CARP - A New Vision of Aging for Canada: "Ontario Budget 2009: No Major Gains in Healthcare
There are no major healthcare gains for older Canadians in this budget. $223 million of the 1.1 billion already set aside for the Aging at Home Strategy will be spent in 2009-10. This spending represents an increase from the $94 million spent in 2008-09. The money will be administered by the Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) and is meant to also provide an integrated continuum of community-based services, home care services as well as caregiver support. Because service plans are to be determined by the LHINs according to local need, they will vary across jurisdictions.
Answers to the question of how exactly the LHINs will deliver these services have been nebulous at best and there is yet to be a comprehensive report to explain how the LHINs propose to spend the money. CARP hopes that the LHINs will provide an interim report before the money has been spent. The Aging at Home Strategy is one of the initiatives the province is using to shorten ER wait times. CARP has argued that wait times should not be shortened at the expense of ‘alternate level of care’ patients (ALC). These post-acute patients are often sent to other health care facilities to shorten ER wait times. According to Judith Wahl, executive director Advocacy Centre for the Elderly: “ALC patients are quite often not ready to return home. Their needs are such that they are unable to function on their own, and need rehabilitation and more comprehensive care then families are often able to provide.” These patients are sometimes being forced to take placement in a (LTC) facility, sometimes many miles away from their friends and/or family, and in some instances, are being pushed into private retirement homes.
The budget states there will be"
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Lhin, CKHA 'Raping' Sydenham Hospital - Chatham Daily News - Ontario, CA
http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1497548
Sir:Over the years, I have been privileged to work with many outstanding
gifted people. The individuals whom I admired the most were from
Wallaceburg and surrounding area.
H. W. Burgess was the driving force to build a hospital in Wallaceburg
to serve the population of our area and Walpole Island.
Mr. Burgesswasa renowned and successful businessman who gathered the
capital and volunteer labour to build our hospital.
He was the first chairman of the board of directors.
Next was Wilfred Webber who owned a farm just west of Wallaceburg in
Chatham Gore Township.
He almost lived on the site while the construction of the hospital took
place.
Don Benn was the third chairman, a well-known businessman of Wallaceburg
and owner of Benn Iron Foundry.
Malcolm Crawford was a farmer, owning property in Dover Township and
area. Al Cousins, a Wallaceburg businessman was next.
Then came Dean MacDonald, a Wallaceburg businessman and owner of Mac
Construction, Elric Construction, etc.; Dean Ewing, a farmer in Chatham
Township and Chatham Gore; Tom McGregor a lawyer with a home in Chatham
Township; Jackie Dalgety, a successful businesswomen; and Peggy
Lombombard, a high school teacher and granddaughter of H. W. Burgess.
There were so many board members over the years I cannot list them all.
Their heart, and dedication to the Sydenham District Hospital were
unlimited. They were not paid money for their positions; their reward
was to see the hospital grow and expand to be successful in service of
health to all the people of Wallaceburg, Walpole Island and area.
Having been on the board of directors for several years, I look back
with pride and thank those who not only donated money, but volunteered
their time and energy. For more than 40 years it was a family --
doctors, nurses, staff and board members that gave many, many hours of
volunteer work to keep this hospital always in the black. What I enjoyed
the most was the happy felling of being part of the family.
Continued After Advertisement Below
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I have been to the hospital several times in the past two weeks and I do
not get the feeling of family.
I do not see the pictures of the past chairmen or directors, or plaques
of the donators and the volunteers.
Frank Martin, with donated supplies, built the beautiful gazebo out
front.
There are so many people who donated money, time and supplies to the
Sydenham District Hospital.
I am proud of Jeff Wesley for his fighting stance on what is happening
to the Sydenham District Hospital.
I am also proud of Chief Joe Gilbert protecting Walpole First Nation and
the citizens of our area.
We need more men of their calibre to lead the masses.
To sit back and watch the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance and the LHIN rape
our hospital and tear our family apart is a crime.
The LHIN is a buffer for the minister of health and the premier.
When things go wrong the LHIN will get the blame and the minister and
his office will offer their regrets.
We have a beautiful country that is being taken over by bureaucrats on
every level; municipal, provincial and federal. We are complacent, but
someday people will say enough is enough and rebel.
We are losing our rural control to Toronto. I cannot understand how a
board of Torontonians can tell us what is best for our area.
Stand alongside Jeff Wesley and Chief Gilbert and save our Sydenham
hospital!
To see the hard work, dedication and donations over the years being
destroyed by the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance and the LHIN is not only
depressing, but disgusting. When Jeff Wesley and Chief Joseph Gilbert
call on you for help, please support them immediately!
Speaking of help, where are our members of our federal and provincial
Parliament?
They should be alongside Chief Joseph Gilbert, Jeff Wesley and the
community-minded citizens who are fighting for the health and safety of
Wallaceburg, Walpole Island and surrounding area.
-- Rex Crawford Dover
Parsons uses FOI to obtain information - Chatham Daily News - Ontario, CA
http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1497544
Parsons uses FOI to obtain information Posted By ERICA BAJER, THE DAILY
NEWS
A Wallaceburg councillor is using the province's Freedom of Information
legislation to try and access a report on the physical condition of the
Sydenham hospital.
