Longwoods Healthcare Services Radio

The Path to Connect all Ontarians to Team-Based Primary Care

Ontario faces a significant challenge: 2.5 million Ontarians do not have a family doctor or any other access to primary care, and that number is projected to grow to 4.4 million people in 2026. This challenge is even greater for people in Ontario living with complex, difficult to manage chronic diseases as they struggle to access the comprehensive, team-based care they need, close to home and in communities. The journey of health system transformation requires the development, implementation and evaluation of innovative models of team-based care. This panel discussion will explore tangible solutions to achieve Ontario’s ambitious goal of connecting every Ontarian with team-based primary care within five years. We will examine the success of exemplar models like Best Care, a physician-led integrated chronic disease management program that has avoided up to 24000 hospital bed days over three years, saving the health system more than $37 million in hospitalization costs. Access to team-based primary care for effective chronic disease management is how Ontario can improve patient experience and outcomes, improve the provider experience and create millions of dollars in savings across the continuum of care.

This event is supported by Best Care who aspires to set Ontario Health on a path to improve lives of those living with chronic diseases and reduce the health system costs. Information on Best Care can be found at www.argi.on.ca

Featuring

Dr. Christopher Licskai, CEO, Best Care
Kimberly Moran, CEO, Ontario Medical Association
Wendy Smith, Executive Director, Nipissing Wellness Ontario Health Team
Moderator: Dr. Cathy Faulds, Board Chair, Best Care and Ontario Medical Association

The Canadian Thoracic Society COPD Pharmacotherapy Guidelines: Implementing Science to Improve Outcomes

The Canadian Thoracic Society COPD Guidelines were updated in the Fall of 2023. The evidence based recommendations represent a significant change in the pharmacological management of COPD when compared to the previous versions. They represent a pro-active management approach to improve quality of life, reduce the frequency and severity of exacerbations and reduce the mortality associated with COPD. In this seminar, an update will be provided as to the new guidance and a discussion on the need for provincial formularies to reassess how patients and physicians access COPD specific medications.

 

Featuring:

Dr. Paul Hernandez, Respirologist and Professor, Dalhousie University

Dr. Jean Bourbeau, Pulmonologist and Professor, McGill University

Dr. Brandie Walker, University of Calgary

Moderator: Dr. Mohit Bhutani, Director, Asthma and COPD Clinics, University of Alberta

Practical Application of AI to Support Medical Event Prediction and Clinician Decision Making

Artificial Intelligence (AI) can introduce clarity to the clinical journey for the most-challenging diseases and treatment pathways.  AI brings power to consume large disparate data sets and transform information into succinct, actionable insights with the power to identify opportunities to reduce avoidable costs, predict medical events, and, ultimately, improve patient care. But developing, implementing, and interpreting to drive actionable results can be challenging without the right data, the right process, and the right actions to be successful. This session will focus on approaches for clinical decision support and identifying opportunities to engage providers with actionable care gaps aligned to best-practice guidelines.

Featuring:
Helen Angus, CEO, AMS Healthcare
Matthew Hackenberg, Associate Product and Strategy Director, AI for Healthcare, IQVIA

From Approval to Access How will Canadians See the Full Potential of Gene Therapy

Gene therapy has emerged as an exciting innovation for Canadians with rare diseases. As more gene therapy treatments gain approval in Canada, there is promise for transforming and advancing healthcare, especially in areas of high unmet need. Access to those new therapies, however, remains challenging. Join us to discover the untapped potential of gene therapy in Canada as this panel of experts addresses the barriers to access and explores innovative solutions to overcome them, ensuring every Canadian who needs it can access gene therapy with timely, equitable, and effective delivery. 

Featuring:
Durhane Wong-Rieger, President and CEO, Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders
Dr. Jerry Teitel, Medical Director, Hemophilia Treatment Centre·St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto
David Page, Consultant, Safety and Supply of Coagulation Products, Canadian Hemophilia Society
Graham Statt, Former Assistant Deputy Minister, Alberta
Moderator: Carly Weeks, VP, Public Affairs, Communications and Stakeholder Relations, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton

Thinking Differently Recreating a Health System We Are Proud Of

Ontario healthcare landscape.

There was a time when Canadians could confidently claim theirs was the best health system in the world. Time to face reality – that is no longer true. The system faces major challenges, with access to care at the top of the list of concerns. Despite spending more on healthcare than most developed countries, we struggle to create enough capacity to meet the needs of a rapidly growing and aging population.

What can we do to break out of this chronic decline and bring back a sense of vibrancy and optimism to the healthcare enterprise? Brian and Michael will discuss current trends and new ideas with the potential to change the narrative and address the explosive growth in the seniors demographic that is already upon us. There is lots to be optimistic about, if you know where to look. We need to think differently to create a different dynamic.

Featuring:
Brian Golden, Sandra Rotman Chair in Health Sector Strategy, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
Dr. Michael Guerriere, President and Chief Executive Officer, Extendicare

Dignity in Care

Insights on the struggles of life limiting experiences and understanding end-of-life care for patients, care providers and medical professionals. Patients and their caregivers require physical and emotional care, especially as they enter the later stages of life. Failure to attend to personhood can be as subtle as being kept waiting for an appointment, as insidious as being required to wear a plastic hospital bracelet that tracks patients according to an institutional number or code, as jarring as being referred to as an aberrant body part - the proverbial "GI bleed in room two" or "breast tumor in room three." This conversation on Dignity in Care will describe what healthcare providers need to know about the humanity and tone of care; and how they can engage in these facets of care in a thoughtful and meaningful way that will satisfy their patients' needs to be seen and appreciated as "whole persons."

