Fresh on Friday

Cross-country project gives patients a say in solving primary-care crisis (Healthy Debate)

s a family doctor, Tara Kiran has seen first-hand the reverberating effects of the primary-care physician shortage on Canada’s health-care system. And it is in her role as a scientist with MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions that she plans to uncover what patients have to say about these gaps. Kiran and a team of collaborators are launching OurCare, a three-phase research project that aims to provide much-needed answers to Canada’s primary care woes. “We’ve been having conversations within the profession and with governments about (improving primary care) for a while,” says Kiran. More…

COVID-19 vaccination offers sustained and potent neutralizing protection against variants compared to natural infection (Medical Life Sciences)

The widespread use of vaccination has been encouraged throughout the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic because it has the potential to significantly reduce the health and financial consequences associated with the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and is ultimately essential to ending the pandemic. Researchers discovered IgG seroconversion and varying degrees of persistent immunity brought on by natural infection and/or immunization during the intervening months. More…

As pressures mount on home care in Canada, experts look abroad for solutions (CBC)

Denmark, The Netherlands provide possible road map for home-focused care with less red tape, say experts. Kirsten and David MacDonald's lives were both changed forever last year when Kirsten was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and David became her full-time caregiver. "A year and a half ago, Kirsten could run 5K, no problem. And so in the course of a year and a half now, she has absolutely no use of her feet, and her arms and her legs. And her voice is going. More..

Adding more team members is the wrong answer to decreasing physician burnout (KevinMD)

I recently read an article about reducing physician burnout written by a health care consultant who proposed the creation of an enhanced medical scribe, or “team care assistant” (TCA). According to the article, the TCA obtains the patient’s medical history through “template-driven questions about the chief complaint.” After obtaining the history, the TCA then calls the physician into the exam room to present their findings. The article describes it this way: “The 5 to 15 minutes of data collection is then presented in a 2 to 3-minute crisp, data-packed presentation to the physician in front of the patient.” More…

Successful Leaders Are Great Coaches (HBR)

Leadership is going through massive changes as the Baby Boomers transfer power to emerging leaders in the Gen X, Millennial, and Gen Z generations. That generational change is bringing with it a shift in leadership style, from leaders as capable managers to leaders as great coaches of people. While in recent years many leaders have hired external coaches, some have gone further, conceptualizing their jobs as executives as fundamentally about coaching. More…