A shifting terrain: Understanding the perspectives of walk-in physicians on their roles amid worsening primary care access in Ontario, Canada.

BACKGROUND: High-quality primary care is associated with better health outcomes and more efficient and equitable health system performance. However, the rate of primary care attachment is falling, and timely access to primary care is worsening, driving many patients to use walk-in clinics for their comprehensive primary care needs. This study sought to explore the experiences and perceived roles and responsibilities of walk-in physicians in this current climate. Methods: Qualitative interviews were conducted with nineteen physicians currently providing walk-in care in Ontario, Canada between May and December 2022. RESULTS: Limited capacity for continuity and comprehensiveness of care were identified as major sources of professional tension for walk-in physicians. Divergent perspectives on their roles were anchored in how physicians viewed their professional identity. Some saw providing continuous and comprehensive care as an infringement on their professional role; others saw their professional role as more flexible and responsive to population needs. Regardless of their professional identity, participants reported feeling ill-equipped to manage the swell of unattached patients, citing a lack of time, resources, connectivity to the system, and remuneration flexibility. Conclusions: As practice demands of walk-in clinics change, an evolution in the professional roles and responsibilities of walk-in physicians follows. However, the resources, structure, and incentives of walk-in care have not evolved to reflect this, leaving physicians to set their own professional boundaries with patients. This results in increasing variations in care and confusion across the primary care sector around who is responsible for what, when, and how.

Mapping Theories, Models, and Frameworks to Evaluate Digital Health Interventions: Scoping Review.

BACKGROUND: Digital health interventions (DHIs) are a central focus of health care transformation efforts, yet their uptake in practice continues to fall short of their potential. In order to achieve their desired outcomes and impact, DHIs need to reach their target population and need to be used. Many factors can rapidly intersect between this dynamic of users and interventions. The application of theories, models, and frameworks (TMFs) can facilitate the systematic understanding and explanation of the complex interactions between users, practices, technology, and health system factors that underpin research questions. There remains a gap in our understanding of how TMFs have been applied to guide the evaluation of DHIs with real-world health system operations. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to map TMFs used in studies to guide the evaluation of DHIs. The objectives are to (1) describe the TMFs and the constructs they target, (2) identify how TMFs have been prospectively used (ie, their roles) in primary studies to evaluate DHIs, and (3) to reflect on the relevance and utility of our findings for knowledge users. METHODS: This scoping review was conducted in partnership with knowledge users using an integrated knowledge translation approach. We included papers (eg, reports; empirical quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods studies; conference proceedings; and dissertations) if primary insights resulting from the application of TMFs were presented. Any type of DHI was eligible. Papers published from 2000 and onward were mainly identified from the following databases: MEDLINE (Ovid), CINAHL Complete (EBSCOhost), PsycINFO (Ovid), EBM Reviews (Ovid), and Embase (Ovid). RESULTS: A total of 156 studies published between 2000 and 2022 were included. A total of 68 distinct TMFs were identified across 85 individual studies. In more than half (85/156, 55%) of the included studies, 1 of following 6 prevailing TMFs were reported: Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (n=39); the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance Framework (n=17); the Technology of Acceptance Model (n=16); the Unified Theory on Acceptance and Use of Technology (n=12); the Diffusion of Innovation Theory (n=10); and Normalization Process Theory (n=9). The most common intended roles of the 6 TMFs were to inform data collection (n=86), to inform data analysis (n=69), and to identify key constructs that may serve as barriers and facilitators (n=52). CONCLUSIONS: As TMFs are most often reported to be applied to support data collection and analysis, researchers should consider more clearly synthesizing key insights as practical use cases to both increase the relevance and digestibility of their findings. There is also a need to adapt or develop guidelines for better reporting DHIs and the use of TMFs to guide evaluation. Hence, it would contribute to ensuring ongoing technology transformation efforts are evidence and theory informed rather than anecdotally driven.

Data-driven approach to identifying potential laboratory overuse in general internal medicine (GIM) inpatients.

