Will Google Enable Your Health Record?

We understand that Canada Health Infoway is "talking" to Google. We will follow this. For starters here's a primer from Google's own blog. . . posted 11/30/2006 12:59:00 PM

Posted by Adam Bosworth, Vice President

At Google, we often get questions about what we're doing in the area of health. I have been interested in the issues of health care and health information for a while. It is now one of my main focuses here, and I've decided to start posting about it. I've been motivated in this field in part by my personal experiences helping to care for my mother, who recently died from cancer after a four-year battle. While the quality of the medical care my mother received was extraordinary, I saw firsthand how challenged the health care system was in supporting caregivers and communicating between different medical organizations. The system didn't fail completely, but struggled with these phases:

• What was wrong -- it took her doctors nine months to correctly identify an illness which had classic symptoms
• Who should treat her -- there was no easy way to figure out who were the best local physicians and caregivers, which ones were covered by her insurance, and how we could get them to agree to treat her
• Once she was treated, she had a chronic illness, and needed ongoing care and coordinated nursing and monitoring, particularly once her illness recurred

Once she had a correct diagnosis and we'd found the right doctor, her treatment was excellent. But before and after treatment, most people with serious illnesses have to live through these other phases and suffer similar problems. She was trying to get help from her caregivers in the family and it was incredibly challenging to get the right information and help her make the right decisions. Often the health care system isn't well set up to address these issues. I believe our industry can help resolve some of these problems and ameliorate others.

In the end, one key part of the solution to these problems . . . for more click here:

Health care information matters

1,200 Nursing Grads Will Go Unemployed

About 15 per cent of graduates from Canadian nursing schools in 2007 will be unable to find work, according to the Canadian Nurses Association which also called for more full-time jobs to be created.

Taking Ontario's health monopoly to court

Ontario's health care monopoly almost killed Lindsay McCreith. After suffering a seizure in January, 2006, the 66-year-old Newmarket resident was told he had a brain tumour. But he would have to wait four-and-a-half months to obtain an MRI to rule out the possibility that it was cancerous. Unwilling to risk the progression of what might be cancer, Mr. McCreith obtained an MRI in Buffalo, which revealed the tumour was malignant. Even with this diagnosis in hand, the Ontario system still refused to provide timely treatment, so Mr. McCreith had surgery in Buffalo to remove the cancerous brain tumour in March, 2006.

Andy Barrie spoke with Lindsay McCreith. The retired Newmarket man was told he would have to wait for more than four months for an MRI.Listen. (Runs 6:59)

Chaoulli comes to Ontario

Had he trusted Ontario's government healthcare monopoly to treat him, Lindsay McCreith would likely be dead today. At the very least, his health would have been permanently diminished. Unacceptably long waiting lists for simple diagnostic tests and basic treatments forced the 66-year-old retired auto body shop owner from Newmarket to pay more than US$27,600 out of his own pocket for timely cancer treatment in the United States. Now, with the help of the Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF), Mr. McCreith is challenging Ontario's ban on private health options. If he wins, Ontarians would finally be allowed to buy insurance that covers their care when the state monopoly fails them, as it too often does.

Why can’t doctors wash their hands?

(Apparently Nurses aren’t much better) Every year, 250,000 Canadians pick up infections while they are in hospitals being treated for something else. That's a staggering one out of every nine Canadians who are admitted to hospital.

Every year, those infections kill more than 8,000 people.

That's more than will die of breast cancer, AIDS and car accidents combined. Most of those deaths can be prevented — by simple hand washing.

In the wake of the SARS outbreak that hit Toronto in March 2003, hand sanitizers have become common in hospitals and other public buildings across the country. Many people use them — others don't. Read the full report here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/hospital-infections/

AND IF you want to see the evidence: here is a CBC secret camera report. Chilling. Erica Johnson reports on 'Dirty Doctors'

Are pharmacists content to contribute directly to the epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes?

Caroline Apovian, a researcher at Boston University School of Medicine, commented that the study “provides strong, scientifically sound evidence that excess calories from soft drinks are directly contributing to the epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes” and that “reducing sugars sweetened beverage consumption may be the best single opportunity to curb the obesity epidemic.” (Apovian CM. Sugar-sweetened soft drinks, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. JAMA. 2004; 292:978–9.).
For a full analysis read: Liquid Candy: How Soft Drinks Are Harming Americans’ Health by Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D. published by the Center for Science in the Public Interest Washington, D.C.

Suggestions for the consumer & patient. Choosing what and when to eat takes some careful consideration. Here are some healthy tips to help stave off the hunger pangs and keep energy levels up throughout the day. Here are some ideas courtesy of the CBC: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/health/smart-snacks.html

Suggestions for the clinicians. A complete copy of the 2006 Canadian Clinical Practice Guidelines on the Management and Prevention of Obesity in Adults and Children can be found at http://www.cmaj.ca/pressrelease/pgS1-complete.pdf. The word pharmacist or pharmacy does not appear once in these guidelines published by the Canadian Medical Association Journal. What an opportunity!

Suggestions for pharmacists. From the University of Saskatchewan some enlightening news. For starters: Pharmacy and nutrition are taught in the same program. Their College of Pharmacy and Nutrition recommends that you “don't recommend natural weight loss products to patients. The most dependable way to safely lose weight is still lifestyle modification - reducing caloric intake and increasing exercise.”

So if pharmacists want to make a difference – they might start by clearing their shelves of tarts and treats. Check out these photos

DRUG MARTS: PAY ATTENTION

The obesity risk of children increases for each additional glass of sugar-sweetened drink consumed each day.

