profit delivery of some surgeries to help ease wait times. Story continues below advertisement However, this study proposes creating a central list, saying it could impact wait times more effectively. How to cut down on wait times For many Canadians, the process of getting a knee or hip surgery starts with a 'direct physician-to-physician referral,' Urbich explained. That means a family doctor refers the patient to a specialist — but they might not know if it's the right one or even the next available one. Most surgeons work as independent practitioners, managing their own waitlists for consultations and surgeries. Once a surgeon takes on a patient for a procedure, they typically don't share care with other surgeons, according to the study. To see if there's a better way to tackle long wait times, the researchers looked into a few different intake models aimed at helping patients get seen faster. Story continues below advertisement Using data from Ontario, they broke things down into three models of care. 1:48 Albertan seeks surgery outside province amid long wait times The study focused on patients referred by a family doctor or general practitioner in 2017 for non-urgent hip or knee replacements. In total, the simulations were based on 17,465 surgeries performed on 17,132 patients, involving 7,783 referring doctors, 274 surgeons and 71 hospitals across five regions in Ontario. The models included: Single-entry referral model . This is when all patients' referrals in a region are pooled together and then directed to the next available surgeon for consultation, rather than being sent to specific surgeons individually. . This is when all patients' referrals in a region are pooled together and then directed to the next available surgeon for consultation, rather than being sent to specific surgeons individually. Team-based care model . After consultation, patients who need surgery enter a shared regional queue and are scheduled for surgery on the next available date with any surgeon in that region, instead of waiting for a specific surgeon. . After consultation, patients who need surgery enter a shared regional queue and are scheduled for surgery on the next available date with any surgeon in that region, instead of waiting for a specific surgeon. Fully integrated model. This combines both the single-entry referral and team-based care models. Patients are pooled into a single queue both for consultations and surgeries, and they see the next available surgeon for each step. Both team-based and fully integrated models had much larger effects on reducing wait times than the single-entry referral model, the study found. Story continues below advertisement 'The best model is when surgeons work together in teams and share the care of patients together and patients are referred to a team,' Urbich said. 'So they're seen by the next available surgeon for consultation. And then when it comes time to have surgery, they also have surgery by the next available surgeon.' 1:34 Surgery wait times in New Brunswick have increased, health council says That is what it takes to prevent anybody from waiting too long for a joint replacement surgery, he added. He also stressed that in these models, all surgeons are qualified and experts in the operations they do. 'Adoption of these models will require strong leadership among health-system leaders and the active participation of surgeons,' the study concluded. 'It will also require some investment in system infrastructure, instead of one-time investments to increase surgical volumes during times of crisis.'
CBC
01-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
ER visits for mental health down, prescriptions up among young Canadians, says CIHI
A report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information on Canadians aged five to 24 experiencing mental health disorders says emergency department visits and hospitalizations were down, but doctor visits and prescription were up last year compared to 2018-19.
