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 America's ultimate rip-off (the HEALTHCARE SYSTEM) and get real results-better medical care and put thousands of extra dollars in your pocket each year by reducing unnecessary public health spending.

There's no question that the healthcare industry is Canada's biggest rip-off. As a professional caregiver with a dozen years inside this industry, I've seen things that would make your head spin.

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 U.S. are unnecessary. Did you know, for example, that in one recent year, according to the nonprofit group Public Citizen, the top 10 pharmaceutical companies in the Fortune 500 had higher profits than the other 490 companies (from all the other industries) combined!

· 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.

What are today‘s common taxpayer rip-offs and beefs?

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

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

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

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.

• 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!

These caregivers are reporting high levels of financial, emotional and health-related stress including lost wages and medical expenses.

• 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

ProActive Rants: Leo Teahen - April 11,1936 -March 6,2009 The casino gunslinger and warrior

ProActive Rants: Leo Teahen - April 11,1936 -March 6,2009 The casino gunslinger and warrior

ProActive Rants: Time for a civil servant wage rollback

ProActive Rants: Time for a civil servant wage rollback

New Ideas for American Healthcare

New Ideas for American Healthcare

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

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.

Nurse practitioner in Branttord

Nurse practitioner is back. This is welcoming news , after a 3 year service gap -where did the money and patients go -we have our nurse pratitioner back to provide a vital and needed service in the underserviced city core. "Panagiotou will work with collaborating physician, Dr. Arash Zohoor, who works at Brantford General Hospital." Welcome back we need you and more like you...... QJ

Serving health core needs By HEATHER IBBOTSON, EXPOSITOR STAFF

The downtown nurse practitioner clinic will be reborn on Monday with the return of nurse practitioner Laurie Panagiotou.

The clinic, operated by Aberdeen Health and Community Services, will run out of 220 Colborne St. in space donated by the city's social services department.

Clinic hours will be 9 a. m. to 5 p. m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Both appointments and walk-ins are accepted. Patients are welcome from the city and county.

"I'm excited. I'm really looking forward to providing what I can to the citizens of Brantford," Panagiotou said in an interview on Wednesday.

Panagiotou, who has been a nurse practitioner since 1999, was beloved by her patients when she staffed the clinic from 2003 to 2006.

The reopened clinic will help "to bridge the gap in the doctor shortage," said Amber Cowan, manager of volunteer services and community development with Aberdeen.

"We're excited to have her back," Cowan said.

The mission of the downtown clinic will be to serve the needs of patients who do not have a family physician, Cowan said.

Nurse practitioners are registered nurses with advanced education and training in primary health care nursing. This expertise allows them to diagnose and treat minor illnesses, conduct pap smears, and order diagnostic tests such as X-rays and ultrasounds. Nurse practitioners may also prescribe certain medications, but no medications or narcotics will be kept on site.

Panagiotou will work with collaborating physician, Dr. Arash Zohoor, who works at Brantford General Hospital.

When Panagiotou is presented with an illness or medical situation outside the scope of her practice, she can consult with Zohoor or transfer the case to him, she said.

The Aberdeen agency originally opened a downtown clinic in 2003 at St. Andrew's Church on Darling Street, but after the January 2006 church blaze, the clinic relocated to the city's social services office on Colborne Street. The clinic operated there, staffed by Panagiotou, until 2006, when she left the post. Another nurse practitioner was recruited, but she too left in mid-2007.

A second nurse practitioner clinic operating out of Slovak Village on Sixth Avenue closed its doors in November 2007.

The closures left hundreds of patients without anywhere to turn.

In 2006, the downtown clinic served between 500 and 700 patients, Panagiotou said.

She said she is eager to reconnect with some of her former clients and meet new ones. "I've had a soft spot for Brantford," she said.

Aberdeen is also planning for growth and a possible second local clinic by participating in the provincial government Grow Your Own Nurse Practitioner Program. A registered nurse is currently being "grown" in the nurse practitioner training program and will be on board with Aberdeen by the end of the year, Cowan said.

Nurse practitioners to head 3 new Ontario clinics

An excellent use of existing skill to solve patient problems and destream the medical gridlock and increase medical capacity - QJ

Nurse Practitioners a solution

Nurse practitioners in Ontario can treat common illnesses and injuries, and order diagnostic tests. (CBC)The Ontario government is going ahead with three new clinics headed by nurse-practitioners, the first of 25 set to open by 2012.

The clinics will focus on primary care, including chronic disease management and health promotion, the Ministry of Health said Friday.

They are intended to fill gaps in primary care, especially the shortage of family doctors.

"Today’s announcement is the answer thousands of people have been waiting for," Wendy Fucile, president of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario, said in a comment posted on the ministry's website.

Nurse practitioners are registered nurses with additional education in health assessment, diagnosis and management of illnesses and injuries.

As well as treating common ailments and injuries, they can order lab tests, X-rays and other diagnostic procedures.

Ontario’s first nurse practitioner-led clinic, which opened in Sudbury in 2007, provides health care to about 2,000 patients, the ministry said. Nurse practitioners are increasingly popular, but still represent a tiny proportion of the nearly 258,000 registered nurses in Canada, the Canadian Institute of Health Information reported in 2007.http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/02/20/nurse-practitioner.html?ref=rss

Between 2003 and 2007, the number of licensed nurse practitioners almost doubled to 1,346, the institute said. Every territory and province except the Yukon Territory had licensed nurse practitioner programs in 2007, it said.

The three new clinics in Ontario will be opened in Belle River, about 30 kilometres east of Windsor, Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay.

Cleared of wrongdoing, cancer expert calls for inquiry

more injustice- Interesting that the system can take such a long time to right a wrong- an inquery is in order so that others do not have to endure the same qj


Last Updated: Friday, February 13, 2009 | 10:23 AM ET
CBC News
A Halifax doctor wrongfully accused of endangering patients is calling for a public inquiry into his 6½-year suspension from practising cancer medicine.

A review board recently cleared Dr. Michael Goodyear of all allegations of wrongdoing.

"The old saying in life is you can't fight city hall. But occasionally Erin Brockovichs come along, and they do," Goodyear told CBC News in his first interview since his vindication.

In 2002, Goodyear was treating cancer patients at the QEII Health Sciences Centre and was a researcher at Dalhousie medical school when a colleague complained about his choice of drugs and therapies.

Goodyear's supervisor filed an official complaint with the hospital, claiming Goodyear was endangering the safety of his patients. The hospital suspended his privileges pending an investigation.

That investigation process was supposed to take 40 days. Instead, it lasted 6½ years.

Goodyear was allowed to keep teaching at Dalhousie, but it was only a fraction of his former duties. His financial problems grew over the years. His house is under the control of a bankruptcy trustee and he sometimes wears hand-me-down clothes from former patients.