Sheldon Parsons handed an FOI request to Erie St. Clair Local Health
Integration Network CEO Gary Switzer yesterday.
Switzer said the LHIN doesn't have a copy of the 2005 infrastructure
study compiled by Stantec Consulting. However, he plans to forward the
FOI request to the Ministry of Health and Long-term Care.
Parsons didn't hand CKHA the FOI request, because hospitals are exempt
from the legislation.
"We believe that you have the authority to get it," Parsons told
Switzer. "We believe it was used as background data for the Hay report."
The councillor said Chatham- Kent Health Alliance has denied requests
from the Save Our Sydenham committee to hand over the full report.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
People are fighting to save their care system -Chatham-Kent
SOS seeks full report
HEALTH CARE: Wants report before Friday's meeting
Posted By TREVOR TERFLOTH, THE DAILY NEWS
Save Our Sydenham members want the full story on the physical condition of the Wallaceburg hospital.
The group requested a 2005 infrastructure study commissioned by the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance from Stantec Consulting.
However, CKHA CEO Ken Tremblay had denied the full report to SOS, saying a Powerpoint summary was already given to them.
SOS chairman Jeff Wesley said the group needs the information to prepare for Friday's public meeting with the Erie St. Clair Local Health Integration Network in Wallaceburg.
"We're a grassroots organization. We don't have paid staff," he said. "They've asked us for solutions -- we want to give them solutions."
Earlier this year, the LHIN received a report that recommended the closure of the Sydenham Campus emergency department.
Wallaceburg Coun. Sheldon Parsons criticized Tremblay and the hospital on the council floor during Monday's meeting, saying SOS deserved to have the Stantec information.
Yesterday, Parsons said it was his understanding that one copy of the report would be released to Rob Browning, the municipality's chief administrative officer.
As of yesterday afternoon, the councillor was still waiting for the report. He was unsure of the timeframe for its release.
"They've authorized a copy," Parsons said. "I'm going to be allowed to look at it."
Tremblay couldn't be reached for immediate comment.
four-year-old Stantec report, but hadn't seen it personally.
He gave an update on the emergency department issue at the LHIN board yesterday and said the public is providing much feedback.
Some concerns raised include rural availability of care, patient transportation and travel time.
"They're very, very valid concerns," Ganter said.
The Hay Group had recommended the Sydenham Campus become an urgent-care centre.
Ganter said the LHIN is still collecting information and also speaking with officials from such a facility in British Columbia.
"We want to understand what the pros and cons are," he said.
Friday's community meeting will take place at 7 p. m. at Wallaceburg District Secondary School.
Presentations will be made and the community will have the opportunity to share their views about the Hay Group's report.
"Comment - good for the SOS citizen group for trying to get an accounting of their public money and save their hospital and care system . The customer is King- it is good to see a demonstration of this new principle. Don't except the standard excuses for bad service or bad public decisions " Q-J--
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Solution: Pilot proposal to improve the Ontario Health Care system
Proposal for Pilot Scale Modifications to the Ontario Healthcare System
Executive Summary
The Ontario healthcare system is in need of an overhaul. Not only are costs skyrocketing, but also the public perceives that the treatment of patients is critically ill with unacceptable waiting times. Real and needed procedures are being cut while the administrative costs of the system continue to escalate unabated.
The last two statements are keys to the puzzle. In the Brantford health catchments basin, The recent removal of beds from the Willett Hospital in Paris is a prime example. These beds have allowed the Brantford General Hospital an additional $10 million without doing anything to reduce waiting times or improve patient care. A full-fledged hospital is turned into a glorified office building. The LHIN has consequently approved a new CHC building to reduce waiting times after 2 local care facilities have been decommissioned. These are indications that the system has been bureaucratized; with internal patient delivery standards compromised and that a total collapse of the system could be imminent. The present system is financially unsustainable, the golden age of health has become tarnished with limited service, that is very expensive and that is not user friendly.
Healthcare is too critical a service to be allowed to collapse. The system needs major corrective surgery to survive. To date, successive governments appear to be "tinkering" with solutions that have little apparent positive impact to the patient or caregiver. What this means is more of same with large infusions of cash and absolutely no real improvement. The Supreme Court has deemed that Healthcare is a Section 7 Charter of Rights issue. This means that an "out of the box solution is required – sooner rather than later.
The Ontario Government is now in a bind. If delays in service provision cause damage or death, the Supreme Court's decision could put the government in the crosshairs of litigation. This proposal can form the basis of a "due diligence" defense. The government can also legitimately claim that they are trying something new and different in Ontario – something that has worked in Europe and which has a good chance of working here. It is a no-lose option.
What follows is an out of the box solution. This is somewhat similar to what the Swedish public health used to be, before it was radically reformed and competitively re-invented. Add to that some innovative revenue streams, and we may have options for the government to allow them to extricate themselves from a situation that has been brewing for 15 to 20 years.
There must be radical surgery for the business of providing healthcare systems. We can no longer afford to have unimaginative and ill-conceived tinkering. We need full blown, out of the box solutions for the system to avoid implosion and collapse.
Let us consider healthcare as a business for a moment. If a business is alienating and not delivering services to its customers, and its costs are soaring, there are really two solutions - let it die, which is not an option, or restructure and re-invent it to deliver better service. What are the reality pill options?
