HEALTH CARE Ontario invests $75M to speed up patient wait times The Ontario government is investing $75.8 million this year to support health-care providers in continuing to reduce patient wait times across the province, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care said. The money also will be used to provide more than 6,800 additional surgical procedures and more than 220,000 hours of MRI and CT scans, the ministry said. Ensuring people across the province have faster access to surgical and diagnostic procedures is part of Ontario’s Action Plan for Health Care “helping deliver the right care at the right time and in the right place,” the ministry said. Already, according to data from the province, wait times for surgeries and diagnostic procedures are getting shorter across Ontario. “Since 2005, our government has dedicated funding to reduce wait times for surgical and diagnostic imaging procedures. Thanks to these investments and the consistent year-over-year efforts at the local level, we have increased access to timely procedures and will continue to do so to ensure better health outcomes for patients across Ontario,” said Deb Matthews, minister of health and long-term care. The province has reported “great progress” in reducing wait times for key procedures, and offered the following statistics for June 2013: • 94 per cent of cataract surgeries were performed within the 182-day target • 89 per cent of hip Replacements were performed within the 182- day target • 85 per cent of knee replacements were performed within the 182- day target • 61 per cent of non-urgent MRIs were performed within the 28-day target • 87 per cent of CT scans performed were within the 28-day target • 98 per cent of general surgeries were performed within the 182-day target • 98 per cent of cancer surgeries were performed within the 84-day target • 92 per cent of pediatric surgeries were performed within the 182-day target Since 2005, Ontario has publicly reported on wait times for surgical and diagnostic imaging procedures. The province currently reports on wait times for over 190 different surgical and diagnostic procedures. Since 2003, Ontario has invested more than $1.7 billion for approximately three million additional procedures to help reduce wait times. For the sixth consecutive year, Ontario received straight A’s from the Canada-wide Wait Time Alliance for meeting performance targets in reducing wait times in five priority health-service areas – hip replacements, knee replacements, cataract surgery, radiation oncology and cardiac services. Ontario’s Wait Time website was rated as one of the best in Canada (grade of A) by the Wait Time Alliance, the ministry said. PATIENT EDUCATION New arthritis screening program opens at drugstores Canadian retailer Shoppers Drug Mart has launched the company’s Arthritis Screening program, an initiative that allows Canadians to work with a pharmacist to help detect and manage arthritis condition at an early stage. Shoppers Drug Mart announced the new program Sept. 9 with Health Minister Rona Ambrose. An estimated one in six Canadians aged 15 years and older live with arthritis and its prevalence has a tremendous impact, translating into lost productivity, absenteeism and increased health-care spending and costing an estimated $33 billion annually, according to a statement issued by Shoppers Drug Mart announcing the new program. ”Our government supports initiatives that help Canadians better manage their health and improve their quality of life,” Ambrose said. “We are pleased to have funded research that contributed to the development of this innovative new program that will improve the quality of life of Canadians living with arthritis.” The program was developed from research carried out at the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada with funding from the Government of Canada through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. It shows how researchers, patients and the private sector can work together to provide innovative health solutions to Canadians. Pharmacists at more than 1,200 Shoppers Drug Mart stores across Canada will be providing arthritis screening and information to Canadians as part of a three-year Partnership between Shoppers Drug Mart/Pharmaprix, Arthritis Consumer Experts and the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada. “Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacists are already actively involved in managing complex chronic diseases, like diabetes, heart disease and now arthritis,” said Domenic Pilla, president and CEO, Shoppers Drug Mart. “By becoming increasingly involved in managing complex chronic diseases, pharmacists are helping to ease the burden on the health-care system, while also helping to improve patient care.” The Shoppers Drug Mart Arthritis Screening is the first and only program in Canada designed with women in mind, according to the company. Arthritis affects two out of three, or 2.8 million, Canadian women. To help detect the disease at an early stage, the program includes a self-administered joint exam and questionnaire. It also helps Canadians with arthritis work with a pharmacist to monitor their symptoms and medication over time to prevent the disease from worsening, the retailer said. “The arthritis community is excited to be partnering With Shoppers Drug Mart/ Pharmaprix. They’re on main streets across Canada, right where the more than 4.6 million Canadians living with arthritis live and work. Pharmacists are key members of an arthritis patient’s healthcare team. Now, Shoppers’ pharmacists will be able to share valuable arthritis information and detect or confirm arthritis with patients through innovative consumer education programs right at the pharmacy counter,” said Arthritic Consumer Experts founder and president, Cheryl Koehn. “We’re thrilled that Shoppers Drug Mart/Pharmaprix is putting our research to work by launching this important initiative in its stores,” said Dr. John Esdaile, scientific director of Arthritis Research Centre of Canada. “Early diagnosis of arthritis is critical to slowing the progress of this disease. That’s why Arthritis Research Centre of Canada scientist Carlo Marra and his team have invested enormous energy in developing the screening exam tool for pharmacists. We hope Canadians will get screened through this program and get access to the care they need to improve their health and quality of life.” Arthritis is the second most frequently mentioned condition as a cause of disability among men, but first among women. Arthritis-related disability includes limitations in mobility, such as moving around, reaching and bending, and transportation; self-care; domestic life; and