Making right choices - Brantford Expositor - Ontario, CA

Making right choices - Brantford Expositor - Ontario, CA: "Making right choices
FINDING A PHYSICIAN: New web page, new hotline launched by provincial ministry
Posted By MAGGIE RIOPELLE, SUN MEDIA

People can now find a health-care provider with the click of a mouse or by dialing the phone. The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Wednesday launched a new webpage at www.ontario.ca/healthcareoptions, as well as its new hotline to find physicians for people without a family doctor -- Health Care Connect -- at 1-800-445-1822.
Premier Dalton McGuinty called the new service a way to connect Ontarians to more health-care options.
'This tool will help Ontarians make the right health-care choices,' McGuinty said on his website.
'The best health-care service may be closer than people think.'"


This sounds terrific and meets the key conditions of allowing clients choice to services that the public pavs for . Technology can make the difference as pointed out in the bedgridlock myth which was busted.( See Gridlock Myth Buster at the Pro-Active Rants blog.} Using technology was recommended. Hopefully there will be no glitchs in its execution- time will only tell - Q_J

Injured man dies after rejection by 14 hospitals - Yahoo! Canada News

Injured man dies after rejection by 14 hospitals - Yahoo! Canada News: "There was also the high-profile death of a pregnant woman in western Nara city in 2006 that prompted the government to establish a panel to look into the hospitals' practice of refusing care.
In that case, the woman was refused admission by 19 hospitals that said they were full. She died eight days later from a brain hemorrhage after falling unconscious during birth.
Health Minister Yoichi Masuzoe told a parliamentary committee last year that the rising number of elderly patients hospitalized for months was taking up space that could be used to treat emergency cases.
Masuzoe urged the development of a community-wide support system to ease the burden on hospitals. The government also announced plans to increase the number of doctors and improve co-ordination among ambulances, emergency call centres and hospitals."

Gridlock is a world wide problem - a commuity wide support system to ease the burden on hospitals is a good idea OJ

CARP - A New Vision of Aging for Canada

not a bad review - 80% of carp readers approved of the udget measures- QJ

CARP - A New Vision of Aging for Canada: "Budget 2009: CARP's Full AnalysisBudget 2009: CARP's Full Analysis"

The healing potential of stem cells — XCell-Center

The healing potential of stem cells — XCell-Center: "The healing potential of stem cells
No matter how big a human becomes, it all began with an ovum and a sperm cell. This means that cells exist which have the potential to form a complete human. The first cells to arise from a fertilized ovum are described as totipotent ('potent for everything'). After a few days in the womb, the blastocyst forms. The cells contained in it are called embryonic stem cells. They are still very unspecialized and have the ability to divide endlessly and to develop into all of the 220 human cell types. However, a whole human cannot arise from these few cells. They have lost their toti-virility and are described as pluripotent ('potent for a lot'). As soon as the human's development is completed, these former all-arounders will have changed into mature, differentiated cells taking over a specific function in our body, for example neurocytes which conduct electric impulses, muscle cells which contract and the ß-cells of the pancreas which produce insulin.
However, skin renews itself throughout adulthood, injuries heal and hair grows. Right to the end of our lives, we have cells which are very unspecialized, can divide often and help the organism to regenerate and repair itself. These cells are called adult stem cells. To date, adult stem cells have been found in nearly every body tissue, for example in the skin, the brain, the blood, the liver and the bone marrow."

Weeky respite program a good idea

We have heard of artificial bed gridlock ,cutting nurses in the "supposed golden age " of Canadian medicine in what appears to be a badly mismanaged misaligned care system in constant crisis that alway sneeds more money to provide less community or customer services. It is encouraging to see occasional light in the darkness with programs that work for the customers in need - PR

John Noble Home pilot project offers weekly respite for seniors dealing with early stages of memory loss Posted By HEATHER IBBOTSON, EXPOSITOR STAFF

Thursdays are days to remember for a group of seniors coping with the early stages of memory loss. The 11 current participants in the John Noble Home Day & Stay program enjoy informal chats, games, outings and activities that encourage them to stay engaged with a world that is slowly slipping away.
"If you're alone, you're in a cocoon," said group member John Stulen.
"A group like this is a real lifesaver. It gives you confidence."
The participants are outpatients in the early stages of memory loss due to Alzheimer's disease or related dementia.
The Day & Stay program is a pilot project that began last July. It has already piqued the interest of other facilities across the province, said program co-ordinator Carol Howarth.
"It's unique. There's not one like it in Ontario," she said.
Each Thursday, a John Noble Home van picks up participants at their homes and delivers them to the facility for an afternoon of friendship, recreation, entertainment, activities and dinner.
The program's purpose is to improve the quality of life for people in the early stages of memory loss by providing resources, support and socialization opportunities.
"It gives them back some control," Howarth said.
It's also "the highlight of the week," according to Stulen.

"We learn from each other," he said. "Being together makes you feel better."
Norma Wilson, a former nurse who once worked with dementia patients, said she has learned a lot from the program after being diagnosed herself last year.
There is also the all-important sense of camaraderie, said Mary Pongrac.
A diagnosis of dementia carries with it a huge stigma and participants need to learn that it is OK to talk about the condition and its impact on their lives, Howarth said.
The idea used to be to hide the condition and "put it in the closet," she said.
The group's focus is to speak out and put a spotlight on the importance of early diagnosis, treatment and cialization, she said.
Memory loss is "not contagious," said group member Bruce Kyle.
Members talk with each other and with program counsellors about the frustration and loss of control over one's life that comes with memory loss.
"It's a shock to find out there's something wrong that can't be repaired," Stulen said.
Robert Nelles, a volunteer at John Noble Home, said his wife has termed the experience "frightening and overwhelming."
Nelles had already been volunteering at the John Noble Home for two years, spending time with patients in more acute stages, when his wife Marion was diagnosed last fall with a type of advancing memory loss.
Nelles, who lives near Waterford, said that both he and his wife had started to notice something was off.
He said the clincher came when an ordinary shopping trip turned frightening. Marion, who also suffers from the pain and exhaustion of polymyalgia, had driven to Simcoe alone to buy groceries. When she trundled the cart to her car, she found herself unable to unload the bags and she had to ask a stranger for help.
Tired and stressed, she finally settled in the driver's seat and put the key in the ignition, only to realize she had no idea how to get home.
"She sat there for 10 or 15 minutes before it dawned on her," her husband said.
Marion is now also a member of the Thursday Day & Stay group and Robert has added Thursdays to his volunteer rotation.
"I think the group has gelled, like a ball team," he said, adding that members seem at ease talking with each other and sharing their stories.
"When they do that, everyone learns," he said.
- - -
MORE INFORMATION
If you are looking for more information, call the Day & Stay program at 519-754-4065 or the Alzheimer Society of Brant at 519-759-7692.

more information - backtoeden.ontario@gmail.com

- The 10 Biggest and Deadliest Heart Myths - siegholle@gmail.com

http://mail.google.com/mail/?account_id=siegholle%40gmail.com#inbox/11eb653ec832a22f

How Many of These Deadly Fairy Tales Do You (and Your Doctor) Still Believe?CAUTION: Ignorance may be very hazardous to your healthWhy has the number of heart attacks increased by 27 percent over the past 20 years? What's going on here?Don't we know more about how to prevent heart attacks than ever?Haven't we been swallowing our statins, lowering our cholesterol, and eating fat-free foods?Could we be mistaken about some things?Dr. Michael Mogadam certainly thinks we are. His research -- proven by his amazing success with even high-risk patients -- is turning conventional wisdom about heart health upside down.Word is getting out.