We propose to expand the customer and revenue base to allow the system to breathe again. To date, expanding the system revenue base has meant that the government has to cough up more public "taxpayer" money. This solution means that the people have to pay and that the administrative bureaucracy expands to "take care of" the investment, particularly at the provincial level. The spending priorities are obviously misaligned.
Our proposed solution involves a reduction in the bureaucracy. It also involves a reduction in government involvement. What would happen if healthcare became a profit centre instead of a cost centre, or an increasing sinkhole for public money? "Private Healthcare", screams the bureaucrat. No, it is just an opportunity to make money by providing service for non-Ontarians in the worldwide market place. Medical tourism is a proven and accepted practise
Executive Summary
The Ontario healthcare system is in need of an overhaul. Not only are costs skyrocketing, but also the public perceives that the treatment of patients is critically ill with unacceptable waiting times. Real and needed procedures are being cut while the administrative costs of the system continue to escalate unabated.
The last two statements are keys to the puzzle. In the Brantford health catchments basin, The recent removal of beds from the Willett Hospital in Paris is a prime example. These beds have allowed the Brantford General Hospital an additional $10 million without doing anything to reduce waiting times or improve patient care. A full-fledged hospital is turned into a glorified office building. The LHIN has consequently approved a new CHC building to reduce waiting times after 2 local care facilities have been decommissioned. These are indications that the system has been bureaucratized; with internal patient delivery standards compromised and that a total collapse of the system could be imminent. The present system is financially unsustainable, the golden age of health has become tarnished with limited service, that is very expensive and that is not user friendly.
Healthcare is too critical a service to be allowed to collapse. The system needs major corrective surgery to survive. To date, successive governments appear to be "tinkering" with solutions that have little apparent positive impact to the patient or caregiver. What this means is more of same with large infusions of cash and absolutely no real improvement. The Supreme Court has deemed that Healthcare is a Section 7 Charter of Rights issue. This means that an "out of the box solution is required – sooner rather than later.
The Ontario Government is now in a bind. If delays in service provision cause damage or death, the Supreme Court's decision could put the government in the crosshairs of litigation. This proposal can form the basis of a "due diligence" defense. The government can also legitimately claim that they are trying something new and different in Ontario – something that has worked in Europe and which has a good chance of working here. It is a no-lose option.
What follows is an out of the box solution. This is somewhat similar to what the Swedish public health used to be, before it was radically reformed and competitively re-invented. Add to that some innovative revenue streams, and we may have options for the government to allow them to extricate themselves from a situation that has been brewing for 15 to 20 years.
There must be radical surgery for the business of providing healthcare systems. We can no longer afford to have unimaginative and ill-conceived tinkering. We need full blown, out of the box solutions for the system to avoid implosion and collapse.
Let us consider healthcare as a business for a moment. If a business is alienating and not delivering services to its customers, and its costs are soaring, there are really two solutions - let it die, which is not an option, or restructure and re-invent it to deliver better service. What are the reality pill options?
We propose to expand the customer and revenue base to allow the system to breathe again. To date, expanding the system revenue base has meant that the government has to cough up more public "taxpayer" money. This solution means that the people have to pay and that the administrative bureaucracy expands to "take care of" the investment, particularly at the provincial level. The spending priorities are obviously misaligned.
Our proposed solution involves a reduction in the bureaucracy. It also involves a reduction in government involvement. What would happen if healthcare became a profit centre instead of a cost centre, or an increasing sinkhole for public money? "Private Healthcare", screams the bureaucrat. No, it is just an opportunity to make money by providing service for non-Ontarians in the worldwide market place. Medical tourism is a proven and accepted practise
"Last year Canadians spent $172 billion a year up from $79 billi0n in 1997. What accounts for these increases and how can Canadians receive better value for money? This proposal could be part of the solution." QJ
S. Holle BS MBA
backtoeden.ontario@gmail.com
http://www.backtoeden.bravehost.com/
"Building elder peer communities that are cozy,caring and comfortable" -quality 24/7 care
Monday, March 23, 2009
How to turn the tables on taxpayer ripoffs in self defense
Canadian Healthcare -a free service or ride for whom?
How do we turn the tables on
There's no question that the healthcare industry is
The healthcare system is primarily set up to benefit the drug companies- the insurance companies- and the countless middlemen who have weaseled their way into the system. It is a big business where the customer is manipulated for special agendas that have little to do with providing good , timely, cost effective care to those that need the health service
A report by the independent consultancy firm, Milliman & Robertson, Inc., reports that as many as 60% of all surgeries performed in the
· Kickbacks and referral fees are common .The practice for illegally marketing drugs, for ailments they never even meant to treat is common.
o It is common to prescribe drugs and tests that were absolutely worthless
· I've seen older folks literally die because of incompetent medical treatment
· I've seen insurance companies cheat policyholders
· I've seen the Ministry of Health cheat policyholders and taxpayers by denying service, denying care service in a timely manner, and promoting higher cost products and services at the expense of lower cost better care alternatives
· I’ve seen regulated or “over regulated “care in its worse case nightmare scenario
o Over inflated health cost paid or 'over paid' by the taxpayer
§ 28$ /km legislated transportation costs
§ 1500 $/day shared room rates
§ Obscene drug charges- 1700$ plus for drops of medicine administered in less then 5 minutes
The list goes on and on. That's incredible, isn't it? This is not a pretty reality picture nor the public spin and information regularly promoted by the people who have a hand in your care pocket and are feeding from the public trough. It is time to realize that if you are an American or Canadian over the age of 40, you are almost certainly being ripped off by the healthcare system.