community, social and civic life. LEADERSHIP Parker Alumni names new execs The Parker Alumni Association recently elected members to its executive committee. Dr. Steven Brooks was named president following his two-year role as vice-president of the Parker Alumni Association. Dr. Carol Watkins was elected vice-president and Dr. Beau Hightower will serve as treasurer. “All three of them are proven leaders who are extremely dedicated to ensuring the alumni association is a resource for Parker alumni and friends,” said Timothy Gunn, director of alumni relations at Parker University, based in Dallas, Texas. Dr. Brooks, a 1999 graduate of Parker, practises in San Angelo, Texas, at Sunset Chiropractic. He was recognized as San Angelo’s Favorite Chiropractor in a Standard- Times reader’s choice poll from 2003-2012. He has served on numerous local and national boards, including Make-A-Wish Foundation, Boys and Girls Club and city council appointed boards. His new position will also allow him to sit on the board of trustees for Parker University. Newly elected vice-president, Dr. Watkins, previously served as treasurer. A 2011 Parker graduate, Dr. Watkins co-chaired the Young Alumni Committee. Even as a Parker student she was involved in the alumni association by sitting on the Parker Alumni Association Board of Directors, where she became the voice of the students within the association. Dr. Hightower is the newest member of the executive committee and co-chaired the Young Alumni Committee with Dr. Watkins. Dr. Hightower holds more than 400 hours of post-doctoral education in physical rehabilitation and functional neurology and is pursuing his PhD in brain and rehabilitation sciences. His sports medicine residency was completed in Bogota, Colombia, where he treated the country’s Olympic athletes. TRAINING Toronto scientist gets Mayday Fund pain management fellowship The Mayday Fund has selected six experts in pain management to be fellows of the Mayday Pain and Society Fellowship, one of them a scientist at the Toronto Western Research Institute. Karen Davis, head and senior scientist, at the institute’s Division of Brain, Imaging and Behaviour – Systems Neuroscience, and professor at the University of Toronto’s Department of Surgery and Institute of Medical Science, is the only one from Canada selected for the fellows of the Mayday Pain and Society Fellowship. The following researchers also received fellowships: • Dr. Bill McCarberg, adjunct assistant clinical professor, University of California San Diego; family medicine provider, Neighborhood Healthcare; hospice provider, Elizabeth Hospice in Escondido, Calif. • Dr. Brian Schmidt, director, Bluestone Center for Clinical Research; director, New York University Oral Cancer Center; professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery; professor, Department of Physiology and Neuroscience; and co-leader, Epidemiology and Cancer Control, New York University Cancer Institute • Dr. Steven Stanos, director, Corporate Pain Services, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC); attending physician, RIC Center for Pain Management; associate professor, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation; assistant program director, Multidisciplinary Pain Fellowship, Department of Anesthesia, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine • Cindy Steinberg, national director of policy and advocacy, U.S. Pain Foundation • Catherine Underwood, chief executive officer, American Pain Society The new fellows specialize in a wide range of health-care disciplines, including neuroscience, primary care,Physical and rehabilitative medicine, patient advocacy and pain policy. The fellowship program is in its ninth year, and will continue for one more session in 2014. The fellowship provides paincare leaders with skills to advocate for effective pain management. Fellows learn how to better communicate with the media, policymakers and others to raise visibility for their issues. “The applicant pool was one of the largest and most impressive to date,” said Russell Portenoy, chairman of the Mayday Fellowship Advisory Committee, which selects the fellows each year. “The response showed us that researchers, clinicians and advocates are becoming increasingly aware of the need for effective communication about the urgent problem of undertreated pain. We are confident that this year’s fellows will bring fresh energy and focus to our program, and will acquire the skills they need to more effectively promote the legitimate needs of patients with pain. More than ever, the patient’s voice must be part of the public and professional discourse about pain-related policy and practice,” added Portenoy, who is also chairman of the Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. The fellows will develop skills to advocate and communicate on many of the issues they deal with every day, including the undertreatment of pain, pain research and treatment, pain education, and policies to improve pain care. “The Mayday Fund Trustees congratulate and welcome this new class of fellows,” said Christina Spellman, executive director of the Mayday Fund. “We are eager to support such qualified leaders to speak publicly about cutting-edge pain research, education programs and policy issues Impacting pain care.” As part of their training, the new fellows will attend an intensive fourday workshop in Washington, D.C., in October 2013, and will work closely with media and policy coaches from Burness Communications, a public relations firm that works with nonprofit organizations, primarily in health and science. Fellows will learn how to connect with local and national media, write opinion editorials, and educate members of Congress and other policymakers about pain-care research and treatment. By improving their communications skills, they will be poised to move the field forward by educating and working with the media, policymakers, advocates, health and business leaders, and their own peers. Established in 1992, the Mayday Fund is dedicated to further Shirley Steinman Katzenbach’s commitment to social and medical causes. Her special interest in the treatment of pain forms the core of the fund’s mission. Over the last 20 years, Mayday has contributed to many different projects, among them surveys of public attitudes to pain and its treatment; clinical and academic research; assistance to public and professional advocacy groups; the worldwide documentary film Life Before Death, which raises awareness about the global crisis of untreated and undertreated pain; and most recently, a video to help health-care professionals understand the importance of good communication and treatment for pain and palliative care.