BACKGROUND: Reducing laboratory test overuse is important for high quality, patient-centred care. Identifying priorities to reduce low value testing remains a challenge. OBJECTIVE: To develop a simple, data-driven approach to identify potential sources of laboratory overuse by combining the total cost, proportion of abnormal results and physician-level variation in use of laboratory tests. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A multicentre, retrospective study at three academic hospitals in Toronto, Canada. All general internal medicine (GIM) hospitalisations between 1 April 2010 and 31 October 2017. RESULTS: There were 106 813 GIM hospitalisations during the study period, with median hospital length-of-stay of 4.6 days (IQR: 2.33-9.19). There were 21 tests which had a cumulative cost >US$15 400 at all three sites. The costliest test was plasma electrolytes (US$4 907 775), the test with the lowest proportion of abnormal results was red cell folate (0.2%) and the test with the greatest physician-level variation in use was antiphospholipid antibodies (coefficient of variation 3.08). The five tests with the highest cumulative rank based on greatest cost, lowest proportion of abnormal results and highest physician-level variation were: (1) lactate, (2) antiphospholipid antibodies, (3) magnesium, (4) troponin and (5) partial thromboplastin time. In addition, this method identified unique tests that may be a potential source of laboratory overuse at each hospital. CONCLUSIONS: A simple multidimensional, data-driven approach combining cost, proportion of abnormal results and physician-level variation can inform interventions to reduce laboratory test overuse. Reducing low value laboratory testing is important to promote high value, patient-centred care.

Development and assessment of a hospital-led, community-partnering COVID-19 testing and prevention program for homeless and congregate living services in Toronto, Canada: a descriptive feasibility study.

BACKGROUND: Outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2 in shelters and congregate living settings are a major concern because of overcrowding and because resident populations are often at high risk for infection. The objective of this study was to describe the development, implementation and assessment of the COVID-19 Community Response Team, a program that enabled Women's College Hospital in Toronto, Ontario, to work in partnership with shelters and congregate living settings to prevent outbreaks. METHODS: The Community Response Team, associated with Women's College Hospital, an academic ambulatory hospital, carried out mobile testing for SARS-CoV-2, supported outbreak management and prevention through ongoing onsite partnership with medical staff, and conducted infection prevention and control (IPC) training to shelter staff. We conducted a descriptive analysis of the sites supported by the program between Apr. 20, 2020, and Aug. 15, 2020. We also assessed the program's feasibility (number of completed needs assessments, mobile testing events and IPC training events, and median time from referral to service delivery), adoption (number of nasopharyngeal swabs, number of pre- and post-program outbreaks and IPC uptake) and acceptability or satisfaction. RESULTS: The Community Response Team supported 32 sites. Of those, 30 completed an intake needs assessment, 24 completed mobile testing for SARS-CoV-2 and 15 received IPC support. Mobile testing resulted in the collection of 1566 nasopharyngeal swabs, of which 64 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Three sites had confirmed outbreaks. The median time from referral to needs assessment was 4 days (interquartile range [IQR] 1-13 days), and the median time to the testing day was 9 days (IQR 1-49 days). The median time from referral to IPC staff training was 14 days (IQR 4-79 days), and 100% of respondents reported being pleased or very pleased with the training. During the follow-up period, the 3 facilities with outbreaks overcame those outbreaks. Three sites supported by the Community Response Team had further single cases, but no site reported subsequent or secondary outbreaks. INTERPRETATION: The Community Response Team program led to the transfer of IPC knowledge, allowed for the management and prevention of SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks, and demonstrated feasibility. Collaborative supports between hospitals and the community housing sector may serve as models for ongoing system integration beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

Operationalizing and Evaluating Synchronous Virtual Group Health Interventions: Wide-Scale Implementation at a Tertiary Care Academic Hospital.

