Change is happening now in Ontario healthcare. It has been needed for some time, but a new provincial government with a demand to deliver high value for public dollars is making the change imminent. So what, exactly, is “value”? Value is best defined as quality (in all of its domains) divided by cost. It can be measured from…
A version of this article was first published in the Canadian Journal of Physician Leadership, Volume 3, no. 2 (2016) As physicians, we are part of an influential community, one that initiates, influences and perpetuates important conversations. Our community has a collective culture and it is shaped completely by them. Our conversations get noticed. They…
Recently, Primary Care has been moving toward conversations about how we should approach the health of our patients in a more global way. Talk of population health is front and centre. We hear that 5% of the people we look after consume 64% of Ontario’s healthcare budget, and that if doctors and nurses would only…
It’s amazing to watch a conversation evolve. Over the past month I have had some great feedback from physicians, nurses and patients about medical professionalism and the concept of physician accountability. In my last blog post I explored the idea that accountability is not based on finger pointing or blame and need not be feared.…
Recently there has been more and more talk at the health system level about the concept of physician accountability. In Ontario this discussion is part of Patients First LHIN-based initiatives that will have primary care accountable at a local level, possibly with dedicated accountability agreements built into our clinical structures. The issue became even more prominent at…
Recently, after my last blog post, a physician colleague shared that in his opinion, “as usual”, I was “overly cheerful and optimistic”. His comment got me thinking. Could this be true? When conveying a complex message or guiding people toward an often difficult goal, can one be too optimistic? Does optimism alienate people? Is it authentic? What effect…