But the medical community is slow to change.That's why, if avoiding a heart attack or stroke is important to you, I want you to be among the first to know...

The 10 Biggest and Deadliest Heart MythsMyth #1 -- Heart disease and heart attacks are an inevitable part of aging.Myth #2 -- Cholesterol is the main cause of heart disease and heart attacks.Myth #3 -- Blood pressure drugs help you avoid heart problems and live longer.Myth #4 -- Aggressive, "type A" behavior increases your risk of a heart attack.Myth #5 -- Low-fat, low cholesterol diets are good for you and your heart.Myth #6 -- Any exercise is always good for your heart.Myth #7 -- There are two kinds of cholesterol: Good and bad.Myth #8 -- You should eat less salt.Myth #9 -- You should lose weight if you're "overweight."Myth #10 -- There's no way to absolutely, positively avoid a heart attack.If you believe any of these outdated fairy tales, this Special Report will be a real eyeopener. And possibly a real lifesaver.
Because the truth is...Truth #1 -- Your risk of a heart attack does NOT have to increase as you age. (In fact, keep reading and you'll learn how to completely eliminate it!)Truth #2 -- Most people who die of heart disease have low or normal cholesterol levels. Focus on cholesterol and you can easily overlook much more important risk factors. Truth #3 -- Blood pressure drugs usually don't help you live longer or lower your heart attack risk (unless you follow the advice in this Special Report).Truth #4 -- Being an aggressive, "type A" personality is perfectly harmless to your heart. But certain overlooked emotions do skyrocket your risk.Truth #5 -- Low-fat, lowcholesterol diets are even worse than useless (and so depressing). They can actually harm you. (We'll tell you how.)Truth #6 -- Strenuous exercise can actually increase your risk of heart disease by 10,000 percent.Truth #7 -- There's good, good cholesterol and bad, good cholesterol. Likewise, there's bad cholesterol and REALLY bad cholesterol. (Many die because they don't know this information.)Truth #8 -- Only some people benefit from eating less salt. Eating too little salt can actually be harmful.Truth #9 -- Likewise, only some people considered "overweight" really need to lose weight for their heart health. It depends on one factor.Truth #10 -- You can absolutely, positively eliminate any risk of a heart attack for yourself and those you love

Nativity story! An excellent production! - siegholle@gmail.com

Nativity story! An excellent production about the real Christmas .

The Reason for the season!We thought you would enjoy this little 4 minute show as we did.

Click this link:http://www.youtube.com/v/Z_ypUnnqr8Y&autoplay=0

Merry Christmas to all of you and yours!

From all of us at the kights

stem cell regeneration break through

Single stem cells repair tissue damage STANFORD, Calif. (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say they've demonstrated a single adult stem cell can self-renew in a mammal and repair damaged tissue.
Stanford University Professor Helen Blau and researchers Alessandra Sacco and Regis Doyonnas said they transplanted skeletal adult muscle stem cells into special immune-suppressed mice whose muscle satellite cells and been destroyed in a hind limb by irradiation.
The scientists also genetically engineered the transplanted stem cells to express Pax7 and luciferase proteins. As a result, every transplanted cell glowed under ultraviolet light and was easy to trace.
"To be able to detect the presence of the cells by bioluminescence was really a breakthrough," said Blau. "It taught us so much more. We could see how the cells were responding, and really monitor their dynamics."
Sacco said the researchers were thrilled with the results. "It's been known that these satellite cells are crucial for the regeneration of muscle tissue, but this is the first demonstration of self-renewal of a single cell."
The scientists said the ability to isolate and then transplant skeletal adult muscle stem cells could have a wide impact in treating not only a variety of muscle wasting diseases such as muscular dystrophy, but also severe muscle injuries or loss of function from aging and disuse.
The research was presented last week in San Francisco during the annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology.

regeneration

heal thyself.

Army scientists examine body self-healing WASHINGTON (UPI) -- The saw "Physician, heal thyself" may yield to "Body, heal thyself" as U.S. army scientists study skin regeneration and other self-healing technologies.
Regenerative science was one of several technologies showcased at the recent 26th Army Science Convention in Orlando, Fla. The 4-day gathering provides a form to exchange ideas and highlight collaborative projects between Army research labs, universities and business partners, CNN reported Monday.
The Army's regenerative medicine study combined properties from the intestinal lining and the urinary bladder to create a regenerative substance called Extracellular Matrix, a crystal substance that boosts the body's tendency to repair itself, U.S. Army Biological Scientist Sgt. Gen Rossman told CNN. When applied to a missing digit or limb, "the body thinks it's back in the womb," Rossman said.
Through both animal studies and human clinical trials, the institute is developing therapies for soldiers injured by roadside bombs and other explosives in Afghanistan and Iraq, CNN said.
"We are working on trying to regenerate limbs, to repair limbs and to keep them from being amputated," said Col. Bob Vandre, project director for the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine.
Armed Forces Institute scientists said they also developed a process to rebuild missing or damaged bone.

Witch hunt , denial tool or constructive opportunity?

Review of nursing home system 'long overdue';Local News: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1117515

More eyes on long-term care in Ontario is a good thing, but what's really needed to help seniors is more staff, say advocates for the elderly.

Response was mixed Wednesday to news that Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin will investigate how long-term care facilities are being monitored.

Marin said his office will conduct a full investigation into the effectiveness of the province when it comes to ensuring nursing homes are meeting government standards.
His office, responsible for handling grievances against provincial government organizations, has long received complaints about long-term care. While he doesn't have the authority to investigate those complaints, he can launch a probe of the system that handles them.

"In one sense it's long overdue," said Eleanor Maslin, administrator of the John Noble Home.
Maslin said that, over the last few years, nursing homes which were once reserved for the frail elderly have become "melting pots" mixing young mentally handicapped adults, developmentally delayed adults and seniors with complex issues.

"It's a huge challenge for us," Maslin said. "We have a critical nursing shortage and as long as we're seen as an industry that doesn't provide quality care, people aren't going to enter the profession."

Do you have input ?

-"It's scary and I think something horrible is going to happen to someone before it's going to change." Marin said his investigation will take about six months to complete.

He is inviting the public to tell his office about their long-term care experiences or issues with the provincial monitoring system. Go to www.ombudsman.on.ca or call 1-800-263-1830.

What are the real issues?
-funding
- private options - one solution fits all does not work
- special interest groups get the gold and the worm
- more MOH administration bloat -more talk -more rules -less real action -a scenario caution ?

