IHSPR Newsletter - November 2012

Other format

Table of Contents

November Message from Dr. Robyn Tamblyn, IHSPR Scientific Director

The field of e-health is steadily growing. For example, the Alberta Health Services flu immunization campaign now features mobile websites, blogs and social media to inform and educate locals about when, where, why and how to receive vaccinations.

But how is the health system utilizing e-health technology to improve patient management at various levels? The answer: by recognizing different needs at different levels. In the United States the “Beacon Communities” project is playing an innovative role through investment in health I.T. to drive a shared vision of patient-centered care. Operating in 17 different states, this approach ensures that each e-health solution aligns with community needs.

Here at home, the Saskatchewan government is running an e-health program that addresses this question to create multi-user, fluid and mobile platforms for service providers to track, update and manage patient health records.

The province’s overarching electronic health record (EHR) strategy will feed into smaller veins of the health care system to generate a detailed and organized description of each patient’s care plan. The Integrated Clinical System will ensure that within each health care setting patients’ scheduling, documentation, lab reports and pharmacy dispensation records are updated, tracked and managed from a single platform.

EHRs will work to efficiently target the complexity of health management in areas like chronic disease and surgery. Authorized physicians and specialists throughout Saskatchewan will have access to patient information and treatment plans to ensure care strategies are harmonized to ensure the best possible outcomes. The system will enable health care providers to automatically schedule follow-up appointments and diagnostic tests. Meanwhile, surgical teams will see a more coordinated effort in scheduling, charting, prepping ORs and monitoring the entire surgical process.

Provincially, EHRs will help generate an info-repository of health information that spans communities and regions to ensure population health is at the forefront. A bold effort is being made to integrate EHRs with testing laboratories, pharmacies and diagnostic imaging centres. These measures will enhance patient accessibility to services while simultaneously guaranteeing health professionals have access to entire patient histories before adjusting treatment plans.

In support of this extensive e-health enterprise, The Saskatchewan Ministry of Health has developed an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) Program and a Peer to Peer Network to ensure health care professionals successfully integrate EMRs into practice. Physicians receive support working with EMR programs to begin developing EHRs. The Peer to Peer network serves as a forum to discuss EMR implementation best practices and strategies to increase system uptake province-wide. Like any successful communication model, e-health is a two-way process that will involve the active participation of the public and practitioners. What has been absent form many initiatives to date is the research arm of implementation, that will rigorously assess care gaps and innovative solutions, and assess the cost-effectiveness of new approaches to inform implementation policy. IHSPR will be engaging our community to fill this critical gap in science worldwide. Innovative strategies can only be carried forward by engaged communities to pioneer change.

Chair Showcase

Dr. Ahmed Bayoumi - CIHR/Ontario Ministry of Health & Long Term Care Applied Chair in Health Services and Policy Research

Dr. Ahmed Bayoumi’s longstanding interest in Canadians’ access to health care has been put to practical and innovative use in his post as an Applied Chair in Health Services and Policy Research.

With a focus on health disparity and equity, he is able to assess resource allocation decisions in the health care system and measures of social value to create frameworks and tools for decision makers. Bayoumi’s work aims to bridge the growing gap between seemingly competing goals of lower health care costs with increased health services delivery to the most marginalized in society (including people who use drugs, homeless adults and people living with HIV). Through extensive economic evaluations alongside investigation into the principles and processes resource allocation decision making, his research is generating promising results which hope to ensure efficient and equitable decision making related to drugs and other health services.

The Chair position has provided Bayoumi with the opportunity for “increased dialogue” with decision makers in governing positions. Because not all policy professionals have a model for effective research collaboration, building relationships became a priority to understanding both the significant issues and the perspectives of everyone around the decision-making table. “Although researchers can sometimes be interested in questions that are not on the policy agenda, we have to recognize when and where there’s potential to make a difference [through research],” explains Bayoumi. His work on committees and working groups making real-world decisions has inspired the Chair to put evidence in a realistic context where complex competing factors contribute to overall outcomes.

