Canadian Health Information Podcast

New data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information shows emergency departments are dealing with a record high number of visits, 16.1 million and climbing. And more numbers reveal the pressures that are leaving patients stuck in emergency departments for hours or days, putting them and health workers at risk. In this episode, host Avis Favaro discusses the picture the data paints — with Dr. Fraser Mackay, an emergency physician and member of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians and Cheryl Chui, Director of Health System Analytics at CIHI. The problems aren’t just in how emergency departments are functioning, but in what’s happening beyond the department itself. Canada has one of the lowest rates of hospital beds per population among OECD countries. And many of these beds are filled with patients waiting for discharge to other places. The discussion looks at what’s driving the crisis and why solutions have been so difficult to implement. Additional audio courtesy Global and CBC News. This episode is available in English. Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

What can we learn about the mysteries of autism by combining artificial intelligence and Canada's valuable health data? That is the question posed by Dr. Christine Armour, pediatrician and geneticist at the University of Ottawa, and a physician scientist at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario. Join host Avis Favaro as she learns about a first-of-its-kind study being led by Dr. Armour and her team at CHEO, into whether machine learning can effectively analyze health data on Canadian mothers and babies in an effort to turn it into a tool to identify children at risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Studies show early detection and treatment can improve health outcomes.This episode is available in English. Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

He’s a doctor and scientist who’s helped steer Canada’s public health systems through new diseases like COVID-19 and through a revolution of data-based health care. Dr. Vivek Goel, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Waterloo and CIHI’s former Board chair, joins host Avis Favaro to discuss his long career as an academic and the insights he gained as chair of a federal expert advisory panel that called for an end to barriers that prevent health data from being shared more widely in this country — roadblocks that he says are stopping Canada from becoming a health information powerhouse. This episode is available in English only. Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

How far do you have to travel for health care? Down the street? To a hospital in another town? How about to an entirely different province? A new CIHI report shows that 1 in 11 people admitted to hospital in Canada have what’s called a high travel burden. Meaning there’s no clinic, no hospital — sometimes not even roads to get to the medical care they need. In this episode, we meet Paula Alorut, an Inuit mother of 5 from Nunavut who travels over 2,000 kilometres to Ottawa to get medical care for her son. And Dr. Radha Jetty, who runs a special clinic at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario for kids from Nunavut with medically complex needs and their families.This episode is available in English. Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

It’s called the hidden killer. That’s because there’s little public awareness about sepsis and not a lot of data on how many people it really affects. But Amalie Henze is out to change all that. This Canadian teen knows its dangers all too well after almost dying from septic shock and having her hands and feet amputated to save her life. She’s not alone. Dr. Alison Fox-Robichaud has been researching sepsis for years — and she wants to get better data on the true number of cases while creating a national strategy to help save lives from sepsis. This episode is available in English. Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page. Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter. Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

“You have dementia” are 3 words no one wants to hear. For the three-quarters of a million Canadians living with the disease and the 1.7 million projected to develop it, it’s a painful reality they all must face. But what happens after diagnosis — to patients, families and caregivers? Host Avis Favaro speaks with• “Care-y godmother” Katrina Prescott, a caregiving coach who helps families get the help she didn’t while she was looking after her mother, who lived with dementia• Retired family doctor David Hood, who cared for hundred of patients during his 4-decade career, as well as both of his parents after they were diagnosedFor more data go to CIHI's report titled Understanding health care trajectories of people living with dementia.This episode is available in English only. Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

In this special edition of the CHIP, host Avis Favaro sits down with David O’Toole as he contemplates the biggest challenges and successes of his 10 years as CIHI’s president and CEO. This episode is available in English.

According to the latest CIHI data, almost all (93%) patients experiencing homelessness were admitted to hospital via the emergency department — a high proportion that suggests inadequate access to primary care. In this episode of the CHIP, we’ll hear about the complex health needs of the growing number of people who are unhoused and turning to hospitals for help, and how doctors are working toward solutions. Guests are • Dr. Louis Francescutti, an emergency physician at the Royal Alexandra Hospital and the Northeast Community Health Centre in Edmonton, Alberta • Dr. Andrew Bond, executive medical officer at Inner City Health Associates and co-founder of the Canadian Network for the Health and Housing of People Experiencing Homelessness (CNH3) This episode is available in English only. Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page. Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter. Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.