Group-based health interventions are an important component of health promotion and management. To provide continuity of care throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, our institution undertook a rapid pivot to delivering group-based health interventions via a videoconferencing service which was securely embedded into both the electronic medical record and the patient portal to sustainably address immediate health service delivery needs during the pandemic and beyond. In this paper, we (1) describe the institutionally driven operationalization of a system to provide integrated synchronous video group visits across our hospital and (2) present a proposed strategy to comprehensively evaluate outcomes regarding their implementation, quality, and impact. Lessons for other institutions and the potential future role of synchronous video group visits to enhance how care can be scaled for delivery are discussed.

Developing an explanatory theoretical model for engagement with a web-based mental health platform: results of a mixed methods study.

BACKGROUND: With the growing need for accessible, high-quality mental health services, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been increasing development and uptake of web-based interventions in the form of self-directed mental health platforms. The Big White Wall (BWW) is a web-based platform for people experiencing mental illness and addiction that offers a range of evidence-based self-directed treatment strategies. Drawing on existing data from a large-scale evaluation of the implementation of BWW in Ontario, Canada (which involved a pragmatic randomized controlled trail with an embedded qualitative process evaluation), we sought to investigate the influences on the extent to which people engage with BWW. METHODS: In this paper we drew on BWW trial participants' usage data (number of logins) and the qualitative data from the process evaluation that explored participants' experiences, engagement with and reactions to BWW. RESULTS: Our results showed that there were highly complex relationships between the influences that contributed to the level of engagement with BWW intervention. We found that a) how people expected to benefit from using a platform like BWW was an important indicator of their future usage, b) moderate perceived symptoms were linked with higher engagement; whereas fewer actual depressive symptoms predicted use and anxiety had a positive linear relationship with usage, and that c) usage depended on positive early experiences with the platform. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the nature of engagement with platforms such as BWW is not easily predicted. We propose a theoretical framework for explaining the level of user engagement with BWW that might also be generalizable to other similar platforms.

Frequência e características dos respondedores a uma intervenção educacional para redução de testes cardíacos inapropriados: um subestudo do Echo WISELY Trial / Frequency and characteristics of responders to an educational intervention to reduce inappropriate heart testing: a sub-study of the Echo WISELY Trial

Introdução: O Echo WISELY Trial é um estudo controlado, randomizado, multicêntrico, cego pelo investigador, que avaliou uma intervenção educacional com base nos critérios de uso apropriado para ecocardiografia para redução da proporção de ecocardiogramas raramente apropriados realizados ambulatorialmente. Objetivo: Descrever a prevalência e identificar preditores de responsividade de médicos respondedores submetidos à intervenção educacional no Echo WISELY Trial. Métodos: Médicos do grupo intervenção receberam um programa educacional multifacetado. O médico respondedor foi definido como aquele que apresentou redução >2,5% na média proporcional de exames raramente apropriados solicitados entre o primeiro trimestre (linha de base) e qualquer um dos seguintes trimestres (segundo ao sexto). Foram comparadas as características do médico (sexo, tempo de formação, especialidade médica e local de trabalho) com as classificações dos ecocardiogramas (apropriado, talvez apropriado e raramente apropriado) e razões clínicas para ecocardiogramas solicitados utilizando teste do qui-quadrado. A significância estatística foi indicada por p < 0,05 bicaudal. Resultados: Foram analisados 4.605 exames solicitados nos seis hospitais participantes de Ontário e randomizados para o braço intervenção. Dentre os 36 médicos incluídos, 26 (72%) foram classificados como respondedores. Entre as variáveis analisadas, não houve diferença significativa entre médicos respondedores e não respondedores à intervenção educacional. O número de exames raramente apropriados solicitados pelos respondedores foi significativamente menor que o de não respondedores (234; 8,67% versus 261; 13,8%; p < 0,0001). Conclusão: A prevalência de médicos respondedores é alta, porém não foram identificados preditores de responsividade à intervenção educacional entre as variáveis analisadas. Isso pode decorrer de aspectos psicológicos e características pessoais dos médicos, que não foram incluídos nesta pesquisa.(AU)