I'm here to tell you today that you don't have to take it anymore. Get involved and take your care system back and reduce the waste of this critical industry.
Rip-off one -Healthcare
Last year Canadians spent $172 billion a year on health care, up from $79 billion in 1997. What accounts for these increases in spending and how can Canadians receive better value for their Healthcare dollars? Did you know that the average annual health cost for a average family of three is estimated to be $18, 000. Or that the average cost of common drugs is:
§ Cancer – 80K? Sight - 15 K? Other -?
A system that instead of just foolishly risking people’s money also risks peoples lives
Rip-off two- Cost of ownership increasing
Real estate prices are dropping but real estate taxes are sky rocketing and costs of ownership are increasing –with new ridiculous regulated fees, higher energy costs, higher finance charges.
Rip-off three- Government administration cost waste You overpay your taxes to the most wasteful multi-tiered government in the world. Thousands of dollars could be saved with a wiser use of resources Rip-off four- Government self-entitlement programs The financial markets are down by 50% over last year. Yet government entitlement programs, bonuses pay millions to administrators, and government employees at the expense of the existing competitive market reality. A market corruption factor that must be addressed. Do something about it – be heard If you are sick of the waste, the endless self serving talk, if you believe that institutions (such as government , finance, health just to name a few) should be accountable to you - the customers on main street, you must do something about it. If you are tired of getting ripped off by the institutions that are supposedly there to serve you but don’t or are tired of watching the government flush away the value of your savings and assets ……. and if you are tired of everyone trying to get their hands on your money, by proclaiming to do so “in your best interests” you should do something about it If you are tired of the hypocrisy, greed and want to re-build the respect and a return to fairness in our institutions -you should promote and stand for basic operating principles and common sense Join the Taxpayers Coalitions – we care as you do in the wise use of our resources – contact respondfeedbacknow@yahoo.ca |
Friday, March 20, 2009
Patient transfer a $700 regulated waste of limited resources?
A discusting waste exposed by Christina Blizzard
Patient transfers an area for savings
A recently released study on ambulance transfers provides an interesting glimpse into a shocking hidden cost of health care.
Fully-equipped ambulances, staffed by trained EMS paramedics, are increasingly being used as an expensive form of health buses to transport patients to non-urgent care.
That's according to a study by University of Toronto researchers, who found that of the approximately 400,000 patient transfers each year, just over 80% are non-urgent, routine patient transfers.
"Primarily, these are for physician appointments, dialysis or returning to the facility they came from or home," said lead researcher Victoria Robinson in an interview.
Large urban areas can sometimes control transfer costs by using private transportation companies.
Those simply don't exist everywhere, so smaller towns and cities, northern and rural areas depend on ambulances for transfers.
"This practice diverts resources from more emergent requests," the study finds.
One of the outcomes of hospital restructuring that occurred in the 1990s is that patients no longer get one-stop shopping when they're hospitalized. One in three patients admitted to hospital has to be transferred elsewhere for treatment.
"Every day in Ontario there are approximately 3,000 hospital admissions. It is now up to 1,375 patient transfers," Robinson said. She estimates the average cost of a transfer at a staggering $700.
Patient transfers overall are costing the health-care system more than $280 million annually.
"The results call into question the use of sophisticated, highly-trained, expensive patient transfer resources to provide routine medical services in Ontario," says the report.
EMS service is provincially mandated and regulated, but is administered locally.
The researchers were able to track statistics because of changes to the transfer system that happened during the SARS outbreak of 2003. In the GTA, SARS was in part transmitted by inter-facility patient transfer.
During SARS, the old way of one hospital calling another to set up a transfer ended and a new system that screens for infectious diseases was implemented. No transfer can take place without authorization. A transfer often occurs when a patient arrives at an ER suffering from a condition that hospital isn't equipped to handle. Or, frequently, patients are transferred between hospitals for services such as dialysis -- often as many as three times a week.
While 70% of all transfers are within a 25-kilometre distance, some are longer. Those involving pregnant women and newborn babies require travelling a median of 40.3 km for re.
"The problems with transfers in general is that they are lower priority," Robinson said.
"A 911 call will always take priority.
"An emergency transfer is going to take priority over a non-urgent transfer, and a non-urgent transfer could be that dialysis appointment.
"Even though that is non-urgent, to that patient, they have to get that care and if it is delayed it's going to have an impact on their care," she said.
Clearly any system that is costing taxpayers $700 for patient transportation that could easily be handled by a taxi is unsustainable.
Let's see now: An average trip of 25 km costs us around $700. That works out to around $28 per km. At least you don't have to tip the paramedics.
Still, there has to be a cheaper and more effective way.
As health care becomes more regionalized and hospitals start to specialize in cancer care, cardiac, pediatric care and so on, this province will have to find a cheaper, more sensible way to move patients around.
Health spending watch group
backtoeden.ontario@gmail.com
http://www.backtoeden.bravehost.com/
"Building elder peer communities that are cozy,caring and comfortable" -quality 24/7 care
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Happy St Patrick's day- how goes the performance accountability war?
a little irish humour for you
Happy Saint Patrick's Day.
