by medicaltechont | Feb 8, 2016 | Canada, Technology
A new report by researchers at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences released yesterday provides an eye-opening look at how our healthcare dollars are being spent in this province.
This is an in-depth look at our healthcare spending at the level of each individual in the province. Researchers tracked every hospital admission, physician visit, home care visit, lab test, and drug prescription for 14.9 million Ontarians between 2009 and 2011.
They accounted for $30 billion, or 75 cents out of every healthcare dollar spent in this province, and found that 43 per cent goes to hospital care, 27 per cent to doctors, 15 per cent to drugs and lab tests, and 15 per cent to long-term care.
As it turns out, “high-cost users” consume a disproportionate amount of these resources. Ten percent of the population accounted for 77 per cent of spending and 1 per cent accounted for 33 per cent of spending. Each person in that top 1 per cent consumed almost $45,000 a year, compared to a maximum of only $333 a year for each person in the lower 50 per cent cost bracket of the population.
http://globalnews.ca/news/2449651/a-look-at-where-ontario-healthcare-dollars-are-going/
by medicaltechont | Jan 24, 2016 | Canada, Education, Technology, United States
HeadCheck Health wants to minimize the damage of concussions in sports.
The app, created by UBC PhD student Harrison Brown and UBC MBA graduate Kerry Costello, aims to help coachers properly assess concussions in real-time.
Read more at http://www.techvibes.com/blog/seeking-safety-in-sports-headcheck-app-diagnoses-concussions-immediately-2016-01-22
by medicaltechont | Jan 3, 2016 | Canada, Privacy, Security, Technology, The Internet
Canada is lagging behind the U.S., Britain and other countries in defending citizens and businesses against malicious hackers and cyber-criminals, say numerous groups involved in trying to police the internet.
“We’re failing, we’re falling behind,” warns Katherine Thompson of the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance, one of Canada’s largest private-sector high-tech advocacy groups.
“We cannot continue down the path that we’re on right now,” she told CBC News. “We just went through a very long federal election where not one of the major party leaders discussed cyber-security.”
Click here to read more.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/canada-cybercrime-hacking-seglins-1.3312153
by medicaltechont | Nov 28, 2015 | Canada, Privacy, Security, Technology, United States
With Cyber Monday just around the corner, many people still wonder if it is safe to buy online during end-of-the-year sales events.
Of course it is safe in the sense that you won’t be pushed, hit, or crushed by other customers who also want to get their hands on the big deals. But is your credit or debit card information safe when you shop online? If you take a few basic precautions, you can enjoy the big discounts and not worry about getting into trouble.
Historically, November and December are the months with the most online transactions, and are therefore the months in which cyber-criminals are the most active.
We will enumerate the top five security threats you may encounter when shopping online and give you hints about how to shop safely on these dates.\
Read more: http://www.itproportal.com/2015/11/28/top-5-cyber-monday-security-threats-and-what-to-do-about-them/#ixzz3snzVP4ZL
by medicaltechont | Nov 14, 2015 | Canada, e-Health, OHIP Billing, private clinics
The dispute between Ontario doctors and the province over billing rates is threatening access to methadone treatment, with two private Toronto clinics closing their doors and patients in some rural communities facing an uncertain future.
The threat to service follows a 1.3-per-cent rate reduction imposed by the province last month on all fee-for-service billings. The money-saving measures also included targeted reductions, among them a 50-per-cent cut to rates paid to doctors for urine tests that are done once a week or more frequently as part of methadone therapy used to treat heroin and other opioid addictions.
Now at least one Toronto doctor says the fee cut amounts to roughly 25 per cent of his total revenue and means his smaller clinics are losing money. First Nations leaders also are warning access in rural and Northern communities is in danger because private clinics – where most methadone treatment is given – are not as financially attractive. Others say this latest battle over money points to deeper problems with how methadone treatment is delivered in Ontario that go beyond the current billing battle.
Click here to read more.
by medicaltechont | Sep 27, 2015 | Canada, United States
Spending by the Medical Research Council (MRC) on cancer research has fallen by a third since David Cameron became prime minister, according to figures released on Thursday.
The amount spent by the organisation on projects relating to the treatment of cancer has fallen from a peak of £112m in 2011 to £76.2m in 2014, according to the data released by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills.
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/sep/24/medical-research-council-cancer-funding-down-by-a-third-since-2010
The dispute between Ontario doctors and the province over billing rates is threatening access to methadone treatment, with two private Toronto clinics closing their doors and patients in some rural communities facing an uncertain future.
