In Brief: OHA calls for province-wide pathology review / Mythology and health care spending / More

The Ontario Hospital Association is calling for a province-wide pathology review after a Windsor hospital performed two unnecessary mastectomies. Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital is reviewing 15,000 patient tests dating back to 2003. Tom Closson, head of the OHA, said peer review systems for pathologists are inadequate. “This isn’t a search and destroy Mission,” he said, “this is a peer review process that ensures we have consistent quality of interpretation through the province.” … The Quebec government is being advised to start charging its citizens for visits to the doctor. A finance advisory committee is making the recommendation in advance of the province’s spring budget. Quebec is also studying whether to end its system of regional health delivery, moving towards a more centralized model. … Seniors are actually utilizing Ontario emergency departments at a slower rate of increase than those in the 20-64 demographic according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information. The utilization rate of Ontario ERs by seniors increased by 1.5 per cent over the last five years, compared to 2.6 per cent for the rest of the adult population. The rate of hospital admissions from the ER for seniors also decreased from 28 to 25 per cent. An increased proportion of seniors are being discharged home or into long term care. Despite these lower utilization rates, the total number of senior visits to the ER increased by 10 per cent mostly due to an increase in that segment of the population. … “Out of Control” health care spending described as “mythology” by the Globe and Mail? You read it right. Health columnist Andre Picard says health care spending in Canada is not out of control. “After adjusting for inflation and population growth, spending increased by 2.5 per cent last year.” … And just in case you thought the sky was still falling, fourth quarter results are in – Canada’s economy grew by a staggering 5 per cent in the final quarter of last year, most of it due to the housing boom and public stimulus.