TARA PARKER-POPE -- The physician blogger known as Dr. D, from the “Ask an M.D.†blog, writes about doctor and patient issues “from the doctor side of the equation,†as he puts it. But after recently suffering a severe leg break, he wrote about medical care from the patient’s point of view.
His conclusion: Being the patient is the hardest job in medicine.
Anthony Cirillo, August 2, 2011 -- Did you catch the Duke University's Fuqua School of Business study that compared patient satisfaction surveys with clinical performance measures to see which is a better gauge of clinical quality?
Researchers measured 30-day readmission rates at roughly 2,500 hospitals and found that patient satisfaction scores were more closely linked with fewer 30-day readmissions than clinical performance measures.
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The Patient Navigator is a column that answers reader questions on how to navigate our health-care system. This article was written by Lisa Priest.
The question: I’m in treatment for early-stage breast cancer. When it’s done, I’ll be sent to my general practitioner, whom I have little faith in. I’ve had excellent, patient-focused care from medical staff treating my cancer. Should I find a new doctor or stick with this one who, for better or worse, at least knows my history?
(As published in the Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice January 2011)
Read this article to understand why "An Effective Patient Voice Needs Organizational Support" and "The Deeper Historical Reason for a Patients’ Association."
Here Sholom Glouberman expands on why the 1900s modern acute care hospital was so successful but why it now needs modernization.
Andre Picard, TORONTO - If you gave so-called “ordinary Canadians†the opportunity to have a thoughtful, informed discussion about the state of health care and asked them for recommendations on how to sustain and improve the system, what exactly would they come up with?
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Canada, a giant accounting and consultancy firm, decided to find out. They created a “Citizens Reference Panel†of 28 representative Ontarians, gave them some basic information and technical support, and sat back and watched.
Elliot Ferguson, KINGSTON - Canada's medical system needs to start listening to the people it exists to serve, said a Toronto-based philosopher. "Until now, everybody else has been speaking for the patients. The patient hasn't been at the table,"said Dr. Sholom Glouberman, co-founder of the Patients' Association of Canada, Monday night in Kingston.
"Our mission is to enhance the voice of the patients," he said. The Patients' Association was established to represent patients and share their experiences with medical professionals, researchers and policy makers.
Public outrage was mounting over dozens of deaths and illnesses linked to superbug C. difficile, and politicians and health officials were under fire for failing to act sooner to contain deadly outbreaks.
That was back in 2008, when hospitals across Ontario were either struggling to contain the spread of the superbug or manage the fallout from recent disease outbreaks. But it could just as easily be today, as at least seven hospitals across the province continue to battle C. difficile outbreaks.