Introduction: The Echo WISELY Trial is a controlled randomized multicenter investigator-blinded study that evaluated an educational intervention based on the criteria for appropriate use of echocardiography to reduce the proportion of rarely appropriate outpatient echocardiograms performed. Objective: To describe the prevalence and identify predictors of the responsiveness of responding physicians subjected to an educational intervention in the Echo WISELY Trial. Methods: The intervention group physicians received a multifaceted educational program. A responding physician was defined as one who had a >2.5% reduction in the proportional mean of rarely appropriate tests requested between the first trimester (baseline) and any of the following trimesters (second to sixth). Physician characteristics (sex, time since graduation, medical specialty, and workplace) were compared to the echocardiogram ratings (appropriate, maybe appropriate, and rarely appropriate) and clinical reasons for the requested echocardiograms using the chi-square test. Statistical significance was indicated by a two-tailed p < 0.05. Results: A total of 4,605 tests requested at the six participating hospitals in Ontario were analyzed and randomized for the intervention arm Of the 36 included physicians, 26 (72%) were classified as responders. Of the variables analyzed, there was no significant difference in the outcomes of the responders versus non-responders to the educational intervention. The number of rarely appropriate tests requested by the responders was significantly lower than that of the non-responders (234 [8.67%] versus 261 [13.8%]; p < 0.0001). Conclusion: The prevalence of responder physicians was high, but predictors of responsiveness to educational intervention were not identified among the analyzed variables. This may be a result of the psychological aspects and personal characteristics of the physicians, which were not included in this research. (AU)

Modelling resource requirements and physician staffing to provide virtual urgent medical care for residents of long-term care homes: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak increases the importance of strategies to enhance urgent medical care delivery in long-term care (LTC) facilities that could potentially reduce transfers to emergency departments. The study objective was to model resource requirements to deliver virtual urgent medical care in LTC facilities. METHODS: We used data from all general medicine inpatient admissions at 7 hospitals in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada, over a 7.5-year period (Apr. 1, 2010, to Oct. 31, 2017) to estimate historical patterns of hospital resource use by LTC residents. We estimated an upper bound of potentially avoidable transfers by combining data on short admissions (≤ 72 h) with historical data on the proportion of transfers from LTC facilities for which patients were discharged from the emergency department without admission. Regression models were used to extrapolate future resource requirements, and queuing models were used to estimate physician staffing requirements to perform virtual assessments. RESULTS: There were 235 375 admissions to general medicine wards, and residents of LTC facilities (age 16 yr or older) accounted for 9.3% (n = 21 948) of these admissions. Among the admissions of residents of LTC facilities, short admissions constituted 24.1% (n = 5297), and for 99.8% (n = 5284) of these admissions, the patient received laboratory testing, for 86.9% (n = 4604) the patient received plain radiography, for 41.5% (n = 2197) the patient received computed tomography and for 81.2% (n = 4300) the patient received intravenous medications. If all patients who have short admissions and are transferred from the emergency department were diverted to outpatient care, the average weekly demand for outpatient imaging per hospital would be 2.6 ultrasounds, 11.9 computed tomographic scans and 23.9 radiographs per week. The average daily volume of urgent medical virtual assessments would range from 2.0 to 5.8 per hospital. A single centralized virtual assessment centre staffed by 2 or 3 physicians would provide services similar in efficiency (measured by waiting time for physician assessment) to 7 separate centres staffed by 1 physician each. INTERPRETATION: The provision of acute medical care to LTC residents at their facility would probably require rapid access to outpatient diagnostic imaging, within-facility access to laboratory services and intravenous medication and virtual consultations with physicians. The results of this study can inform efforts to deliver urgent medical care in LTC facilities in light of a potential surge in COVID-19 cases.

An innovative short-stay health care model for treatment of uncomplicated vaso-occlusive crisis in adult sickle cell disease patients in Canada to reduce emergency department utilization.