Featuring
Dr. Harvey Max Chochinov, Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Manitoba and a Senior Scientist, CancerCare Manitoba Research Institute and
Nancy Lefebre, Senior Vice President and COO for the Business of Caring, SE Health

Is Our Health System Ready for Where Science is Taking Us

After decades of research and innovation, cell and gene therapies (CGTs) are unlocking new ways to revolutionize medicine. Distinct from traditional pharmaceutical treatments, CGTs represent highly precise and innovative approaches that target the underlying causes of genetic and acquired diseases with the aim of treating, preventing and potentially curing disease.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen the positive impact that CGTs such as CAR T-cell therapy – a blood cancer treatment that modifies T cells to target and eliminate cancer cells – have had on Canadians. With thousands of CGTs in development to treat diseases from cancers to rare disorders to type 1 diabetes and chronic heart failure, the novelty and highly technical nature of these therapies create new opportunities for improved health outcomes for Canadians, but successful integration will require a new playbook from those who assess, deliver and receive care.

From regulation to health technology assessments, reimbursement and education, we must ensure that our health systems are prepared to integrate these new innovations so that Canadians have access to potentially life changing treatments.

This Longwoods Leadership Discussion is funded by The Cell and Gene Therapy Round Table, a group of Canadian pharmaceutical companies interested in policies related to cell and gene therapies.

Featuring:
Dr. Bob Bell, Former Deputy Minister of Health, Ontario,
Dean Duffin, Patient Advocate and Kids Cancer Care Board Member,
Dr. Ronan Foley, Clinical Hematologist, Juravinski Cancer Centre, Hamilton Health Sciences,
Dr. Elise Héon, Staff Director, Ocular Genetics Program Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences, The Hospital for Sick Children and
Moderator: Avis Favaro, Health Journalist

Improving the Prevention, Management, and Treatment of Diabetes and Other Chronic Diseases

Featuring:

Kimberley Hanson, Chief Executive Officer, HealthPartners

Dr. David M. Kaplan, Vice President, Quality, Ontario Health

Dr. Karen Cross, Chief Executive Officer, MIMOSA Diagnostics

Dr. Lorraine Lipscombe, Senior Scientist, Women's College Hospital Research Institute

Amir Naseri, Senior Director, Pharmacy Services Strategy & Innovation Shoppers Drug Mart

Moderator: Dr. Tamara Wallington, Chief Health Promotion and Environmental Health Officer, Public Health Ontario

Improving the Prevention, Management, and Treatment of Diabetes and Other Chronic Diseases in Ontario In Ontario, diabetes affects 1 in 3 people and contributes to 30% of strokes, 40% of heart attacks, 50% of kidney failure requiring dialysis, and 70% of all non-traumatic lower limb amputations. It is also a leading cause of blindness. The toll on patients and caregivers is significant as is the impact on the healthcare system and economy.

In November of 2020, Longwoods hosted an event Diabetes Care and Management for Ontario focusing on the need for more to be done to support people in Ontario living with diabetes. The following year, the Ministry of Health’s 2022/23 mandate to Ontario Health directed the agency to “work in partnership with the Ministry of Health to develop a chronic disease strategy addressing prevention, management and treatment, with an initial focus on diabetes.” This mandate was renewed in 2023/24 with an added emphasis to complete the development and proceed with implementation of the strategy.

In parallel to the commitment made by the Ontario government, in October 2022 the federal government tabled the Diabetes Framework, another important step in the journey to reduce the rising rates of the diabetes epidemic. We are now at a pivotal time with government commitments being made to reduce the rates of the disease and the unsustainable burden it places on our province, population, and health system.

Our panel of thought leaders and healthcare experts will reflect on the current state of diabetes in Ontario and the plan moving forward to develop and implementation a provincial strategy.

#diabetes #diabetescare #novonordisk #chronicdisease #healthcare #healthcanada #longwoods #diabetestreatment #diabetesmanagement #diabetesprevention

You Can’t Recruit Your Way Out of a Crisis

Leigh Chapman, Chief Nursing Officer, Health Canada with Tim Guest, CEO, Canadian Nurses Association and Carly Weeks, Health Reporter, The Globe and Mail discuss why Retention is critical to today’s health workforce challenges in the context of a global nursing shortage.

This title “You can’t recruit your way out of a crisis” follows the International Council of Nurses (ICN) Congress, co-hosted by the CNA in Montreal, July 2023. The issue of the global nursing shortage was brought to the forefront as one of the most prominent issues in today’s global health landscape.

In this talk, these nurse leaders will cover current issues, and strategic solutions for the future of nursing. With a focus on how we got here, and where we’re going, the discussion topics will include retention, ethical recruitment, and improving work environments for nurses. The speakers will also highlight their hopes for the future of nursing and Canada’s publicly funded healthcare system.

Long-Term Care - In Conversation with Donna Duncan, CEO, Ontario Long Term Care Association

The Ontario Long Term Care Association represents 70% of Ontario's long-term care homes. 

In four years, the oldest of the baby boomers’ generation will turn 80. By 2040, Ontario’s population over that age will nearly double.

Listen to today's conversation with Donna Duncan, CEO for the Ontario Long Term Care Association as we discuss this issue and many more.