On or about 420 A.D., a Christian missionary supposedly rid Ireland of snakes. Ever since then, those of Irish decent – and those who just want to drink like they are – have celebrated this event by feasting on corn beef and cabbage, slamming down steins of green beers chased by shots of Glen Livet, and tossing buckets of green food coloring into the Grand River.
While Ireland remains free of snakes today, the MOH and the Brantford Site,and CCAC is slithering with them. But Saint Patrick is nowhere to be found. So our political leaders have decided the best way to get rid of the little snakes on the Canadian health Street is to send in bigger LHIN snakes from Toronto to Brantford after 4 years of extensive consultation and study .This is fondly known medically as the HCH maneuver.
Nothing good can come from this if not customer controlled.
After all, once you throw a few snakes together, it doesn't take long before they create a whole colony-the golden CHC health administrators colony. The gestation period for most snakes is about 60 days. So I'm guessing we have until the beginning of summer before the next generation of venomous reptiles strikes at the local health market. Sorry private options and real solutions are not permitted but public input is .
Who wouldn't drink a green beer for that? Cheers S
--
backtoeden.ontario@gmail.com
www.backtoeden.bravehost.com
"Building elder peer communities that are cozy,caring and comfortable" -quality 24/7 care
Where is the most government control - Communist China or the USA?
An interesting - and hilarious - take on China/U.S. relations Tuesday, March 17, 2009 from the S&A Digest:
Today the federal budget accounts for nearly 30% of GDP - the most since WWII. Add in the highly regulated and highly subsidized health care industry and you've got the government in control of nearly half the economy. Now add in the banking system - which couldn't exist without the FDIC, which would already be insolvent without the backing of Congress. Now add in the insurance industry, which will surely collapse next. Now add in all the state governments' spending and employees.
Most Americans don't understand: The government is now running most of the economy, by a wide margin. And who keeps the government afloat? The Chinese.
Think about that for a little while... The so-called "Communist" Chinese, whose government makes up about 10% of China's GDP and who control the No. 1 freest city in the world (Hong Kong), are now paying for the most government-controlled economy in the world - the so-called "land of the free."
Central planning did not work in the USSR- the top down management and funding from the central committee model was flawed because it did not provide products and services to diverse market segments or the grassroots effectively. Competition, and more de-centralized market choice improved conditions in Russia. Is there a lesson here for the entrenched Ministry of Health and Long Term planning -an organization that dictates market conditions and is a protected public health service monopoly? QJ
Today the federal budget accounts for nearly 30% of GDP - the most since WWII. Add in the highly regulated and highly subsidized health care industry and you've got the government in control of nearly half the economy. Now add in the banking system - which couldn't exist without the FDIC, which would already be insolvent without the backing of Congress. Now add in the insurance industry, which will surely collapse next. Now add in all the state governments' spending and employees.
Most Americans don't understand: The government is now running most of the economy, by a wide margin. And who keeps the government afloat? The Chinese.
Think about that for a little while... The so-called "Communist" Chinese, whose government makes up about 10% of China's GDP and who control the No. 1 freest city in the world (Hong Kong), are now paying for the most government-controlled economy in the world - the so-called "land of the free."
Central planning did not work in the USSR- the top down management and funding from the central committee model was flawed because it did not provide products and services to diverse market segments or the grassroots effectively. Competition, and more de-centralized market choice improved conditions in Russia. Is there a lesson here for the entrenched Ministry of Health and Long Term planning -an organization that dictates market conditions and is a protected public health service monopoly? QJ
Friday, March 13, 2009
Stop talking -help caregivers
CARP to Governments: Caregivers Already Overburdened
CARP has been pressing governments to recognize the tough challenges faced by informal caregivers. We were asked to comment on a Ministry of Health and Long Term Care research and consultation paper outlining the strategic avenues governments might explore to ensure that caregivers in 2033 are better supported than they are today. CARP welcomes the initiative; Caring About Caregivers: Policy Implications of Long Range Scenario Planning is an exhaustive paper that proposes innovative solutions and makes a compelling case for supporting informal caregivers. So why put off until tomorrow, much less to 2033, what we SHOULD already be doing today? advocacy@carp.ca
"You have to agree with this message and if you do sign the Carp petition . " Here are some facts
By 2031 the number of older adults requiring formal or informal assistance will have increased by 200%, currently;
Today only 7% of older adults are in institutionalized settings.
However, it is imperative that this not divert our focus away from the need to help caregivers today, in 2009.
CARP has been pressing governments to recognize the tough challenges faced by informal caregivers. We were asked to comment on a Ministry of Health and Long Term Care research and consultation paper outlining the strategic avenues governments might explore to ensure that caregivers in 2033 are better supported than they are today. CARP welcomes the initiative; Caring About Caregivers: Policy Implications of Long Range Scenario Planning is an exhaustive paper that proposes innovative solutions and makes a compelling case for supporting informal caregivers. So why put off until tomorrow, much less to 2033, what we SHOULD already be doing today? advocacy@carp.ca
"You have to agree with this message and if you do sign the Carp petition . " Here are some facts
By 2031 the number of older adults requiring formal or informal assistance will have increased by 200%, currently;
Today only 7% of older adults are in institutionalized settings.