Seniors enjoyment trend

Seniors Having More Sex Than Ever
By Alan Mozes, HealthDay Reporter - Wed Jul 9, 8:47 PM PDTProvided by:

Not yet rated- WEDNESDAY, July 9 (HealthDay News) -- When it comes to sex, grandma and grandpa are having more of it these days, new Swedish research suggests.


According to the study, the last quarter century has seen a dramatic rise in the frequency of sex among the 70-year-old set, whether married or unmarried. And as an added bonus, seniors today (particularly women) say they're much more satisfied with their liaisons than the previous generation -- facing less sexual dysfunction and feeling more positive about the experience.


"Our study shows that a large majority of elderly consider sexual activity and sexual feelings a natural part of late life," said study author Nils Beckman, a doctoral candidate with the neuropsychiatric epidemiology unit at the Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology at Gothenburg University. "It is thus important that health professionals and others

Gmail - Daily Dose - Follow the money - siegholle@gmail.com

http://mail.google.com/mail/?source=navclient#inbox/11ac9e056b244d1b

help for mom

Nanotubes may help regenerate cartilage PROVIDENCE, R.I. (UPI) -- U.S. nanotechnologists say they've published the first study that shows how carbon nanotubes, along with electrical pulses, can help regenerate cartilage.
Brown University Associate Professor and nanotechnology engineer Thomas Webster said scientists have long wrestled with how to aid people who suffer cartilage damage and loss.
Now Webster says he has regenerated cartilage naturally by creating a synthetic surface that attracts cartilage-forming cells.
"Cartilage regeneration is a big problem," said Webster. "You don't feel pain until significant cartilage damage has occurred and it's bone rubbing on bone."
Webster's work involves carbon nanotubes, which are among the stiffest and strongest fibers known and are great conductors of electrons.
Webster and his team -- including Brown researcher Dongwoo Khang and Purdue University's Grace Park -- found nanotubes work well for stimulating cartilage-forming cells, known as chondrocytes.
A nanotube's surface is rough, yet it closely resembles the contours of natural tissue, so cartilage cells see it as a natural environment to colonize.
The team plans to test the cartilage regeneration method procedure with animals, and, if that is successful, to conduct the research on humans.

Diamonds -new wealth is good for health and well being

When the wolf is at the door, a diamond is just what the doctor ordered . It was a great experience to get $5000 from a $100 investment that I had forgtten about!

• Personal Proof that Canadian Diamond Traders (CDT) works and delivers
  
  Endorsement and Reference from Traderpc, my trading name -
  
  
  On May 15,2008
  
  Carrier from registered delivery arrived
• The package contained· 3 diamonds
  · cheque
  · marketing material
  · record of transaction
  100$ feeder turns into net $4480 USD – 2 years in the making
  Over 4000% return
  
  In summary -What we learned is that the Canadian Diamond Traders (CDT) system really works and delivers! A pleasant and ethical surprise after all the other misguided opportunity and big buck dream and try options – such as- TTI, BIM, FSI. The big promises, poor return options that failed. We did learn that the CDT diamond trading system works:
  
• The CDT tools work -are easy to use and useful especially the self replicating sites –your immediate web presence
• It is real - Real tools now not in the distant future. CDT is a real, credible e-business that is operational Now , where you can supplement your income Now with a real customer delivery structure that works Now.
• CDT has a solid , credible reputation, a real web presence and real operating tools in place – No more MLM hype and hope meetings just real true web marketing and sales delivery with a real return on your time ,money and effort.
  
  Dare to be great –check it out - You have Nothing to lose and everything to gain
  
  Duplicate my success -The Doctors presription for well being
  
  
  http://www.cdtforever.com/eclipse/rep/client/index.cfm?rep=TraderPC&reinit=1

Background information - useful statistics –Canadian Diamond Traders (CDT)

• CDT Community Statistics and tracking as of - May 19, 2008
  
  161,269(one hundred sixty one thousand two hundred sixty nine) Diamond Traders .
  
  There are currently: 125409 active users. 20908 are waiting to become active.
  14952 of 125409 active diamond traders multiple times earned $3000 and a $2500 worth of diamond .
  14954 of 125409 active diamond traders recieving $3000 and a $2500 worth of diamond Now!.
  29908 of 125409 have one step to become collector .
  59816 of 125409 competing with 29908 polishers to become collector .
  20731 new diamond traders of 161269 completing their perfect team .
  1312 new registered Diamond traders for the last week .

• Our immediate personal challenge and objective:
  Traderpc and the affiliated teams will do better , faster in next time performance cycle
  Based on the experienced success and the completed due diligence learning curve
  Based on the rapid development of effective CDT marketing support tools
  Based on the basic benefits of diamond ownership ( product appreciation and portability of high value products in demand worldwide )
  Based on CDT membership benefits – credibility and independent distributor financial and time investment returns
• Special Time incentives and other performance promotions available
  
  

to be or not to be

To be or not to be an independent entrepreneur – that is the question?
To be really effective as an entrepreneur – you need the will and drive to have many real customers and products to drive and diversify your business revenue and income..

When you first begin your entrepreneurial career-whether as a business owner, distributor, inventor, writer, photographer, web designer, graphic artist or whatever challenges, motivates and inspires your personal interest -you have to face the ultimate challenge of getting clients or users of your products and services. This is your ultimate and primary golden hurdle!

So you scour all the Internet articles and marketing books, and you prudently and diligently do your home work, talk with others who have gone before you, to see if they have a secret to make your dream opportunity and desire for financial independence a successful reality. You build up your knowledge, resources and the courage to take the “less safety and security” risk jump.

Then, one day, you take the leap. You begin to market your entrepreneurial business. You soon come to realize that if you don't aggressively market your products and services, you are going to get nowhere fast. That's not why you became a driven self directed independent entrepreneur or is it? You became a entrepreneur because you wanted to call your own shots, make a difference and you believed that you could make more money working for yourself than for someone else-right!

If you are diligent, focused and determined, your marketing efforts will soon begin to pay off. You land a couple of clients. One of them, in fact, may be a big one. It's a well respected, credible large company with lots of work for you to do and plenty of money to give you in return for your effort and performance. Excellent and bravo, you’ve cleared a major hurdle, you've managed to impress and wow them .Your new clients have given you the .opportunity to strut and show case your talent, energy and capability.

Welcome to the gravy train! Welcome to the world of the chosen- those who get paid for their creative effort and talent at some else’s expense.

Can this pleasant dream turn into a nightmare? What are the pitfalls, and other considerations that you should consider and be aware of? Is it just too good to be true?

A pragmatic reality check

Too many entrepreneurs make the mistake of allowing a large percentage of their income to come from one source. If one client supplies more than 20 percent of your revenue on a consistent basis, you need to find more clients and other sources of revenue...as soon as possible. Client diversification is a prudent and survival must!

