Explanations of the Supreme Court of Canada decision on health care hit the blog circuit as fast as commentators hit the traditional media. AIMS' Fellow in Health Care Economics, Brian Ferguson, runs his own blog, "A Canadian Econoview". In this commentary on his blog, Ferguson lays out the reaction to and the reality of the Superior Court's decision.
Depending on the person quoted, the decision by the Supreme Court of Canada to strike down portions of the Quebec Health Insurance Act, was either the end of health care as we know it, or a new beginning. In this commentary, AIMS' Manager of Health Policy, Jamie MacNeil, explains what this decision actually means. He says it is a wake-up call for governments to do things better in health care and honour the promises they've been making to Canadians for years.
AIMS tackles issue of quality of hospital care on behalf of patients and their families.
Consumers need to be able to compare the quality of products and services, if they are to make an informed choice. That's no different whether shopping for a new car, or looking for the best hospital for care. In this first paper in AIMS Hospital Report Card series, author Julia Witt compares the models used to measure the quality of care in hospitals.
In this talk to the Annual Meeting of the Canada-Sweden Business Association in Stockholm, Sweden, AIMS president Brian Lee Crowley provides a picture of the health care demands of the future. He suggests that as the Baby Boom generation ages, it will demand changes in the provision of health care services.
In this talk to the Annual Meeting of the Canada-Sweden Business Association in Stockholm, Sweden, AIMS president Brian Lee Crowley provides a picture of the health care demands of the future. He suggests that as the Baby Boom generation ages, it will demand changes in the provision of health care services.
The Baby Boomers have changed buying habits throughout their lives. As they age, health care will be no different. In this article, AIMS president Brian Lee Crowley explains how the ageing population, technology, and dollars will change the demands on and deliverables of our health care system.
The US Congress is once again considering authorization of the re-importation of pharmaceuticals from Canada. As AIMS Fellow in Health Care Economics Brian Ferguson explains in a commentary in the National Post, such a solution to the US pharmaceutical woes is a dream cop-out for politicians.
Can the problem of high prescription drug costs in the United States be solved by purchasing drugs on the Internet or with a bus trip across the Canadian border? That was the question posed during an event sponsored by the Pacific Research Institute (PRI) early in February in Pasadena, California. The PRI invited AIMS president Brian Lee Crowley to address these and other important issues surrounding the prescription drug debate.
In Canada (and elsewhere) health spending continually increases while queues get longer, doctors more scarce, and deaths from preventable mistakes get no better. In almost every other field or industry, technology and competition drive a constant revolution in value. This column discusses not the absence of competition, but the absence of the right kind of competion - and what we need to do to make things better.