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Dr. David Zitner

About David Zitner

David Zitner, a family doctor, is Director of Medical Informatics at Dalhousie Medical School. He has been a member of the Physician Advisory Committee to the Canadian Institute for Health Information and was on the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Deputy Ministers of Health working group which produced “When Less is Better: Using Canada’s Hospitals Efficiently”. Dr. Zitner was diverted from an active family medicine practice when he chaired a medical audit and utilization committee at a large tertiary care teaching hospital and learned that Canadian communities are lacking the information which is essential to manage and understand our large and complex health system. Dr. Zitner found a continuing absence of regular, pertinent and reliable information about access to care (waiting times) and information about the results of care. Consequently, his research interests relate to the collection and use of timely information including outcome measures, to support clinical care, teaching, research and health services administration. Dr. Zitner is currently chair of the Utilization Committee at the QEII Health Sciences Centre and board member of the Canadian Council for Health Services Accreditation.

Do you know if our health care system is well managed? AIMS in Seniors Advocate

By | October 1st, 2002|Op-ed|

In AIMS ongoing effort to expand the debate on health care in Canada, AIMS Fellow in Health Policy, Doctor David Zitner, just published this piece in the Seniors’ Advocate setting out four key questions that should be asked in order to determine whether our health care system is working well and is well managed. Read the full article to see why Canadian seniors and, in fact, all Canadians should be asking: 1. How many people are better after treatment? 2. How many people are worse after treatment – and who are they?(How often do mistakes occur?) 3. How many people have to wait too long for care? 4. Can your Minister of Health, Provincial M.L.A., District Board Chair, or District Board CEO answer the first three questions? Publication: Seniors Advocate, October 2002

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Operating in the Dark – AGAIN and AGAIN

By | May 6th, 2002|Op-ed|

This article features Dr. David Zitner, AIMS’ Fellow in Health Care Policy, criticizing BC Premier Gordon Campbell for joining the ranks of other Canadian politicians who are blindly implementing major health care policy without the right information or concrete direction. Drawing from the influential AIMS’ report, Public Health, State Secret, Dr. Zitner stresses that experts, decision makers, and the general public lack crucial information about access to and the actual result of care in this country. This absence of vital information stems from the Canadian government’s monopolistic control over our health care. Publication: VS & OC, May 6, 2002

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Drug Use in Canada: Opportunity Lost

By | January 28th, 2002|Op-ed|

In this piece from the Ottawa Citizen, AIMS Fellow in Health Care Policy, Dr. David Zitner, amplifies the theme of AIMS recently released research paper, Public Health, State Secret. He emphasizes that, although the Canadian government is spending huge amounts of tax-payer money on health information, they are gaining little useful knowledge about what is really happening in the current system. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the field of pharmaceuticals. Dr. Zitner stresses that although Canadians ingested over $15 billion in drugs and complementary medicines last year, no one knows whether their affects were harmful or helpful. No Canadian province has routine systems to systematically inquire and learn about the outcomes of pharmaceuticals, although they would inform clinicians about the results of the care they provide, and save lives. Dr. Zitner is Director of Medical Informatics at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Publication: OC, January 28, 2002

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