While Canada’s health services and policy field continues to grapple with the sustainability of an overarching health system, Dr. Bayoumi believes that a greater emphasis on equity will help to produce decisions that are in line with Canadians’ health priorities in areas like community based primary health care and chronic disease management.

Currently a supervisor to two health policy post-doctoral fellows, Bayoumi encourages students and new investigators to be passionate about their chosen areas and to let this interest guide the development of interesting research questions and programs. He further encourages students to combine these interests with strong training in methodological skills and openness to multi-disciplinary research to generate comprehensive research and evidence.

Complete the sentence with Dr. Bayoumi:

  1. My role model growing up was… my parents who weren’t afraid to explore new opportunities
  2. The one thing I can’t live without is… my children
  3. If I was not a health researcher I would be… a student for a very long time
  4. My secret talent is… a secret!
  5. If I had $1,000,000 I would… establish a health services and policy research fellowship

Awards

IHSPR Travel Awards 2012-13

IHSPR will provide travel awards in 2012-13 for graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and new investigators to attend and present their research at meetings, conferences or symposia that align with the Institute's mandate and advance their professional development and knowledge translation (KT) initiatives in health services and policy research.

Application deadline: January 25 2013 (for travel between April 3, 2013 and November 1, 2013).
For more information & to apply visit IHSPR Institute Community Support Program.

IHSPR Rising Star Award 2012-13

CIHR-IHSPR is pleased to accept applications for the Rising Star Award. This award is intended to recognize the research excellence and KT initiatives of up to three upcoming health services and policy researchers at an early stage in their career.

Application deadline: February 1, 2013 (for articles published between January 1, 2012 and February 1, 2013).
For more information & to apply visit IHSPR Rising Star Award 2012-2013.

IHSPR Article of the Year Award 2012-13

CIHR-IHSPR is also pleased to accept applications for the Article of the Year Award. This award is intended to recognize published research that has significantly contributed to the advancement of the field of health services and policy research in Canada. IHSPR will consider articles related to:

  • research that has had a clear impact or potential impact on policy or practice; or
  • research that breaks ground in the way health services or policy research is conducted

Application deadline: February 1, 2013 (for articles published between January 1, 2011 and February 1, 2013).
For more information & to apply visit IHSPR Article of the Year Award 2012-2013.

On the Horizon – Access to Drugs

The issue of high drug costs (brand name and generic) is an issue plaguing the health system due to reduced accessibility to treatment. This discrepancy is more distinct for Canadians living with rare diseases, where treatment costs can hit well over $500,000 every year.

An Emerging team grant is being implemented by a UBC team to better understand the factors affecting policies in this domain. Researchers led by Larry Lynd will be working with a multidisciplinary team of experts, key stakeholders and public input to develop a policy framework for making crucial decisions around these “orphan” drugs for rare diseases. Project collaborators will be tasked with in analyzing clinical, developmental social and economic implications of the proposed policy.

The findings and outcomes of this work will be crucial in balancing the financial sustainability of the health system, while ensuring that the estimated 1 in 12 Canadians living with rare diseases have access to lifelong, lifesaving treatments. Policy changes will go a long way towards increasing the efficiency of the health system’s chronic disease management resources.

Researcher’s Corner

Congratulations to the research team led by Annette Browne on their publication in the International Journal for Equity in Health. The team’s paper, “Closing the health equity gap: evidence-based strategies for primary health care organizations” investigates barriers to marginalized populations’ accessibility to primary health care (PHC) services. In this mostly qualitative study, research was conducted in PHC centres in urban neighbourhoods recognized as among the poorest in Canada. Four dimensions of equity-oriented PHC services were identified; inequity-responsive care, trauma-informed care, contextually-tailored care and culturally competent care, and developed into 10 concrete strategies to improve quality of care from a crisis-oriented to a continuity focus.

Annette Browne holds an Institute of Public and Population Health (IPPH) programmatic grants in health equity, co-funded by IHSPR.

View the report [ PDF (367 KB) - external link ].