OBJECTIVES: Patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) with vaso-occlusive crises (VOC) often visit the emergency department (ED) for management of painful episodes. The primary objective of this pilot study was to evaluate the acceptability of a short-stay model for treatment of VOC in SCD outside of the ED in Toronto, Canada. Secondary objectives were to assess patient satisfaction of this model, barriers to its use and comparison of clinical outcomes to a historical control. METHODS: Adult SCD patients with symptoms of an uncomplicated VOC between October 2014 to July 2016 were managed according to best practice recommendations in a short-stay unit as an alternative to the local emergency room. Primary outcome of time to first analgesia, and secondary outcome of discharge rate were compared to a historical control at a local ED from 2009-2012. Satisfaction and barriers to use of the ambulatory care delivery model were assessed by patient survey. RESULTS: Twenty-one visits were recorded at the short-stay unit during the study period. Average time to first opiate dose was 23.5 minutes in the short-stay unit compared to 100.3 minutes in the ED (p4/5 on Likert scale) except for geographic accessibility (85% response rate, n=18). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated high patient satisfaction and acceptability of a short-stay model for treatment of uncomplicated VOC in adult SCD patients in Toronto, the first of its kind in Canada.

Benzodiazepine Use in Older Adults in the United States, Ontario, and Australia from 2010 to 2016.

OBJECTIVES: To detail annual trends in benzodiazepine incidence and prevalence in older adults between 2010 and 2016 in three countries. DESIGN: Observational multicountry cohort study with harmonized study protocol. SETTING: The United States (veteran population); Ontario, Canada; and Australia. PARTICIPANTS: All people aged 65 and older (8,270,000 people). MEASUREMENTS: Annual incidence and prevalence of benzodiazepine use stratified according to age group (65-74, 75-84, ≥85) and sex. We performed multiple regression analyses to assess whether rates of incident and prevalent use changed significantly over time. RESULTS: Over the study period, we observed a significant decrease in incident benzodiazepine use in the United States (2.6% to 1.7%) and Ontario (6.0% to 4.4%) but not Australia (7.0% to 6.7%). We found significant declines in prevalent use in all countries (United States: 9.2% to 7.3%; Ontario: 18.2% to 13.4%; Australia: 20.2% to 16.8%). Although incidence and prevalence increased with age in Ontario and Australia, they decreased with age in the United States. Incidence and prevalence were higher in women in all countries. CONCLUSION: Consistent with other international studies, there have been small but significant reductions in the incidence and prevalence of benzodiazepine use in older adults in all three countries, with the exception of incidence in Australia, although use remains inappropriately high-particularly in those aged 85 and older-which warrants further attention from clinicians and policy-makers.

Health services research: building capacity to meet the needs of the health care system.

Health services researchers have an important role to play in helping health care systems around the world provide high quality, affordable services. However, gaps between the best evidence and current practice suggest that researchers need to work in new ways. The production of research that meets the needs and priorities of the health system requires researchers to work in partnership with decision-makers to conduct research and then mobilize the findings. To do this effectively, researchers require a new set of skills that are not conventionally taught as part of doctoral research programmes. In addition to wider contextual changes, researchers need to understand better the needs of decision-makers, for example through short placements in health system decision-making settings. Second, researchers need to learn to accommodate those needs throughout the research process, including identifying research needs; conducting research collaboratively with decision-makers and producing effective research products.

Improving stroke prevention therapy for patients with atrial fibrillation in primary care: protocol for a pragmatic, cluster-randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) is growing as the population ages, and at least 15% of ischemic strokes are attributed to AF. However, many high-risk AF patients are not offered guideline-recommended stroke prevention therapy due to a variety of system, provider, and patient-level barriers. METHODS: We will conduct a pragmatic, cluster-randomized controlled trial randomizing primary care clinics to test a "toolkit" of quality improvement interventions in primary care. In keeping with the recommendations of the chronic care model to simultaneously activate patients and facilitate proactive care by providers, the toolkit includes provider-focused strategies (education, audit and feedback, electronic decision support, and reminders) plus patient-directed strategies (educational letters and reminders). The trial will include two feedback cycles at baseline and approximately 6 months and a final data collection at approximately 12 months. The study will be powered to show a difference of 10% in the primary outcome of proportion of patients receiving guideline-recommended stroke prevention therapy. Analysis will follow the intention-to-treat principle and will be blind to treatment allocation. Unit of analysis will be the patient; models will use generalized estimating equations to account for clustering at the clinical level. DISCUSSION: Stroke prevention therapy using anticoagulation in patients with AF is known to reduce strokes by two thirds or more in clinical trials, but most studies indicate under-use of this treatment in real-world practice. If the toolkit successfully improves care for patients with AF, stakeholders will be engaged to facilitate broader application to maximize the potential to improve patient outcomes. The intervention toolkit tested in this project could also provide a model to improve quality of care for other chronic cardiovascular conditions managed in primary care. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov ( NCT01927445 ). Registered August 14, 2014 at https://clinicaltrials.gov/ .