However, it is imperative that this not divert our focus away from the need to help caregivers today, in 2009.
- There are currently 5 million Canadians who provide care to family members or friends, many of them face heavy levels of burden and cannot cope. Family caregivers today are already absorbing an ever-increasing part of health care costs and contributing hundreds of millions of hours of unpaid labour.
- In 1999, an economic assessment of family caregivers valued their work at $5 billion dollars per year but today, their labour could be worth as much as $12.3 billion per year!
- A quarter (26%) of Canadians reported they had cared for a family member or close friend with a serious health problem in last 12 months.
- Of these caregivers, 22% took upwards of one month off work and 41% used personal savings.
- As a result of their work almost 8 in 10 caregivers report suffering emotional difficulties, 7 out of 10 reported they needed respite, 54% reported financial difficulties and 50% reported weaker physical health.
We should be asking what the government is doing with our health money . Private caregivers are subsidising the public care system . Where is the value for money or the fairness in this? This is a clear case of elder abuse and caregiver abuse by the Ministry . Stop this outrage and waste of your money -sign the petition QJ
Saturday, March 07, 2009
New Ideas for American Healthcare
New Ideas for American Healthcare
It's easier to criticize what's wrong than to figure out how to solve just about any problem -- let alone one as massive and messy as our healthcare system. So, it seemed a pretty good idea when President Obama's Health Policy Transition Team asked for input on how to heal our sick system -- urging everyone with ideas or interest in the topic to host grassroots sessions in their own communities. Thousands of people in all 50 states volunteered. James Gordon, MD, former chairman, White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy, and founder and director of The Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington, DC, was among those who accepted the challenge."
Prevention must become the new primary care. Dr. Gordon said this means that the "true primary care" should be a focus on wellness through the use of nutrition, exercise, stress management and mind-body approaches before resorting to symptom-suppressing tactics like drugs and surgery. As one participant, a mother of three, put it, "breathing, moving, learning how to shop [for healthy products]" should be mandated as primary care. With better wellness strategies, the cost of illness management naturally declines.
Retraining... for everyone. The group recommended lots of role-shifting and retraining in integrative approaches to healthcare in order to change the paradigm from disease-focused to wellness and prevention. They also recommended adopting a view of healthcare that combines treatment modalities for better outcomes. "Nothing will change if people remain stuck in the old model that no longer works," Dr. Gordon told me. "Surgeons ought to understand the role of self-care and group support -- people will always need surgery, but we also need to emphasize how to prepare for surgery... and how to recover in a more healthful way."
Mitigate the influence of profiteers, most notably pharmaceutical companies. The group supports banning direct-to-consumer drug advertising.
Free education, strings attached. A plan for transforming the system for the selection and education of health professionals should emphasize ideals, not economics, a "primary devotion to science in the service of people, to patients, not profits," said Dr. Gordon. The group proposes free education for healthcare professionals -- and in return, requiring compulsory public service from all physicians, nurses and other health professionals.
Change starts with children. The Department of Education should become a central agency in health promotion and disease prevention, teaching kids how to be healthy. Dr. Gordon pointed out that at present, health education to children is "largely negative -- don't smoke, don't drink, don't have sex -- and largely ineffective." Parents' responsibility to act as good role models should be reinforced.
Stop the malpractice insanity. We need a new "sane alternative to the current overpriced, counterproductive, indeed destructive system of malpractice insurance." The group proposed a national fund to fairly compensate patients in a way similar to workmen's compensation. "The practice of defensive medicine has been destructive to the delivery of quality healthcare," Dr. Gordon said.
Write a new research agenda. Expenditures for medical research should be reallocated to serve different priorities -- the budget should set an agenda for true health, rather than one that advances profit potential. Specifically, the group recommended that the $30 billion-plus budget of the National Institutes of Health be reconfigured, dedicating approximately 20% to studying the effectiveness of prevention, self-care and wellness... 20% shifted away from the single-intervention studies that now predominate and toward the study of comprehensive, integrative and individualized programs of care (e.g., mind-body therapies, nutrition and exercise interventions for arthritis and heart disease) for the chronic illnesses that beset our population (and consume healthcare dollars)... and 10% allocated to single-intervention studies for research on non-patentable approaches, such as herbal remedies and musculoskeletal manipulation. The remaining 50% would be spent, as it is now, on basic science research and the study of single interventions.
Aim higher. Healthcare should be envisioned as promoting personal, emotional, social and spiritual fulfillment -- programs should be designed to manifest this perspective.
