A Time to Talk
Reading time: 5 minutes Choosing Wisely Canada launched a campaign encouraging conversations between clinicians and seriously ill patients to avoid potentially harmful or overly aggressive tests and treatments.
Privacy and the Virtual Care Visit
Reading time: 3 minutes The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC) of Ontario developed new guidance, making it clear privacy obligations apply to virtual care as it does to in-person care.
Safe Administration of COVID-19 Vaccines
Reading time: 5 minutes The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) recently published a bulletin sharing a number of leading practices that facilitate the safe administration of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Are You Hearing Your Patients’ Stories?
Reading time: 7 minutes Listening skills are critical for the sake of a patient’s storytelling. Especially when patients are working their way to reveal their underlying or unexpected agendas.
Clear Communication in High-risk Transitions
Reading time: 5 minutes A review into the homicide of a woman by her elderly husband revealed missed opportunities for communication between police, hospital clinical staff, and home care providers.
The Power of Apology
Reading time: 4 minutes One bereaved mother explains how receiving an apology helped her family begin the process of healing.
Patient Safety — Interprofessional Collaboration
Reading time: 3 minutes Expert committees of the Chief Coroner’s office call for improved collaboration after reviewing the circumstances of two deaths.
COVID-19 Notifications
Reading time: 2 minutes OntarioMD has adapted its digital notification system so that positive COVID-19 results are pushed straight to clinicians’ electronic medical records.
Can AI Help Deliver Deep Medicine?
Reading time: 9 minutes The greatest opportunity offered by artificial intelligence is to strengthen the connection between patients and their doctors.
Encouraging Candour
Reading time: 6 minutes It can be hard to get patients – or anyone – to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth 100% of the time. Maybe the goal should simply be to make it a little easier to do so most of the time. We discuss how in this installment of Doc Talk.
The Safety Risks Posed by Restraints
Reading time: 3 minutes An expert committee of the Chief Coroner’s Office highlights the safety risks posed by restraints.
Phishing
Reading time: 4 minutes Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner is warning physicians and their staff members to be aware of the threat posed by phishing emails designed to attack their computer systems.