Cancer patients need access to records, report says

From CTV News:
Cancer patients in Canada - especially those who live in remote areas - need to be given access to their electronic health records to ensure they get the best treatment, say the authors of a new report card on cancer in Canada.

The Cancer Advocacy Coalition of Canada says in its annual report card that patients are not getting enough access to their own medical records.

The CACC conducted a survey of oncology clinics located more than two hours from a regional cancer centre, and found that most aren't using electronic health records to record vital information. Of 11 clinics surveyed across the country, only seven had access to an integrated health record system.

Of those seven, only three allowed clinic staff to make notes on the records.

Such limitations compromise patient care, the authors insist, because oncologists who devised the treatment plans are not able to follow whether treatment is being given properly, or what complications the patient encountered. ...more

Doctors and pharmacists join smartcard critics

From E-Health Europe:
With its rollout coming closer, critics of the German smartcard project are once again becoming louder. Three regional political representative bodies of doctors, dentists and pharmacists are now supporting an anti-smartcard alliance.

The “Stoppt die e-Card” alliance was launched in January this year and is a rather diffuse conglomerate of civil rights organisations, regional interest groups and patient organisations, most notably the German AIDS-aid.

As a reaction to recent headlines about poor data privacy protection among health insurance companies, the alliance has stepped up pressure against the smartcard project.

And its latest statement has been publicly supported by the Kassenzahnärztliche Vereinigung Hamburg (KZVH), the Kassenärztliche Vereinigung Hamburg (KVH) and the Apothekerkammer Hamburg. The KZVH represents all dentists in Hamburg. The KVH represents all doctors in private practice in Hamburg. And the Apothekerkammer is Hamburg’s chamber of pharmacists. ...more

New Brunswick to set up online drug-control program

From CBC News:
The New Brunswick government has awarded the contract for development of an online drug control program to Medavie Blue Cross of Moncton.

Health Minister Mike Murphy made the announcement Tuesday afternoon in the provincial legislature in Fredericton.

The program will allow the province to track the use of prescribed narcotics like OxyContin, which is a group of drugs similar to morphine, and Dilaudid, a derivative of morphine.

The program will also monitor the prescribing patterns of doctors and drug patterns of patients, Murphy said.

Pharmacists will be taught how to use the new online program, Murphy said.

"All of the province's approximately 190 community pharmacies will be linked in the system, and pharmacists trained over a period of about one year," Murphy said. ...more

Your medical chart, just a mouse click away

From the Globe and Mail:
With the ease of online banking comes this Canadian first: patients perusing their X-rays, checking laboratory test results and discreetly obtaining a second medical opinion - all from the comforts of their home computers.

Ontario's Privacy Commissioner even keeps her electronic health record, called MyChart, on a memory stick, a device the size of a pack of gum that neatly tucks into a pants pocket.

"Given that I travel extensively, it's very important to have access to my [medical] records at a moment's notice," said Ann Cavoukian, who has undergone neurosurgery three times.

Although MyChart is available only to patients at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, other Canadian hospitals are coming out with their own versions of the paperless health record.

"By 2010, the goal is to have half of the population with an electronic health record," said Richard Alvarez, president and chief executive officer of Canada Health Infoway, an independent, federally funded agency that works with provinces and territories to invest in electronic health-record projects, typically by funding half the cost. By 2016, he wants every Canadian to have one.

The reality today, however, is far different: Only 9 per cent of Canadians have an electronic health record. ...more

Tory pledges health-care overhaul with online records

From the Globe and Mail:
Ontario Opposition Leader John Tory plans to dramatically overhaul the province's health-care system by providing every resident with an electronic record of their medical history by 2014 if the Progressive Conservatives win the election.

The creation of an online record-keeping system is at the centre of his party's health-care platform for the Oct. 10 provincial election.

Mr. Tory will release the campaign document at the Progressive Conservatives' convention in Toronto Saturday, which also includes a plan to give faith-based schools in Ontario the option of joining the public education system. ...more

Doctors too slow to embrace electronic health records

I'm glad to see this issue getting attention. I think it's embarrassing that Canada is so far behind when it comes to using electronic record keeping when it comes to medical records.

From CBC News:
Patients would be better cared for if Canadian hospitals and doctors' offices would stop relying on paper charts and begin using electronic health records, health policy experts say.

Computers can improve patient care, for example, by helping to prevent drug interactions, said Charlyn Black, head of the Centre for Health Services and Policy Research at the University of British Columbia.

It can "make sure patients are receiving refills, that they don't forget to take medications, that they get reminders for important preventive care," said Black. ...more

Recent reports of black particles after reconstitution of Myozyme

From Health Canada:
Genzyme has received isolated complaints pertaining to an observation of black gelatinous particles after reconstitution of 50 mg vials of Myozyme® (alglucosidase alfa). Working in close consultation with relevant regulatory authorities, Genzyme immediately initiated an investigation and discovered that when certain types of needles are used to penetrate the rubber stopper on Myozyme vials, black gelatinous particles may appear in the product, on the stopper or on the needle. Although we have not received similar complaints with Genzyme's other products, we are writing to alert our customers to the potential that such particles might appear and to provide current advice and recommendations. ...more

Extra $1.4 billion earmarked for health care

Today's federal budget featured many spending initiatives, and pharmacy-related items were included. Most notable was a promise to provide $300 million to provinces to immunize women against the HPV virus. There was also a mention of $400 million to help support provincial development of electronic health records. A national pharmacare strategy was not proposed.

Both of these measures are welcomed. I am especially heartened to see the HPV vaccination cash. This should help speed up the process of having the provinces add Gardasil (and future HPV vaccines) to their immunization programs. The details are unclear at this point, but if you use $500 as a rough estimate of the cost of the three necessary Gardasil injections per patient, the $300 million should immunize 60,000 women.

From the Vancouver Sun:
The federal government announced an extra $1.4 billion for health care Monday to make progress on a patient wait times guarantee, establish a national mental health commission and launch a vaccination program to prevent cancer of the cervix.

The largest portion of the extra health money in the minority Conservative government's budget is in a three-year, $612-million fund for provincial and territorial governments that make "public commitments to implement a wait times guarantee" by the end of this month. ...more