Everyone knows people who worked full-time and then decided to do entrepreneurial work as an independent consultant, almost exclusively, for their former employer. This is a simple mistake. Don't let familiarity doom your bottom line. Always be on the lookout for new clients or “opportunities”. The more golden eggs in your diversified talent portfolio or nest, the better and stronger you truly are.

It is reasonable in the very beginning of your entrepreneurial career, to have only one or two clients to start, so they will, naturally, contribute a large percentage of your income.. Drive yourself to get more clients. Set a realistic target –after about six months, you really need to have multiple clients and many baskets full of all those golden eggs. Client diversification is a prudent, important common survival sense that you must instinctively follow.

Complacency, the lack of discipline and your negative time wasting self indulgences are all critical and common business mistakes of Independent entrepreneurs. These mistakes often turn self-employment into an excuse for self-indulgence, procrastination and ineffectiveness. Remember your time is your money and real sweat capital-spend it wisely to succeed.. Having one big, lucrative, timeless client is a surefire way to fall into the trap of self-indulgent complacency. Self-indulgence leads to all kinds of excuses for not working or working effectively. The sad reality and fact is -that when you're a non-working independent entrepreneur, you are destined to be a broke independent entrepreneur.

While it is okay - and quite rewarding - to have a big, lucrative client, don't let that client dominate your time or make you financially dependent on him or her for your livelihood. Be disciplined enough, self-motivated enough to always diversify your client and business customer base. The alternative is to remember your past before the entrepreneurial plunge- motivate yourself to get new clients, or quit being a self employed entrepreneur. Do you really want to go back to a dismal or less appealing work environment in that restrictive company box or cubicle with its many restrictions, constant pressure, few if any fast track chances, a reduced and different destiny, with little prospect for advancing in your field of endeavor, lower freedom to make your difference or mark in the world and no chance to make more money-no matter how hard you work.


About the author

Siegfried Holle, BS, M.B.A , is a seasoned business consultant and entrepreneur , who gives enterprising people the confidence, support knowledge and action plans they need to start, run and grow their own lucrative independent entrepreneurial businesses - much sooner and more easily than they could by themselves. For information, resources, more business survival tip articles and a complimentary new business recommendation, contact the author at siegholle@gmail.com or visit his latest opportunity site

A professional business leader registered in the National Registers Who's Who in the executives and professionals' classification, Holle holds an M.B.A. in marketing and logistics from Indiana University and a B.S. in business with honors. He is a serial business and social entrepreneur, with extensive experience in real life client challenges,

Googling your health - power to patients

How do we improve access to our medical reords?

Placing information that's as highly sensitive as personal medical records into the care of unregulated Internet storage systems is risky business, and it could open the door to all manner of marketing and false advertising people who are eager for this gold mine of medical information.
Unfortunately, the only way to safeguard against this sort of thing is to get the government involved … and while I'm not fool enough to believe that the Federales cannot get their mitts on your personal medical records if they really want them, I'm incredibly uneasy about handing over stewardship of medical records to the government.

The authors of this article are doctors after my own heart. As Dr. Isaac Kohane, one of the authors said, "I'm a great believer in patient autonomy in general, but there is going to have to be some measure of limited paternalism."

One potential solution to this problem would be to extend the HIPAA to cover Internet players like Microsoft and Google. This seems to be the quick and easy solution to the problem. But what worries me is, as Dr. Kohane called it, the idea of "limited paternalism."

If you've been paying attention, you're well aware that once a government department or bureau is created, it grows. There's nothing at all "limited" about any government organization. I'm always suspicious of central authority, especially when the government has, in my humble opinion, such a bad track record with healthcare bureaucracies (as you know, my favorite example is the FDA).

But does the government really need to get involved? After all, every day millions of Americans already trust incredibly personal information to Microsoft and Google's care in the form of emails through free webmail services such as Hotmail and Gmail – this is merely the electronic form of the mail handled by the U.S. Postal Service, and it is often just as sensitive (if not more so) as medical records. Emails sent via Hotmail and Gmail routinely contain loads of personal and financial information. And yet this never seems to be compromised by Google or Microsoft.

I say leave Uncle Sam on the sidelines on this one. The security for personal medical records is already in place – Microsoft and Google are more than ready to safeguard Americans' medical records. They have the unique opportunity to usher in a new age of empowerment for patients all over the country. Let's give them the chance.

Power to the patients!
William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.

Patient advocacy growing as a business | www.azstarnet.com ®

Patient advocacy growing as a business www.azstarnet.com ®: "Patient advocacy growing as a business
Your hired help at hospital or in ER could be lifesaver
By Carla McClain
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona Published: 04.27.2008
advertisementAs patients die waiting in emergency rooms, as they lay neglected in hospitals beds, as they struggle to find proper care for injuries and illness, a new first commandment has emerged for anyone forced to seek medical care:

Never, ever go alone.
Do not enter a hospital, an emergency room, or any other medical facility without competent, assertive help by your side at all times. To do so puts your very life at risk. Even doctors and nurses on the front lines of the system will tell you that today.

As hospital care grows increasingly complex and medical errors kill some 100,000 Americans every year, a whole new industry is forming to deal with this disaster — offering hired help to get you through your hospital stay alive.

It is a trend emerging here and across the country, though it's not without controversy — and a hefty price tag. But it may be offering a vital, even lifesaving service in a severely overburdened medical system plagued by a shortage of nurses, doctors and hospital beds."

Patient advocacy growing as a business

Cash Up Front or Else — Why Hospitals Are Gouging Their Patients | Health Care Industry Blog | BNET

Cash Up Front or Else — Why Hospitals Are Gouging Their Patients Health Care Industry Blog BNET: "Cash Up Front or Else — Why Hospitals Are Gouging Their Patients"

Mydoctor launched by CMA

Mydoctor.ca launched by the Canadian Medical Association
Email the Editor Email a Friend By: Lisa Williams, assistant editor, InterGovWorld.com(Apr 03, 2008 06:00:00)
The Canadian Medical Association has launched a new health portal dubbed mydoctor.ca, which has online tools for tracking chronic diseases, as well as a physician-driven Canadian electronic patient health record platform.

The health portal allows patients to directly link to their physicians, and was developed by Ottawa-based Practice Solutions (a CMA company).

"The mydoctor.ca health portal provides a new way for physicians to give each patient the care and attention they deserve while also empowering patients to become active participants in their care," said Brian Day, president of the CMA in a released statement.

The portal was designed by physicians and allows patients to be registered by their doctors with any of the online tools on the portal, including an asthma tracker and a personal health record.

The setup is similar to online banking in which the patient inputs their health information via the secure portal in order for their physician to access and monitor. The data is then converted into a chart that displays the patient's results over time.

