Christina Spencer's blog

Patient-Reported Outcome Measurements

Many providers of care are beginning to take it upon themselves to consider the patient perspective. A recent movement to include Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) is a good example of this.

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Release: Nominate your Physician for Sarnia's Patients' Choice Awards

SARNIA – If you believe your physician is committed to providing great patient care, submit a nomination about him or her for the Patients’ Choice Awards. Sponsored by Bluewater Health, the Patients’ Association of Canada and the Ontario Medical Association, the Patients’ Choice Awards recognize physicians who have specifically been nominated by patients for the care that they have provided. The awards are open to all family physicians and specialists in Sarnia-Lambton.

See the full release below.

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KevinMD: Test results without Physician Guidance causes Patient Anxiety

A patient once blamed me for causing him considerable anxiety because he had to wait several weeks before receiving the results of a lab test, which I had ordered. Many patients commonly have to wait days, if not weeks, before getting lab results from their doctor. The delay can affect patients’ health negatively.

Read the full article here.

The Canadian Jewish News: Book helps Patients speak up for their own care

Lisa Newman is urging patients and their families to take charge of their own health care. The co-author of Journeys in Cancerland with John-Peter Bradford, Newman, 67, is a psychiatric social worker who has spent much of her career working in hospitals.

Read the full article here.

Globe and Mail: New CMA president, A view shaped by best and worst of care

ANDRE PICARD - It is essential that the health care system be transformed to put the needs of patients and their families ahead of those of providers, the new president of the Canadian Medical Association says.

In this article, PAC president Sholom Glouberman argues for greater patient representation and, “If you’re going to improve the patient experience, you have to look at things from the patient’s point of view."

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HealthyDebate: How ‘Public’ Are Hospital Performance Ratings?

Although there is lots of talk about making measures of health system performance available to the public, the reality often falls short of the aspirations. Not only are these measures often difficult for public users to understand and access; evidence suggests that they have little impact.

Read the full article here.

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Toronto Star: Comic books have something to teach future Doctors

Stephanie Findlay: In addition to the stalwart Manual of Clinical Oncology, medical students may soon see the comic book Cancer Vixen: A True Story on their required reading list.

Researchers at the University of Toronto are using graphic novels as a teaching tool to communicate the ethical and emotional complexities of illness, disease and trauma to medical students. Read the full article here.