Shoppers Drug Mart recently complained to Longwoods because we drew attention to one store’s multiple displays of thousands of cases of pop and row after row and promo after promo of super sized chocolate bars, other sweets and deep fried treats. Their representative wrote that we failed to make “the point about personal choice and individual responsibility for the choices we make as consumers and the impact that has on our health.” The correspondence also provides this quote: “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” Robert Collier.

So we would like to continue our small efforts in bringing to their attention the importance of nutrition in our lives – something we would hope would be promoted by a DRUG MART. The following is from the International Diabetes Federation.

Fight Obesity Prevent Diabetes

FACT SHEET ON DIET & NUTRITION

1. A third of the global burden of disease is probably the result of dietary factors.
2. People who are undernourished in early life and then become obese in adulthood are at a greater risk of developing conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes at an earlier age.
3. The average family spends 15 minutes preparing meals compared to two hours a few years ago.
4. The obesity risk of children increases for each additional glass of sugar-sweetened drink consumed each day.
5. People with diabetes should eat more fibre than people without the condition. Fibre helps prevent stomach problems and lower cholesterol.
6. Low energy diets are the most likely to lead to healthy eating habits and effective weight maintenance.
7. Eating while doing something else can often lead to overeating and thus increase the chances of becoming obese.
8. Reducing malnutrition in pregnant women can prevent their children from becoming overweight later in life and ease the burden of obesity.
9. Diet alone is not considered sufficient for sustained weight loss and needs to be coupled with exercise and a structured eating plan.

Sources:
1. Diabetes and Obesity: Time to Act; International Diabetes Federation 2004
2. Overfed and Underfed: The Global Epidemic of Malnutrition; Worldwatch Paper 150, Worldwatch Institute 2000
3. WHO World Heath Report 2002; World Health Organization 2002

And from a papers by David L. Mowat and David Butler-Jones:

“Current trends, such as an increasing prevalence of obesity (36% of adults are overweight and 23% obese), lack of physical activity (55% of Canadians are not physically active or moderately active [Statistics Canada 2004]) and a rapidly increasing incidence of type 2 diabetes, might well halt or even reverse progress in life expectancy, and certainly pose a threat to the sustainability of the health services system. Tackling these problems solely by curative means or even individually-based preventive approaches is neither affordable nor feasible. Vigorous population-based approaches are essential if these trends are to be reversed.”
See: Healthcare Papers

The Health Council of Canada addresses diabetes. We are reminded . . .

“The way we provide health care today leaves too many people vulnerable to serious health problems that could be avoided, “ said Dr. Ian Bowmer, Vice Chair of the Health Council of Canada. “If we don’t support prevention and change the way we deliver care for chronic health conditions, we are not optimizing care and are putting the quality of life of Canadians at risk.”

. . . . type 2 diabetes affects at least 1.3 million Canadians, plus hundreds of thousands more are unaware that they have the condition. Type 2 diabetes is also a largely preventable disease that is becoming increasingly prevalent among children and adults throughout the country, because of changes in eating and exercise habits that increase the risk of developing this disease.

Three-quarters of the people who live with diabetes also have other chronic health conditions, the Health Council found. Many suffer the serious complications typical of diabetes, such as heart disease, kidney damage, depression, loss of vision, and poor circulation which can lead to amputations. But with the right kind of health care, these health problems – which reduce the quality of life for people with diabetes and drive up the cost of their health care – can be forestalled or prevented, the report concludes.

Screening programs and community initiatives to help people better manage diet and lifestyle choices can have a major impact on preventing or delaying the onset of disease, but we need to take action now, to stem the rising tide of diabetes and related chronic health conditions.

“The lesson is clear. People with diabetes will need less intensive, less expensive, health care in the future, if they get the right care now,” said Dr. Stanley Vollant, a Councillor with the Health Council of Canada. “The way we provide care now is piecemeal and out-of-date. By changing how the health system works, we can improve the well-being of Canadians and make the health care system more sustainable. Canada can do better."

“It took a generation of hard work to see a real reduction in the number of Canadians who smoke,” said Dr. Bowmer. “We have to do the same for healthy eating and exercise to prevent chronic health conditions like diabetes. But we have to do it faster.”
See: Health Council of Canada

Shoppers Drug Mart* and other retail healthcare provider organizations should take note!
They can make a difference by discouraging sugar coated, fat laden foodstuffs often offered for “the convenience of our customers”.

Shoppers Drug Mart’s annual report tells readers that the company has captured a significant share of the market in front store merchandise, including over-the-counter medications, health and beauty aids, cosmetics and fragrances, seasonal products and everyday household essentials. They fail to mention that some stores have created a very large category (as many as eight aisle-length shelves) of super-sized chocolate bars, potato chip bags and multiple skids of pop – each holding up to 400 cases of the stuff at very affordable prices. It is difficult to see how this squares with their statement: “So we’re doing everything we can to help you keep healthy.” (The Publisher)

Photo reviews, rants and raves: Tim Hortons

Here it is: the Breakfast Sandwich served by Tim Hortons (34 grams of fat). And now – Tim Hortons adds needle disposals to washrooms

More news from a pharmacist and pharmacy. a.k.a. healthcare providers.

Shoppers Drug Mart at Queen and Carlaw in Toronto removes butter tarts & cheap cakes from the shelves and substitutes hundreds of cases of soft drinks. Check out these photos. This is in support of their corporate commitment found on the web site of the Canadian Diabetes Association. “. . . Shoppers Drug Mart continues to positively influence the health, well being and quality of life for people affected by diabetes.” In the meantime large chain grocery stores nearby are unable able to match this drug mart’s unfailing commitment to chocolate, candy, soft drinks, chips and more.