For more information visit www.mydoctor.ca

"Telemedicine" links Africans to Indian expertise on Yahoo! Health

"Telemedicine" links Africans to Indian expertise on Yahoo! Health: "Telemedicine' links Africans to Indian expertise
By Barry Malone - Thu Apr 3, 12:54 AM PDTProvided by:

An Ethiopian woman inside a clinic in Bahir Dar, March 10, 2007. Ethiopia's health problems are mirrored across Africa where doctors and nurses are often overworked and underpaid, villagers have to walk miles to the nearest clinic and drugs and treatment are often beyond the means of ordinary people. (Eliana Aponte/Reuters)
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Troubled"

High Speed Internet Access & Health Care

High Speed Internet Access & Health Care: "Telemedicine
Learn More
High speed Internet and $15.5 million telehealth grant help care for rural patients in New Mexico
Telemedicine helps save time and lives in smaller hospitals
A National Blueprint for Technology and the Public Good
» View All Entries

» View Relevant ExamplesHigh-speed interactive broadband with instantaneous contact between health professionals and patients enables remote monitoring, efficient chronic disease management, and more effective responses to emergencies."

Combining Internet With Office Visits Cut Heart Attack Risks on Yahoo! Health

Combining Internet With Office Visits Cut Heart Attack Risks on Yahoo! Health: "Combining Internet With Office Visits Cut Heart Attack Risks
By HealthDay - Sun Mar 30, 8:45 PM PDT"

Overall, the results show that good communication -- whether it's done in the office or over the Internet -- between patients and doctors helps prevent cardiovascular disease, said Alfred Bove, professor emeritus of medicine at Temple's School of Medicine and chief of cardiology at Temple University Hospital.
He noted that telemedicine does have certain advantages.
"With rising health-care costs, a telemedicine system can encourage communication between patients and their doctors with less cost and time commitment than frequent doctor visits," Bove said in a prepared statement.
He believes telemedicine may help underserved patients lower their risk of cardiovascular disease and bridge the "medical divide" between treatment and outcomes for lower- and upper-income patients.

New Beginnings Seniors home fights to stay open

"Seniors' home faces closure; long-term care residence to close as of march 31
Posted By HEATHER TRAVIS

As Janet Spierenburg helped Howard Randall, a 78-year-old resident at New Beginnings put on his coat for the last time, she had tears in her eyes.
Spierenburg can't stand to watch the Ridgetown business she helped build, deteriorate in front of her eyes.
'I worked so hard to keep this place going and make it a home for seniors,' she said. 'It's hard to watch it go downhill.'
Spierenburg owned the long-term care facility for five years before selling it to current owner, Sieg Holle, in January 2007.
As the remaining three residents prepared to move out of the residence on Thursday, Spierenburg got choked up.
'Most of the people don't want to leave,' she said. 'They are not hard to care for.'
Above all, Spierenburg's heart broke as she helped Randall get into his son's truck to leave.
'It's hard, especially with Howard,' she said. 'We just seem to connect.'
Randall has spent the past seven years living at New Beginnings and was reluctant to leave the staff and his home.
Randall was relocating to a long-term care facility in Blenheim.
'I loved it here,' he said. 'They just give me everything I want.'"

The 18-room residence is scheduled to close on March 31, unless the owner is able to find new residents to fill the facility or if he receives financial support prior to that date to allow the place to stay open.
"We could (shut the doors), but we will probably keep them open until the 31st (of March)," said Holle. "If there is the support, then you can sustain it and keep it open. And if there isn't, well, there is no purpose (of staying open)."
Holle, who is located in Brantford, operates a similar long-term care facility in the city, called Sunridge. There are currently four residents living in the 10-room facility, however Holle said the low numbers are more manageable because the operation cost are lower.

save for chronic care

Solutions at long last but how long to put in place ? QJ

Canadians urged to save for chronic care expenses
Posted By CHRISTINA SPENCER

Creating a registered chronic care savings plan, similar to an RRSP, could help Canadians with the steep health bills they will face as they grow old, says a sweeping new report on health care and the elderly.
The study by the Special Senate Committee on Aging notes that chronic illness, particularly heart disease, arthritis, diabetes and dementia, is "a major concern for seniors."
It also notes that Canada's publicly funded health care system doesn't adequately cover home or long-term care, which people with chronic illness often require.
"Because home care is not entirely publicly funded, some . . . have suggested that Canadians be urged to save so that they will eventually be able to afford services to meet their needs," the committee says. "This could be done through the creation of a registered chronic care savings plan, similar to an RRSP."
An RRSP (registered retirement savings plan) lets people shelter income from taxation up to a certain annual maximum if they are saving for their retirement. A chronic care savings plan would operate on the same principle but permit people to use the money for old-age health needs.
The proposal is one of many explored in the committee's second interim report, "Issues and Options for an Aging Population." Among some of the other options identified:
Providing tax credits for seniors who volunteer. "Volunteering is strongly associated with social connectedness," the report says;
Expanding educational tax credits beyond those given for people who take accredited courses, so that seniors could also enrol in a range of classes. "Active learning helps maintain brain health," experts told the committee;
Creating a national respite program, so that those caring for an older relative could obtain temporary help in order to take a physical and emotional break;
Making compassionate care benefits, which already exist under Employment Insurance, available for longer periods so people looking after a frail elderly person could benefit;
Introducing a national home care program to provide minimum standards across all provinces. The committee asks, however, whether such a standardized program might actually reduce service in places that already have high levels of care;
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Expanding the number of training spots in gerontology and geriatrics. "The incorporation of interdisciplinary education about aging into the core programs of all health professionals would improve the delivery of age-appropriate services," the committee says;
Increasing training in palliative care and end-of-life care.
christina.spencer@sunmedia.ca
Article ID# 956232

Rural Care Crisis

What are the alternatives? better cost effective delivery systems maybe QJ

Forced to close; Newbury hospital loses outpatient physiotherapy
Posted By CHIP MARTIN

In a move called devastating to its local community, one of Ontario's smallest hospitals is being forced to close its outpatient physiotherapy program to balance its budget.
That means many of the 23,000 rural, small-town and elderly residents served by Four Counties Health Services in Newbury will have to travel farther and pay from their own pockets to replace the service. Or do without.

"This will have a huge impact," said Yvonne Lambert, board chairperson of the Middlesex Hospital Alliance that operates the 16-bed facility in Newbury. The physiotherapy service is slated to end Sept. 1.
"These are retired people, farmers and small businesspersons and less than a quarter of them have private (health) coverage" to cover the cost of private clinics. And the closest private clinic is 35 minutes away.
The announcement comes on the eve of today's provincial budget, expected to have little new money for health care.
New funding is unlikely despite hospital bed shortages across the London region and elsewhere because of a shortage of long-term and chronic-care beds.
For the Four Counties area, there's a slim chance residents will find replacement service at a hospital in Chatham covered by government health care, Lambert said. Private clinics are more likely.
Lambert said to balance its $10-million operating budget, Four Counties has had to chop $500,000, of which $300,000 is the 38-year-old outpatient clinic with three physiotherapists, an assistant and a manager shared with Strathroy-Middlesex hospital. The clinic had 6,350 outpatient visits last year.
"In a small hospital it is very hard to cut anything," Lambert said. She said talks about the situation continue with the Southwest Local Health Integration Network.
Monte McNaughton, a Newbury businessperson, described the closing as "devastating for patients, for the local economy and health care in Ontario."
McNaughton, a board member who ran for the Progressive Conservatives against local Liberal MPP Maria Van Bommel (Lambton-Kent-Middlesex), said provincial Liberals will buy 22 Made-in-Scotland buses for Toronto but won't support health care for local residents.
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"It just doesn't make sense and is a further slap in the face to our rural communities," he said.
Conservative health critic Elizabeth Witmer said the Four Counties situation "is happening across the province."
She said termination of services "has a very negative impact on people" and the government should allow private delivery of health care covered by government insurance.