A Policy Framework for Health Systems to Promote Triple Aim Innovation.

With the expiry of the Health Accords, provincial governments must face the challenge of improving performance in the context of ageing demographics, increasing multi-morbidity, and real concerns about financial stability. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement Triple Aim articulates fundamental goals that can guide health system transformation: improved population health, enhanced patient experience and reduced or stable per capita costs. Advancing fragmented and costly health systems in pursuit of these goals requires transformative, as opposed to iterative, change. Provincial governments are ideally suited to lead this change by acting as "integrators" who link healthcare organizations and align incentives across the spectrum of delivery. Although there is very limited evidence regarding the effectiveness of system-level reforms, we draw on initiatives from around the world to suggest policies that can promote system-level Triple Aim innovation. We categorize these policies within the classic functions ascribed to health systems: financing, stewardship and resource generation. As healthcare financers, governments should orient procurement policy towards the Triple Aim innovation and reform payment to reward value not volume. As health system stewards, governments should define a Triple Aim vision; measure and report outcomes, patient experience, and costs; integrate across sectors; and facilitate learning from failure and spread of successful innovation. As resource generators, governments should invest in health information technology to exploit "big data" and ensure that professional education equips front-line clinicians with skills necessary to improve systems. There are a number of barriers to system-level Triple Aim innovation. There is a lack of evidence for macro-level policy changes, innovation is costly and complicated, and system reform may not be politically appealing. Triple Aim innovation may also be conflated with organization-level quality improvement initiatives. These barriers can be overcome with effective leadership. A mandate and funding to evaluate reforms can be built into laws. Innovation can be funded by shared savings and health gains. Reform may be more politically viable in the current climate of austerity. The Triple Aim framework offers aspirational and concrete objectives that should be integrated into the health system design by Canadian provincial governments to improve health system performance.

Atrial fibrillation anticoagulation care in a large urban family medicine practice.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the proportion of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) in primary care achieving guideline-concordant stroke prevention treatment based on both the previous (2010) and the updated (2012) Canadian guideline recommendations. DESIGN: Retrospective chart review. PARTICIPANTS: Primary care patients (N = 204) with AF. The mean age was 71.3 years and 53.4% were women. SETTING: Large urban community family practice in Toronto, Ont. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Patient demographic characteristics such as sex and age; a list of current cardiac medications including anticoagulants and antiplatelets; the total number of medications; relevant current and past medical history including presence of diabetes, stroke or transient ischemic attack, hypertension, and vascular disease; number of visits to the family physician and cardiologist in the past year and past 5 years, and how many of these were for AF; the number of visits to the emergency department or hospitalizations for AF, congestive heart failure, or stroke; if patients were taking warfarin, how often their international normalized ratios were recorded, and how many times they were in the reference range; CHADS2 (congestive heart failure, hypertension, age ≥ 75, diabetes mellitus, and stroke or transient ischemic attack) score, if recorded; and reason for not taking oral anticoagulants when they should have been, if recorded. RESULTS: Among those who had CHADS2 scores of 0, 64 patients (97.0%) were receiving appropriate stroke prevention in AF (SPAF) treatment according to the 2010 guidelines. When the 2012 guidelines were applied, 39 patients (59.1%) were receiving appropriate SPAF treatment (P < .001). For those with CHADS2 scores of 1, 88.4% of patients had appropriate SPAF treatment according to the 2010 guidelines, but only 55.1% were adequately treated according to the 2012 guidelines (P < .001). Of the patients at the highest risk (CHADS2 score > 1), 68.1% were adequately treated with anticoagulation and an additional 8.7% (6 of 69) had documented reasons why they were not taking anticoagulants. CONCLUSION: When assessed using the 2012 Canadian Cardiovascular Society AF guidelines, the proportion of patients receiving appropriate SPAF therapy in this primary care setting decreased substantially. All patients with CHADS2 scores of 0 or 1 should be reassessed to ensure that they are receiving optimal stroke prevention treatment.