Hire a boss. Dr. Gordon told me he believes this last recommendation is particularly urgent, and will facilitate all the others and help ensure their sustainability. A small, but powerful agency, a White House Office of Health and Wellness, should be established to ensure the government continues to respond to the ongoing and changing health needs of Americans. The mandate would be to enforce accountability of governmental bureaucracies to a vision of real healthcare for all Americans.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
As the discussion moves into legislation, with debates already underway on what specifically needs to change about our current system, it presents an opportunity to get things right. You may agree with these ideas or not... you may have heard other plans you think are better... or you may have ideas of your own you believe strongly in. Now is the time to speak up. If you like these ideas, Dr. Gordon asked me to ask you -- readers of Daily Health News -- to pass them along to President Obama (1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20500 or at www.whitehouse.gov/contact or by fax at 202-456-2461) and to Ezekiel Emanuel, MD, PhD, special advisor for health policy to the director of the Office of Management and Budget at eemanuel@omb.eop.gov or at www.fedspending.org/contact.php or fax at 202-395-1005. You can also contact Senator Tom Harkin at harkin.senate.gov/c/ and Senator Barbara A. Mikulski at mikulski.senate.gov/Contact/contact.cfm. He also asked that you forward him a copy of your communications at jgordon@cmbm.org. "If even half the people who read this do something, we can make change happen," he said
This US approach has equal merit in Camada and the world-QJ
its broken -lets fix it
It's easier to criticize what's wrong than to figure out how to solve just about any problem -- let alone one as massive and messy as our healthcare system. So, it seemed a pretty good idea when President Obama's Health Policy Transition Team asked for input on how to heal our sick system -- urging everyone with ideas or interest in the topic to host grassroots sessions in their own communities. Thousands of people in all 50 states volunteered. James Gordon, MD, former chairman, White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy, and founder and director of The Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington, DC, was among those who accepted the challenge."
Prevention must become the new primary care. Dr. Gordon said this means that the "true primary care" should be a focus on wellness through the use of nutrition, exercise, stress management and mind-body approaches before resorting to symptom-suppressing tactics like drugs and surgery. As one participant, a mother of three, put it, "breathing, moving, learning how to shop [for healthy products]" should be mandated as primary care. With better wellness strategies, the cost of illness management naturally declines.
Retraining... for everyone. The group recommended lots of role-shifting and retraining in integrative approaches to healthcare in order to change the paradigm from disease-focused to wellness and prevention. They also recommended adopting a view of healthcare that combines treatment modalities for better outcomes. "Nothing will change if people remain stuck in the old model that no longer works," Dr. Gordon told me. "Surgeons ought to understand the role of self-care and group support -- people will always need surgery, but we also need to emphasize how to prepare for surgery... and how to recover in a more healthful way."
Mitigate the influence of profiteers, most notably pharmaceutical companies. The group supports banning direct-to-consumer drug advertising.
Free education, strings attached. A plan for transforming the system for the selection and education of health professionals should emphasize ideals, not economics, a "primary devotion to science in the service of people, to patients, not profits," said Dr. Gordon. The group proposes free education for healthcare professionals -- and in return, requiring compulsory public service from all physicians, nurses and other health professionals.
Change starts with children. The Department of Education should become a central agency in health promotion and disease prevention, teaching kids how to be healthy. Dr. Gordon pointed out that at present, health education to children is "largely negative -- don't smoke, don't drink, don't have sex -- and largely ineffective." Parents' responsibility to act as good role models should be reinforced.
Stop the malpractice insanity. We need a new "sane alternative to the current overpriced, counterproductive, indeed destructive system of malpractice insurance." The group proposed a national fund to fairly compensate patients in a way similar to workmen's compensation. "The practice of defensive medicine has been destructive to the delivery of quality healthcare," Dr. Gordon said.
Write a new research agenda. Expenditures for medical research should be reallocated to serve different priorities -- the budget should set an agenda for true health, rather than one that advances profit potential. Specifically, the group recommended that the $30 billion-plus budget of the National Institutes of Health be reconfigured, dedicating approximately 20% to studying the effectiveness of prevention, self-care and wellness... 20% shifted away from the single-intervention studies that now predominate and toward the study of comprehensive, integrative and individualized programs of care (e.g., mind-body therapies, nutrition and exercise interventions for arthritis and heart disease) for the chronic illnesses that beset our population (and consume healthcare dollars)... and 10% allocated to single-intervention studies for research on non-patentable approaches, such as herbal remedies and musculoskeletal manipulation. The remaining 50% would be spent, as it is now, on basic science research and the study of single interventions.
Aim higher. Healthcare should be envisioned as promoting personal, emotional, social and spiritual fulfillment -- programs should be designed to manifest this perspective.
Hire a boss. Dr. Gordon told me he believes this last recommendation is particularly urgent, and will facilitate all the others and help ensure their sustainability. A small, but powerful agency, a White House Office of Health and Wellness, should be established to ensure the government continues to respond to the ongoing and changing health needs of Americans. The mandate would be to enforce accountability of governmental bureaucracies to a vision of real healthcare for all Americans.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
As the discussion moves into legislation, with debates already underway on what specifically needs to change about our current system, it presents an opportunity to get things right. You may agree with these ideas or not... you may have heard other plans you think are better... or you may have ideas of your own you believe strongly in. Now is the time to speak up. If you like these ideas, Dr. Gordon asked me to ask you -- readers of Daily Health News -- to pass them along to President Obama (1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20500 or at www.whitehouse.gov/contact or by fax at 202-456-2461) and to Ezekiel Emanuel, MD, PhD, special advisor for health policy to the director of the Office of Management and Budget at eemanuel@omb.eop.gov or at www.fedspending.org/contact.php or fax at 202-395-1005. You can also contact Senator Tom Harkin at harkin.senate.gov/c/ and Senator Barbara A. Mikulski at mikulski.senate.gov/Contact/contact.cfm. He also asked that you forward him a copy of your communications at jgordon@cmbm.org. "If even half the people who read this do something, we can make change happen," he said
This US approach has equal merit in Camada and the world-QJ
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Unsustainable Healthcare System Needs Better Value for Money
This is self explainatory -Unsustainable Healthcare System Needs Better Value for Money . Get involved fill out the questionare -QJ
Last year Canadians spent $172 billion a year on health care, up from $79 billion in 1997. What accounts for these increases in spending and how can Canadians receive better value for their Healthcare dollars? That’s a question the Health Council of Canada will be asking Canadians as it launches its Value for Money consultation. The new website, http://www.CanadaValuesHealth.ca
allows Canadians to engage in discussions via blogs, comments and surveys. The Council has published a background paper entitled Value for Money: Making Canadian Health Care Stronger
It’s clear that maintaining the status quo is not an option. Recent reports indicate that we can’t keep allocating a larger and larger share of our budget to health care in order to buy marginal improvements in the system. Those dollars are diverted from other budgets that also contribute to health outcomes. In other words, we run the risk of making society sicker by draining other public spending budgets. And what’s worse, in a recent Frontier Centre for Public Policy/Health Consumer Powerhouse report that evaluated countries from a patient perspective, Canada was ranked last in return on investment. When compared to 29 European countries, we got the least bang for our buck.