All is not well in nursing homes

Provided by: Canadian PressWritten by: Alison Auld, THE CANADIAN PRESS
HALIFAX -

Almost half the residents at several nursing homes in Nova Scotia exhibited aggressive behaviour that ranged from outright violence to resisting help, according to a new study that buttresses concerns over the risks care-providers face on the job.

The report, released Thursday by the Canadian Institute of Health Information, also showed that many of the behaviours were linked to a handful of health conditions, including dementia, delirium and depression among the elderly.
Nancy White, the institute's manager of home and continuing care, said the findings shed light on how nursing home residents behave and why they might lash out.

"What we found was that certain types of behaviours are associated with certain underlying health conditions," she said from Ottawa. "Knowing this and understanding these conditions is really the first step to treatment and prevention."

In the survey of five facilities in the province from 2003 to 2007, the most common aggressive behaviour was resisting care, which could include pushing away a worker trying to administer medicine or change a diaper.
About 45 per cent of the 700 residents - or two out of five - showed behavioural symptoms, with a third of the residents resisting help. About 16 per cent were verbally abusive and 14 per cent engaged in "socially inappropriate" actions, like screaming.
About 10 per cent of the residents were physically abusive, which included hitting, scratching or sexually abusing others.
Doreen Charman, a long-term care provider at a Halifax nursing home, said the report backs up what care workers have been saying for years - that aggressive behaviour is a part of daily life.
"It's a day-to-day issue in dealing with aggression and fear and residents who are reacting to their environment," she said, adding that she's been kicked, punched and scratched on the job.
"It's not the person doing it - it's the condition that they're dealing with."
Charman, who's been in the sector for 21 years, said staff need more education on how to deal with challenging behaviour, and more resources to help over-taxed, weary workers.
"This report is reinforcing what we've been saying all along in long-term care - we need more education and we need more staff," she said.
Albert Banerjee, who led a recent study on abuse suffered by care providers, said the institute's findings corroborate a number of reports outlining the challenges of working in nursing homes.
Banerjee, a doctoral candidate in the sociology department at York University in Toronto, found that long-term workers in Canada are seven times more likely to be physically abused by elderly residents than their peers in Nordic countries.
"In Canada there seems to be a myth that this is just part of the job and what this shows is that it's not necessary," he said, referring to his study released earlier this month that surveyed workers in Ontario, Nova Scotia and Manitoba.
"But you need legislation to guarantee minimum standards of care, so documenting the needs of residents and workers is the first step."
White said the five nursing homes in Nova Scotia used a new model of assessing residents when they first entered the facility, giving workers a better handle on what health conditions they might need to address.
"Having good assessment information on these residents is a very important way of preventing behaviours or for dealing with them in a more effective manner," she said.
Nova Scotia was the first province to tabulate its findings for the institute and eight others, including British Columbia, Ontario and Saskatchewan, are going to provide information for the database.
White said the Nova Scotia rates appeared to be similar to other provinces, but added that the data will be used to track trends in the future.

New savings plan holds promise

New savings plan holds promise: "New savings plan holds promise


Article By: Gordon Pape

The new Tax-Free Savings Accounts announced in the budget will offer a range of investment opportunities, from income splitting to education savings.
One of the centrepieces of Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's recent budget was the announcement of legislation to create Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs), starting in 2009.
These plans will allow every Canadian over 18 to contribute up to $5,000 a year to an account that will tax-shelter all investment earnings. Unlike RRSPs, contributions will not be tax deductable, nor will withdrawals be taxed.
There is no doubt that this is an important program, one that will provide savers with a new range of strategies. Here are a few possibilities."

MindMentor, the first robot psychologist | Emerging Technology Trends | ZDNet.com

MindMentor, the first robot psychologist Emerging Technology Trends ZDNet.com: "People affected by emotional problems are often reluctant when they’re told to see a psychologist. Now, they can confidentially consult online MindMentor, the first robot psychologist. It will cost them €4.95 for one hour session (or about US$7.65 as of today). MindMentor has been developed by two Dutch psychologists specialized in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). The system was tested on 1,600 ‘customers’ from over the world and 47% of them said they were satisfied after only one session. I haven’t tested the system myself, but one thing is really interesting. Instead of looking at a database, MindMentor uses a personal process to discover the right solution with you."

Interesting use of high tech -

More money for Hospitals?

Solutions not more public hand outs needed QJ

Chatham Daily News
Hospitals face tough timesPosted By JOHN MINERPosted 25 mins agoHalf of Ontario's hospitals are poised to operate in the red, a situation projected to get much worse next year despite the province's law banning hospital budget deficits.

The tough times for the key health-care sector were disclosed to hospital executives and boards this week by the Ontario Hospital Association, which surveyed member hospitals March 5.
Unless they cut services, 75 hospitals face a deficit for the fiscal year starting April 1.
That jumps to 104 hospitals - 68 per cent - the following year, the OHA survey warns.
The dire financial outlook for the province's hospitals comes less than two weeks before the Liberal government brings down its next budget.

Ontario prohibits hospitals from running deficits and, to end budget uncertainty, now tells the sector what its funding will be at least two years ahead of time. For example, it will get 2.4 per cent more money this coming year, and another 2.1 per cent the next.
The multi-year funding was supposed to end an era of annual standoffs between the hospitals and the Health Ministry over money, with hospitals demanding more to cover their operating shortfalls.
Hospitals in Strathroy and Newbury have already drawn up plans for service cuts in the face of significant deficits.
The Strathroy hospital is facing a $2.2-million operating deficit out of a $30-million budget, while Newbury hospital, with a $10-million operating budget, is short $500,000.
In its report sent to hospital executives this week, the OHA said Ontario hospitals are already very efficient compared to others in Canada.

"In fact, it would require $100 more per capita, or $1.2 billion, to bring Ontario hospitals up to the spending level on hospitals in the rest of Canada," the OHA report said.
OHA president Tom Closson said the annual increases from the Health Ministry aren't enough for the province's hospitals to deal with significantly higher wage and energy costs.