CBC
15-04-2025
- Health
- CBC
Don't forget rural health care this federal election, Manitoba doctors and residents say
Doctors and residents in northern and rural Manitoba say health care in their communities must be a federal election priority this year, as emergency rooms continue to close and patients travel further and longer for care. The emergency room at Morris General Hospital, 60 kilometres south of Winnipeg, closed indefinitely in September 2023. It's one of several rural Manitoba ERs to shutter in recent years due to health-care worker shortages. "You can go there with somebody half dying, and all it's got is a thing on the door: The emergency's closed," said Eileen Klassen, 78, who lives down the road from the hospital. "It's not the doctors or the nurses. They work hard." Klassen counts herself lucky because after the ER closed, she experienced a stroke and survived. Instead of being rushed to the local hospital down the street, she was transported to Boundary Trails Health Centre near Winkler, Man. — about 45 kilometres away. The ER's closure also concerns Megan Adams, who lives with multiple sclerosis, and whose son had an allergic reaction to kiwi last summer. "When your son's life is being threatened and you have no choice but to call an ambulance and take your son on a 45-minute drive to receive treatment ... it can be pretty problematic," Adams said. Accessibility to health care is among Adams' top priorities this federal election. National strategy needed, physicians say Doctors Manitoba says this province falls second last in doctors per capita, at 219 physicians per 100,000 people, according to 2023 data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information. For family doctors, Manitoba ranks last among the provinces at 107 doctors per 100,000 people. In northern and rural Manitoba, it's 94 physicians per 100,000 residents. The increasing doctor and health-care worker shortage is why the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada is calling on all federal parties to create a national rural health workforce strategy, fund a skills training program and implement a national licensing system that would make it easier for physicians to practice across the country. The NDP said in an emailed statement the party would bring more doctors to northern and rural areas by supporting pan-Canadian licensing. They'd also create regional and remote medical schools, fully implement Jordan's Principle and provide grants to rural family doctors to help them stay in communities, a spokesperson said. CBC did not hear back from the Conservative or Liberal parties before publication. Long-term skills training program needed Neepawa, Man., family doctor Nichelle Desilets knows patients are travelling further and longer for health care. "I think it, unfortunately, has been accepted as the new norm both in my community and surrounding areas," said Desilets, who is also the president-elect of Doctors Manitoba. While she acknowledges provincial and municipal governments also have large roles to play in attracting rural doctors, she says health care is also a federal election issue. "I know that there's a lot of people that are stressed over economic concerns, over tariffs from the United States … but we can't let health care fall too low on the priority list. That has to stay at the top," she said. Last week, Desilets gave a presentation at the University of Manitoba's Health Sciences Centre medical school campus, hoping to convince about a dozen medical students to work in northern and rural areas. Desilets explained how rural physicians are not only trained in family medicine but may also need expertise in emergency medicine, geriatrics, obstetrics, palliative care and surgery. The Society of Rural Physicians' president Dr. Gavin Parker says that's one of the main reasons doctors in rural areas decide to leave: They're "feeling uncomfortable with the clinical scenarios they might come across." He credits a recent national one-year pilot program with helping 342 doctors working in Indigenous and rural communities to upgrade their skills according to their needs. The federal government contributed $7.4 million to the advanced skills training program, which Parker says covered training and travel costs and paid for locums — doctors who fill in for physicians while they're away. "It was a hugely successful project," said Parker, who practices in Pincher Creek, Alta. That nationally co-ordinated program was based on others offered in some provinces, including Alberta, Parker said. Over his career, he says it's helped him retrain in anesthesia and cardiac stress testing. Doctors say rural health care 'in crisis' Parker is advocating for a national skills training program to become permanent, along with the creation of a national rural health workforce strategy to make sure, in part, that medical schools support and train students for the jobs that are available and in the locations where they're needed. He's also calling for pan-Canadian licensing, so doctors face fewer administrative and cost burdens to practice across different jurisdictions. Dr. Sarah Newbery, a rural generalist family doctor in Marathon, Ont., agrees. She describes northern and rural health care as being "in crisis." Part of the day-to-day challenges she experiences relate to the difficulties in finding locums when doctors get sick, go on vacation or retire. Newbery urges the next federal government to make sure there's an end-to-end pathway for doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, social workers, laboratory technicians and more — from how they're educated to how they're recruited and retained — to work in northern and rural areas. Without a strategy, Newbery and Parker say burnout and fatigue among rural doctors will accelerate, and patients will increasingly flood urban health-care facilities and lengthen emergency department wait times there. "We have an opportunity to focus on how we support and stabilize rural health services, and that will make it more appealing for people to work here," said Newbery, who co-chairs the society's health human resources committee. Klassen believes people in Morris, Man., and the surrounding areas deserve a better hospital with more services. "It makes me very worried since I had that stroke," Klassen said. Southern Health continues to face challenges recruiting rural family doctors, but efforts are ongoing, including to recruit internationally-trained physicians, a health authority spokesperson said in an email. They say the health authority is working to reopen the Morris hospital ER, although it's unclear when that will be. At 78, Klassen says she isn't going to move now, and she hopes the conversation on health care doesn't forget rural towns like hers. Doctors and residents in rural and northern Manitoba say health care in their communities must be a priority in this federal election, as emergency rooms continue to close and patients travel farther away for care.
