Clinical Solutions

VANCOUVER – Firstline, the Canadian clinical decision support company, announced that new, gold-standard clinical guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO) is being distributed on its platform. For the first time, the WHO has created evidence-based clinical guidance for prescribing antibiotics – the AWaRe Antibiotic Book. Read More

HALIFAX – Nova Scotia has expanded an agreement with Tranquility, a program that helps people experiencing depression and anxiety better understand their emotions, thoughts and behaviours and build skills and coping strategies. People using the program are supported by a coach who checks in on their progress and offers ongoing help and motivation. Read More

CALGARY – Nearly a decade of brainstorming, research and trials has paid off for a Calgary cardiologist and University of Calgary professor, who has received Health Canada approval for use of a new pacemaker. Dr. Derek Exner, associate dean of commercialization and innovation at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine, and his team have been working closely with global healthcare company Abbott since 2014. Together, the group has been instrumental in bringing the Aveir VR leadless pacemaker to patients with heart conditions in Calgary. Read More

SAINT JOHN, NB – Members of Horizon Health Network’s Surgery Program are taking an innovative approach to performing surgeries on patients who have been waiting the longest for orthopaedic surgeries. Surgical teams in Fredericton, Miramichi, Moncton and Saint John will complete a “blitz” of up to 96 surgeries – primarily orthopaedic (hip and knee replacements) – on Saturdays in November, December, January and February. Typically, operating rooms (ORs) do not run planned surgeries on weekends. Read More

HALIFAX – A hybrid operating room at the Halifax Infirmary is now up and running. Described as a first in Atlantic Canada, the room has advanced diagnostic imaging equipment, so if complications arise, cardiac or vascular surgery patients can get diagnostic tests right there. Read More

TORONTO – A tool that emergency department clinicians can use to guide hospital admission or discharge decisions for heart failure patients reduces 30-day all-cause death or cardiovascular hospitalization by 12 percent, according to a new trial from the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at University Health Network (UHN), ICES, and the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research. Read More

HALIFAX – Nova Scotia will be the first place in Canada to use the equipment called Ethos, made by California-based Varian Medical Systems. It’s already been installed at the QEII Hospital in Halifax where clinical trials are expected to begin within weeks. Read More

HALIFAX – Neurosurgeons at Nova Scotia Health’s Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre (QEII), the hub of neurosurgical procedures in the province, now have access to a new digital neurosurgical planning and navigation software that will transform how they plan and deliver care. The Brainlab Elements software offers more precise, higher quality images and data in one convenient location. It also helps to visualize crucial structures in the depth of the brain that aren’t visible through an MRI. Read More