Randomly selected commentaries by Steven Lewis In no particular order and focused on no particular topic. Think of these as a test of your Ipad or Laptop or other form of technology. Where There's Smoke, There's Pfizer Categorical Nonsense, p < .05 Steven Lewis and Denise Kouri The Conference Board: Rank Amateurs with an Agenda? The Conference Board Answers Steven Lewis The Chosen Path  (with Jonathan Lomas) Pay for Performance: The Wrong Time, the Wrong Place? CMA Emerges Dazed from Cave, Writes Report Spare the Policy, Spoil the Profession The Ugly Australian

Steven Lewis is a health policy and research consultant and Adjunct Professor of Health Policy at Vancouver's Simon Fraser University.

Katherine Smith, a lecturer with the Global Public Health Unit at the University of Edinburgh, will be a visiting scholar with CHEPA in January 2012, and will give the CHEPA monthly seminar on Jan. 18.

Smith’s research interests include processes of knowledge transfer (particularly between research and policy), policies and interventions to tackle health inequalities, and the influence of corporations and advocacy organizations on public health and policies affecting public health.

Most crowdfunding sites take a percentage of the money raised by each campaign, usually between 3% and 7%.

the majority of donations are in the area of medical expenses

Medical expenses are the leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States, according to a study that indicated about 62% of personal bankruptcies in 2007 were reportedly due to medical bills, even though most of those people had insurance — up from about 46% in 2001 (Am J Med 2009;122[8]:741-46).

Saskatchewan

will be the first in Canada to introduce the so-called lean system of management to all of its 43,000-plus healthcare workers and managers

Pilot projects in that region reduced injuries and eliminated a backlog of jobs for maintenance workers, squeezed in more colonoscopies without increasing spending and juggled supply carts to cut down time professionals spent doing inventory counts.

This new publication uses facts and data to debunk the myth that public sector and health care spending are out of control.  

Compass Group Canada retains its monopoly over housekeeping and food services at Vancouver Island health facilities, despite the health authority's attempts to dump the contractor.

Vancouver Island Health Authority announced Thursday it has renewed its housekeeping contract, worth $10.61 million per year over five years, with Crothall Services Canada, a division of Compass.

"There have been some dreadful outbreaks, including C-Difficile and others, at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital and now the company that was responsible for cleaning is essentially getting rewarded with another contract," Krog said.

Dr. John Haggie, president of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA)

What's needed now from the federal and provincial politicians is clear, said Haggie."Leadership and collaboration. And a will to look at the system so it's changed, it's transformed. Not tinkered with around the edges. So at the end of the day, it delivers what Canadians need."

In an interview with a Calgary radio station Thursday, Harper reiterated the message."We will continue to expand health-care funding significantly in this country," the prime minister told talk-show host Dave Rutherford."But all governments are going to have to come, and are frankly, coming to grips with the reality that health-care funding can't, over the long period, grow quicker than the economy because obviously it would bankrupt the system.""The provinces themselves, I think, are going to have to look seriously at what needs to be done to make the system more cost-effective. We have a great health-care system, and notwithstanding its problems, it provides people the care when they need it, but it's doing so at a cost that is continuing to rise far faster than provinces can afford."

PANEL #1 – : “Threats to Medicare: Failed experiments and myths”, Panel moderated by André Picard, award-winning health reporter from The Globe and Mail Panelists: Natalie Mehra (Ontario Health Coalition), Diana Gibson (Parkland Institute, Alberta), Saideh Khadir (Médecins Québécois pour le Régime Public) and Allan Maslove (School of Public Policy and Administration, Carleton University)

PANEL #2 – “The Way Forward: Integrated and Continuing Care”, Panel moderated by André Picard, award-winning health reporter from The Globe and Mail Panelists: John Abbott (CEO, Health Council of Canada), Marc-André Gagnon (School of Public Policy and Administration, Carleton University), Michael Rachlis (health policy analyst) and Sharon Sholzberg-Gray (Past-President, Canadian Healthcare Association)

Premier Brad Wall says the federal government’s new health care funding plan is frustrating.

"I think the process is unfortunate," he said. "I think the finance ministers were hoping for a beginning of a round of consultations and at least on the transfer piece it does not appear to be what the federal government is doing."

Wall said he would like a chance to negotiate a separate stream of money coming from Ottawa that is based on results. "Our province has always said it can't just be about money, it's got to be about better outcomes for patients," Wall said. "That will be our message to the federal government." Wall said there could be other opportunities to get more money based on innovation, such as reducing wait times.

Healthcare and pharmaceutical executives were four of the top 10 best paid executives in the United States in 2010

Pay for chief executives increased by 27% in 2010, the firm said. No bankers were on the top 10 list.

Omnicare

The public inquiry into the high number of deaths at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust is expected to recommend that minimum staffing ratios be set for total numbers and the skills mix of doctors and nurses in accident and emergency and elderly care wards in England to ensure the safety of care.

counsel to the inquiry, Tom Kark QC, said “that consideration should be given to the production of model staffing guidelines for certain types of wards and departments against which the Care Quality Commission should assess the acceptability of staffing.”

Mr Kark pointed out that the real danger in accident and emergency services at Mid Staffordshire was understaffing, inadequate training, and poor governance.

A coalition of experts has called on politicians of all parties to agree urgent reforms of adult social care in England

have written to the Daily Telegraph urging “fundamental and lasting reform” of a system that they say harms society, the economy, and the dignity of elderly and disabled people (http://tgr.ph/tIkRRk).

The signatories warn that an estimated 800 000 elderly people are being left without basic care and as a result are “lonely, isolated and at risk.” Others face losing their homes and savings because of soaring care bills, while disabled people are deprived of the support they need to live independently.

At last, compensation packages for executives at Ontario’s 150 hospitals have been made public.