| Alun Edwards, Amity Quinn, Braden Manns, Brenda Hemmelgarn, Flora Au, Kerry McBrien, Marcello Tonelli, Peter Faris, Peter Senior, Robert G. Weaver, Zhihai Ma
Question Is a specialist physician payment model associated with visit frequency, quality of care, and costs for people with chronic disease? Findings In this population-based cohort study that included a propensity-score matched cohort of 31?898 adults with diabetes or chronic kidney disease seen by 489 physicians, there was no statistical evidence of a difference…
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an opportunistic bacterial organism resistant to first line antibiotics. Acquisition of MRSA is often classified as either healthcare-associated or community-acquired. It has been shown that both healthcare-associated and community-acquired infections contribute to the spread of MRSA within healthcare facilities. The objective…
In June 2015, Alberta, Canada instituted a universal publicly funded rotavirus vaccination programme (Rotarix, RV1), with vaccine doses scheduled for 2 and 4months of age. Vaccination was restricted so that infants were only allowed to receive first dose between 6 and 20 weeks of age, and second dose before eight calendar months of age. We assessed the coverage and schedule non-compliance…
The objective of this study, published in the International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, was to describe the trends in pharmacologic treatment for patients newly diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Alberta, Canada.
This study examined children’s health care service use, mothers’ workforce participation, and mothers’ community engagement based on children’s risk of developmental delay.
This study, published in PharmacoEconomics – Open, reports exploratory analysis of the provincial and nationwide costs of industry-sponsored drug clinical trials (CTs) in Canada. The costs of industry-sponsored drug CTs completed in 2016 were Can$2.1 billion. In addition to the creation of knowledge, these trials play an important role in alleviating the healthcare cost burden…
OBJECTIVES: To examine the resource use and healthcare costs for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Alberta, Canada between 2008 and 2016 and model the future costs to 2030.
Abstract: Affecting 10–15% of women, postpartum depression (PPD) can be debilitating and costly. While early identification has the potential to improve timely care, recommendations regarding the implementation of routine screening are inconsistent. In Alberta, screening is completed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale during public health well child clinic visits.…
| Amity Quinn, Alun Edwards, Peter Senior, Kerry McBrien, Brenda Hemmelgarn, Marcello Tonelli, Flora Au, Zhihai Ma, Robert G. Weaver, Braden Manns
Background: As the number of people with chronic diseases increases, understanding the impact of payment model on the types of patients seen by specialists has implications for improving the quality and value of care. We sought to determine if there is an association between the specialist physician payment model and the types of patients seen.
Education of women regarding healthy lifestyle choices is an important function for prenatal care providers. Within Canada, women choose to receive pregnancy care from one of a variety of publicly funded care providers. This study examines the association between the type of care provider(s) seen during pregnancy and the provision of advice related to nutrition, weight management,…
To assess vaccine coverage for a cohort of children who have been in the care of the child welfare system compared to children in the general population.
Little is known about resource use and cost burden of Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) beyond the index event. We examined resource use and care costs during the first and each subsequent year, among patients with incident AMI.
Biological interactions between varicella (chickenpox) and herpes zoster (shingles), two diseases caused by the varicella zoster virus (VZV), continue to be debated including the potential effect on shingles cases following the introduction of universal childhood chickenpox vaccination programs. We investigated how chickenpox vaccination in Alberta impacts the incidence and age-distribution…
| Sean van Diepen, Dat Tran, Justin Ezekowitz, David Zygun, Jason Katz, Renato Lopes, L. Kristin Newby, Finlay McAlister, Padma Kaul
There is substantial variability among hospitals in critical care unit (CCU) utilization for patients admitted with non-ST-Segment Elevation Acute Coronary Syndromes (NSTE ACS). We estimated the potential cost saving if all hospitals adopted low CCU utilization practices for patients with NSTE ACS.
