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Biomedical subjects

J Rafuse

Publications and source records attributed to J Rafuse.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Education, practice reviews needed to reduce surgical intervention, Quebec report says.

Clinical uncertainty may be the reason for large variations in the rates of tonsillectomy, adenoidectomy and myringotomy in Quebec, a report prepared for the provincial government states. Methods used in other jurisdictions, such as informing physicians about geographic differences in intervention rates and developing clinical practice guidelines, could reduce the variations and save millions of dollars, researchers suggest.

Adenoidectomy↗
PubMed1996

Delivery of sun-awareness message forces dermatologists to walk fine line.

One of the CMA's smallest affiliated societies appears to be getting its message about sun awareness and skin cancer prevention across to the Canadian public. Dr. Jason Rivers, national director of the Canadian Dermatology Association's National Sun Awareness Program, credits the work of the association's membership and the interest of the media in helping to get the message across.

Canada↗
PubMed1996

Catch-up immunization programs will eliminate measles threat for most schoolchildren.

The threat of measles will be eliminated for 72% of Canadian schoolchildren this spring as seven provinces/territories establish routine two-dose schedules for measles-mumps-rubella vaccination, including five jurisdictions that are undertaking universal catch-up immunization programs. The initiatives move the country closer to its commitment to eradicate measles by the year 2000.

Canada↗
PubMed1996

Clean-air video will interest MDs who treat patients with allergies, respiratory problems.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation wants physicians to help raise public awareness abut the importance of indoor air quality to health. Physicians across Canada are being sent a colourful poster that calls attention to indoor air pollution and ways to make a home healthier, included are order forms for the Clean Air Guide and a companion video, This Clean House.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Canada must be alert to threat of imported wild poliovirus, working group says.

Even though the Western Hemisphere is certified as being polio free, countries such as Canada must be alert to the continuing threat posed by the importation of wild poliovirus from polio-endemic regions, according to a report from Canada's Working Group on Polio Eradication and the Laboratory Centre for Disease Control. The working group recommends the maintenance of high immunization-coverage levels and strengthened surveillance activities for polio.

Canada↗
PubMed1995

Growing number of overseas adoptions leads to recommendations from Manitoba MDs.

Four Manitoba physicians have developed recommendations to help doctors provide medical advice and counselling to families that want to adopt children from foreign countries. Foreign adoptions are appealing to would-be parents, who might wait years to adopt a Canadian-born child, but in many countries there is a high risk that children placed for adoption will have medical conditions, infectious diseases and developmental problems.

Adoption↗
PubMed1995

Medicare "Canada's postwar miracle," US management expert tells CMA conference.

The diagnosis that Canadian medicare is a fundamentally troubled and gravely threatened system is quite distorted, says a professor of public policy and management at the Yale School of Management. Dr. Theodore Marmor praised medicare as "Canada's postwar miracle" during the CMA's 7th Annual Leadership Conference.

Canada↗
PubMed1995

Practical application of air-quality research incorporated in CMHC's research house.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has been looking at ways to improve indoor air quality since 1984 and now hopes to interest house designers and manufacturers in the results of its research. Its flagship project has been the construction of a proto-type research house for environmentally hypersensitive people.

Air Pollution, Indoor↗
PubMed1995

Physicians' fear of legal action becoming "pervasive," lawyer tells Ottawa conference.

Medical malpractice claims may be more common in the US than Canada, but that does not diminish the negative emotional, physical and professional consequences of legal action, delegates to the recent International Conference on Physician Health in Ottawa were told. Several US speakers described how physicians should employ risk-management strategies to avoid malpractice suits. They were also warned about what to expect during a legal action and the likelihood of facing subsequent suits alleging substandard care.

Canada↗
PubMed1995

Furore over language, shortage of women leaders signs of need for change at CMA, committee says.

Negative comments made recently about use of the term "chair" instead of "chairman," and the continuing shortage of women at decision-making levels of organized medicine are ample evidence that the work of the CMA's Gender Issues Committee (GIC) is not done, says the committee chair, Dr. May Cohen. At its fall meeting, the GIC said the CMA should actively promote greater representation by women physicians on its political and expert committees; a target of at least 25% membership within the next 2 to 5 years was suggested. The committee discussed other measures the CMA should consider in its attempts to become more representative of Canada's physician population.

Canada↗
PubMed1995

University researchers propose major reforms to cut health care costs.

Canada could slash public-health expenditures by 15% with no reduction in Canadians' health status by substituting less costly types of delivery and forms of treatment in more appropriate settings, says the recently released report of the Queen's-University of Ottawa Project on Cost-effectiveness of the Canadian Health Care System. Sustainable Health Care for Canada concludes that the system could be made more efficient by reducing the number of acute-care beds and cutting patients' length of stay in hospital. It also suggests substituting continuing care for acute care and relying less on institutionalization of the elderly and more on alternatives such as residential or community care. The report also suggests that as Canada experiments with decentralization, it may be time to look at other regulatory models for health care, including the mixed-market approach.

Canada↗
PubMed1995

Population-health concept challenges dominance of clinical medicine.

As the emerging policy concept of population health challenges the dominance of clinical medicine in health care, many question how it will affect "grass-roots" physicians. Although primarily a planning tool for policymakers that provides a framework to study the determinants of health, health outcomes and health interventions, population health can also be applied to medical practice. The CMA identified population health as a priority issue in March 1994, and has sponsored several presentations and workshops on the issue. On Jan. 23 three CMA Councils will meet jointly to discuss the implications this new policy holds for physicians.

Canada↗