"Just looking at inflation alone, it is a big challenge," he said.
Hospital costs are also being pushed higher by increasing demands from the aging population and population growth.
"Hospitals are working hard to improve their efficiencies, but efficiency can only be improved so quickly," Closson said.
Unlike in previous years, when Ontario's hospitals negotiated with the Health Ministry, they now are required to reach balanced budget deals with Local Health Integration Networks, health care agencies set up by the government.
Closson said the OHA is advising hospitals in financial difficulty not to cut services, but to keep negotiating with their LHIN.
"We don't think the province wants us to cut services," Closson said.
An OHA advisory on tactics for negotiating with the LHINs warns hospital boards not to sign any agreement unless they can meet their obligations.
Laurel Ostfield, spokesperson for Health Minister George Smitherman, said this is the first year the hospitals have negotiated budgets with the LHINs and it's a difficult process that requires a lot of hard work on both sides.

"We do have a lot of confidence in the Local Health Integration Networks and we feel very certain they will be able to come to a resolution with the hospitals on their budgets," Ostfield said.
Hospital shortfalls
Based on no service cuts, 75 Ontario hospitals (49 per cent) project deficits for 2008/09.
For 46 hospitals (30 per cent), the deficits are greater than two per cent.
For 2009/10, 104 hospitals (68 per cent) project deficits.
For 66 hospitals (43 per cent), the deficits are greater than two per cent.

Go public, go private

Go public, go private: "Go public, go private


Article By: Jayne MacAulay

Will private for-profit clinics flourish in Canada, and will they be the death of medicare as opponents claim?"

Health Care Brief: Canadians not receiving adequate health care

Health Care Brief: Canadians not receiving adequate health care: "Health Care Brief: Canadians not receiving adequate health care


Article By: Athena McKenzie

More accessible, comprehensive and coordinated care is required, says agency report.
Are Canadians receiving adequate health care? According to the Health Council of Canada, the answer is no.
The intergovernmental agency prepared Fixing the Foundation: An Update on Primary Health Care and Home Care Renewal in Canada. It says the current health-care system is not well-coordinated, comprehensive or always available when needed. The report is based on the Canadian Survey of Experiences with Primary Health Care.
“Canadians continue to tell us reform is needed,” Dr. Jeanne Besner says. Besner is the chair of the Health Council of Canada.
The report highlights that more then 30 per cent of people who visited an emergency room believe they could have been treated by their family doctor if one was available. In addition, family doctors rarely learn if a patient is seen in an after-hours clinic.
Participants said that some doctors do not explain test results, nor do they warn of the possible side effects of medication. Other complaints included a lack of information from their physicians on adopting healthier lifestyles.
To address the issues within the system, the council is recommending several courses of action. These include electronic patient records, inter-professional care teams, and better communications between family doctors and after-hour clinics. The report also stresses the need for better coverage of home care strategies.
Read the council's report, Fix the Foundation."

excellent review

(lesson in being a good informed patient

Lessons in Being a Good Patient

It used to be that doctors were considered god-like, the keepers of life-and-death knowledge and abilities. This view of the medical profession is intimidating -- and in light of the troubling findings of a recent Dutch review study, it appears that many older individuals still feel that way. Researchers reviewed three studies with a total of 433 older patients to determine whether personal face-to-face coaching or printed materials would better help them become savvier consumers of health care, specifically at doctor visits. Not surprisingly, personal coaching (face-to-face, either group or individual) was found more effective, but even when coached it seemed that many elderly patients remained stubbornly passive about their care.

One study showed that after being educated about the importance of preparing for the visit and asking questions, when study participants next saw their doctor, more than half still didn't identify specific issues to discuss and more than 80% failed to bring a list of questions, problems and/or medications with them. In fact, very few asked the doctor any questions about their illness, tests or procedures. Here's the problem: The more passive patients are about health issues, the lower the likelihood of successfully solving their problems.

GET GOOD INFORMATION

Gerontologist Audrey Chun, MD, director of the Martha Stewart Center for Living at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, had some interesting ideas on how to help older patients understand how they'll benefit by preparing for their visits. She points out that doctor/patient visits are limited to about 15 minutes, so it's more effective and efficient to come with an agenda. It's a good idea to bring along a son, daughter or other relative to visits -- mostly to offer support and strength, but also to ask questions and make note of details that are easily forgotten.

To get other suggestions about how older adults can be taught to become more active health care consumers, I also spoke with Robert N. Butler, MD, president and CEO of the International Longevity Center and professor of geriatrics and adult development at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, both in New York City. He agreed that it is crucial for all patients, regardless of age, to know as much as they can about their health issues. Since doctors now have, on average, more than 1,000 patients, it's far less likely they'll know patients' medical histories well -- though that is the way it used to be and older folks may not realize how much things have changed. The ideal way to gather information is, yes, the Internet -- and happily many older adults are comfortable using it today. But even those who spend lots of time on-line may not understand how important it is to filter advice by researching only credible sites -- Dr. Butler recommends www.mayoclinic.com and medlineplus.gov as good starting points for in-depth background information on health issues.

WHAT TO BRING TO YOUR VISIT
In order to better the odds of success at your doctor's visit, Dr. Chun urges all elderly patients to bring the following to every appointment:

A list of all medications or, if there are more than five or six, a brown bag with the medications themselves. A periodic review of drugs is vital, says Dr. Chun, because some may no longer be necessary, one may be causing problems that need to be investigated, or the combination of two or more may cause interactions that are problematic.

A list of all symptoms and any recent physical changes that might be pertinent for diagnosing a health problem.
A list of questions concerning any medications or conditions, whether new ones or those that were previously diagnosed.
A notepad for the doctor to write down names of unfamiliar diagnoses, tests and medications so that patients can investigate them further at home.

Also, patients should ask the doctor to list instructions for taking any newly prescribed drugs -- and, before leaving the office, make sure they can read the notes from the doctor.

If they get home and the writing is illegible, the instructions are useless. At the end of the visit, Dr. Chun suggests asking the doctor to briefly summarize the content of their time together. Patients may also want to ask about other sources of information they can explore on their own, along with resources such as support groups for those who have a chronic condition.

RESPECT IS KEY
Don't expect that one conversation will get an elderly parent or relative over the hurdle of being a passive patient. Given that many have spent a lifetime thinking they should never question a doctor, you'll likely need to reframe the issue. Dr. Chun notes that an important aspect of patient/doctor relations is good communication -- and a vital ingredient of communication is the patient's willingness to ask questions. Showing respect is a value that previous generations emphasized -- she says that many older patients worry their questions might send a message of doubt and disrespect. Try explaining that, in fact, when a patient asks questions, it lets doctors know whether they understand the information they've been given.

Not infrequently, misunderstandings cause problems down the road that a question or two might have cleared up right away. Patients can ask when is a good time to call the doctor if they have further questions.

Even better though, say both Dr. Butler and Dr. Chun, is to schedule a follow-up visit several weeks later. This additional time enables the doctor and patient to understand what's happening, how treatment is going and for questions to arise naturally. Also, the additional time together may increase the patient's comfort with the doctor, as well as allow the doctor to get to know the patient a little bit better. As a rule, insurance pays for the second visit and it is time -- and money -- well spent to maximize personal health care.