“The proposal to assess Value for Money in the Canadian health care system could not have come at a better time. During an economic downturn, escalating health care costs can exert the wrong kind of political pressure – cutbacks or privatization.” Said Susan Eng, CARP VP, Advocacy.
Whereas part of the solution will be to tap into the estimated 30% waste in the system, the discussion will also involve values, and maybe even challenge our assumptions. As Canadians, we are generally very proud of our universal healthcare system, which we consider to be vastly superior to the American for-profit model. But are these really the only terms of the debate? We might perhaps look to some of the more successful European models and see where they have produced better health outcomes. We might also highlight the importance of accountability: when setting benchmarks we also need to consider indicators, measures, and consequences if healthcare goals are not met.
What the Health Council’s report clarifies is that the aging population is not the main cause of ballooning health care costs. Let us dispel this myth once and for all with a breakdown of the numbers: a rise in the use of procedures and services accounts for 48% of spending increases, inflation places second at 27%, population growth accounts for 14% and longer life spans only 11%.
The Health Council is set to report on the results of its facilitated discussion in a few months. “The objective of this consultation isn’t to tell health professionals how to do their job: it’s to design a more coordinated and efficient health care system that embraces what we will collectively define as being of value in health care,” said Eng. Don’t forget to have your say by filling out the CARP E-healthVFM/ Survey
and by visiting the Health Council website at http://www.CanadaValuesHealth.ca
Click here
for an executive summary of the Frontier Centre for Public Policy/Health Consumer Powerhouse Euro-Canadian Healthcare Index report.
Last year Canadians spent $172 billion a year on health care, up from $79 billion in 1997. What accounts for these increases in spending and how can Canadians receive better value for their Healthcare dollars? That’s a question the Health Council of Canada will be asking Canadians as it launches its Value for Money consultation. The new website, http://www.CanadaValuesHealth.ca
allows Canadians to engage in discussions via blogs, comments and surveys. The Council has published a background paper entitled Value for Money: Making Canadian Health Care Stronger
It’s clear that maintaining the status quo is not an option. Recent reports indicate that we can’t keep allocating a larger and larger share of our budget to health care in order to buy marginal improvements in the system. Those dollars are diverted from other budgets that also contribute to health outcomes. In other words, we run the risk of making society sicker by draining other public spending budgets. And what’s worse, in a recent Frontier Centre for Public Policy/Health Consumer Powerhouse report that evaluated countries from a patient perspective, Canada was ranked last in return on investment. When compared to 29 European countries, we got the least bang for our buck.
“The proposal to assess Value for Money in the Canadian health care system could not have come at a better time. During an economic downturn, escalating health care costs can exert the wrong kind of political pressure – cutbacks or privatization.” Said Susan Eng, CARP VP, Advocacy.
Whereas part of the solution will be to tap into the estimated 30% waste in the system, the discussion will also involve values, and maybe even challenge our assumptions. As Canadians, we are generally very proud of our universal healthcare system, which we consider to be vastly superior to the American for-profit model. But are these really the only terms of the debate? We might perhaps look to some of the more successful European models and see where they have produced better health outcomes. We might also highlight the importance of accountability: when setting benchmarks we also need to consider indicators, measures, and consequences if healthcare goals are not met.
What the Health Council’s report clarifies is that the aging population is not the main cause of ballooning health care costs. Let us dispel this myth once and for all with a breakdown of the numbers: a rise in the use of procedures and services accounts for 48% of spending increases, inflation places second at 27%, population growth accounts for 14% and longer life spans only 11%.
The Health Council is set to report on the results of its facilitated discussion in a few months. “The objective of this consultation isn’t to tell health professionals how to do their job: it’s to design a more coordinated and efficient health care system that embraces what we will collectively define as being of value in health care,” said Eng. Don’t forget to have your say by filling out the CARP E-healthVFM/ Survey
and by visiting the Health Council website at http://www.CanadaValuesHealth.ca
Click here
for an executive summary of the Frontier Centre for Public Policy/Health Consumer Powerhouse Euro-Canadian Healthcare Index report.
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