Conferences

2013 CAHSPR Conference
May 28-30, 2013
Sheraton Wall Centre (Vancouver, BC)

Get ready for the 2013 CAHSPR Conference! This year’s theme “Making Good on the Triple Aim: How to Improve our Success within the Canadian Context” will set the stage to learn from improvement initiatives in Canada and other jurisdictions, to identify the factors necessary to drive improvements across the Canadian health system, and to explore what it means to pursue the triple aim within the promise of universal access.

Call for abstracts opens: Monday, October 22, 2012
Call for abstracts closes: Thursday, January 24, 2013
Results notifications sent: Monday, February 18, 2013
Conference registration opens: Monday, March 4, 2013
Early bird registration deadline: Friday, April 5, 2013
Pre-conference day: Monday, May 27, 2013
Conference dates: Tuesday, May 28, 2013 to Thursday, May 30, 2013

2013 CPHA Conference
June 9-12, 2012
Ottawa Convention Centre (Ottawa, ON)

Planning for the 2013 CPHA Conference is well underway. This year’s theme “Moving Public Health Forward: Evidence, Policy Practice” will feature presentations that explore how evidence of different types can be used successfully in different situations and for different purposes. new perspectives on the various types of evidence available and how best to use them. Participants will discuss the integration of evidence into policy and practice and back into the research cycle as well as the factors beyond evidence that influence the policy development process.

Don’t forget to sign-up and join workshops or pre-conference and breakfast sessions to gain new knowledge and skills as well as participate in a forum for discussion and interaction.

Call for abstracts closes: Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Results notifications sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Conference registration opens: Friday, February 8, 2013
Special Early bird registration deadline: Friday, March 1, 2013
Early bird registration deadline: Thursday, April 4, 2013
Pre-registration deadline: Friday, May 31, 2013
Conference dates: Sunday, June 9, 2013 to Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Evidence Informed Healthcare Renewal

Global Symposium on Health Systems Research
From 31 October to 3 November, 2012, 1,775 participants from over 110 countries gathered in Beijing, China for the Second Global Symposium on health systems research.

Around the theme of inclusion and innovation towards Universal Health Coverage, the symposium reviewed state-of-the art research and discussed strategies for strengthening the field of health systems research. Health Systems Global was also launched as a membership organization dedicated to promoting research and knowledge translation.

Health Systems Evidence
A newly enhanced version of Health Systems Evidence page has been launched that gives policymakers, stakeholders and researchers access to more comprehensive evidence on health system reform. The service now contains complete inventories of economic evaluations of health system reforms published since 2007, descriptions of health systems around the world, and descriptions of health system reforms.

Health Systems Evidence, the world’s most comprehensive free access point to syntheses of research evidence about governance, financial and delivery arrangements within health systems, now contains more than 5,000 documents, and has 3,500 registered users from more than 100 countries.

For more details on the launch visit McMaster Health Forum.

EIHR Initiative
Watch IHSPR Scientific Director Robyn Tamblyn explain how EIHR will transform the Canadian health care system.

November Quiz

This month’s quiz is based on our National Alliance of Provincial Health Research Organizations (NAPHRO) member, the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Applied Health Research (NLCAHR)
  1. NLCAHR was established in September 1999 with core funding from how many organizations?
    1. 3
    2. 1
    3. 5
    4. 7
  2. NLCAHR Director, Dr. Stephen Bornstein is one of how many organizational board members?
    1. 5
    2. 10
    3. 9
    4. 7
  3. How much total annual funding is available through an NLCAHR Project Grant?
    1. $20,000
    2. $40,000
    3. $80,000
    4. $133,333
  4. NLCAHR hosts Research Exchange Groups to facilitate knowledge exchange amongst researchers, decision makers and members of the general public. Which of the following is not a NLCAHR organized Research Exchange Group?
    1. Eating Issues, Disordered Eating and Body Image
    2. Women’s Health/Gender and Health
    3. Cancer Research
    4. Quantitative Analysis

Please send your answers back to info.ihspr@mcgill.ca for a chance have your name entered into this month’s raffle to win cool prizes - if you have all answers correct!

We would like to hear from you!
CIHR - Institute of Health Services and Policy Research
3666 McTavish, Second Floor, Montréal, QC, H3A 1Y2
Tel: 514-398-5736
Email: info.ihspr@mcgill.ca