March 6, 2014
The three-day Hacking Health Toronto event held at the city’s MaRS Centre late last fall sounded more to the uninitiated like a continuing medical education course for pulmonary specialists than a high-energy collaborative for aspiring medtech innovators – all out to heal the healthcare system’s many ills – matched up with seasoned, willing-to-help mentors. Read More
February 1, 2014
CHICAGO – Some of the most interesting and significant product announcements at the recent RSNA conference, held in December, weren’t about the traditional imaging modalities, like CT and MRI. Instead, they involved eye-popping improvements in process management and analytics. Read More
February 1, 2014
I am sure that many of you have been following the debacle of the Obamacare website. Officially known as the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare is one of the greatest advances in healthcare financing in the United States since the introduction of Medicare. Many Presidents and Congressmen have tried and failed to do something like it. To realize its importance, one must recognize that health care in the U.S. is extremely expensive – though not proportionally effective – and that over 40 million Americans lack any form of health insurance. Read More
February 1, 2014
No matter what perspective you take, Canadian radiologists are poised to benefit from automated peer review. As long as the focus shifts from a culture of blame to one of continuous process improvement, that is. Read More
February 1, 2014
Tank commanders have a knack for seeing opportunities for engagement and the obstacles that lie in their way more sharply than others. That’s just how Glenn Lanteigne saw things when first graduating from the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario as an Armoured Corps officer. But after a budget planning stint at Canadian Forces Headquarters in Ottawa, he rolled into the private sector, healthcare first, with what was GE Medical Systems, becoming a Six Sigma Black Belt. Read More
February 1, 2014
By Rosie Lombardi Patients are clamouring for more personal medical data and better communications with their doctors – and the healthcare sector needs to find a secure way to do that. One solution that is gaining traction is called mihealth, a messaging and personal health record (PHR) system which has been operational since 2011. The system was developed by Dr. Wendy Graham, founder and CEO of Toronto-based mihealth Global Systems and a family doctor with over 20 years practice experience. Today, several thousand patients are using mihealth in hospitals and clinics across Ontario and beyond. Read More
February 1, 2014
By Richard Irving, PhD I am currently writing this column from Hydrabad, India, where I am teaching in the Schulich MBA program for eight weeks. During my visit, I was invited to a conference at the Indian School of Business and attended a session on healthcare. The general discussion would be familiar to most of you, though the problems faced in healthcare in India are orders of magnitude more difficult that we face in Ontario. Read More