The CANHEART health index: a tool for monitoring the cardiovascular health of the Canadian population.

BACKGROUND: To comprehensively examine the cardiovascular health of Canadians, we developed the Cardiovascular Health in Ambulatory Care Research Team (CANHEART) health index. We analyzed trends in health behaviours and factors to monitor the cardiovascular health of the Canadian population. METHODS: We used data from the Canadian Community Health Survey (2003-2011 [excluding 2005]; response rates 70%-81%) to examine trends in the prevalence of 6 cardiovascular health factors and behaviours (smoking, physical activity, fruit and vegetable consumption, overweight/obesity, diabetes and hypertension) among Canadian adults aged 20 or older. We defined ideal criteria for each of the 6 health metrics. The number of ideal metrics was summed to create the CANHEART health index; values range from 0 (worst) to 6 (best or ideal). A separate CANHEART index was developed for youth age 12-19 years; this index included 4 health factors and behaviours (smoking, physical activity, fruit and vegetable consumption and overweight/obesity). We determined the prevalence of ideal cardiovascular health and the mean CANHEART health index score, stratified by age, sex and province. RESULTS: During the study period, physical activity and fruit and vegetable consumption increased and smoking decreased among Canadian adults. The prevalence of overweight/obesity, hypertension and diabetes increased. In 2009-2010, 9.4% of Canadian adults were in ideal cardiovascular health, 53.3% were in intermediate health (4-5 healthy factors or behaviours), and 37.3% were in poor cardiovascular health (0-3 healthy factors or behaviours). Twice as many women as men were in ideal cardiovascular health (12.8% vs. 6.1%). Among youth, the prevalence of smoking decreased and the prevalence of overweight/obesity increased. In 2009-2010, 16.6% of Canadian youth were in ideal cardiovascular health, 33.7% were in intermediate health (3 healthy factors or behaviours), and 49.7% were in poor cardiovascular health (0-2 healthy factors or behaviours). INTERPRETATION: Fewer than 1 in 10 Canadian adults and 1 in 5 Canadian youth were in ideal cardiovascular health from 2003 to 2011. Intensive health promotion activities are needed to meet the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada's goal of improving the cardiovascular health of Canadians by 10% by 2020 as measured by the CANHEART health index.

Public payments to physicians in Ontario adjusted for overhead costs.

We used data collected in the 2010 National Physician Survey and public payment data published in the Institute for Clinical and Evaluative Sciences report Payments to Ontario Physicians from Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Sources 1992/93 to 2009/10 to estimate 2009/2010 net physician income from public payments for Ontario physicians by specialty. Incorporating overhead substantially affects estimates of physician income and changes relative position. For example, ophthalmologists were ranked second when only public payments were considered but eighth when overhead was included. Conversely, hospital-based specialties such as anaesthesia, radiation oncology and emergency medicine rank significantly higher after overhead is included.

Pylephlebitis and pyogenic liver abscesses: a complication of hemorrhoidal banding.

Hemorrhoidal banding is a well-established and safe outpatient procedure. Septic complications of hemorrhoidal banding are rare but can be fatal. The first case of pylephlebitis (septic portal vein thrombosis) and pyogenic liver abscess following hemorrhoidal banding in a 49-year-old man with diabetes is reported in the present study. Risk factors, management and the role of prophylaxis in immunocompromised patients are discussed. Caution against hemorrhoidal banding in immunosuppressed patients, including patients with diabetes, is warranted.