Improving knowledge translation of clinical practice guidelines for epilepsy.

Background: Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) have the potential to improve quality of care. However, implementation of CPGs into the clinical care of people with epilepsy is less than optimal. This study aimed to examine barriers and facilitators to the use of CPGs for the care of people with epilepsy.

Knowledge translation of clinical practice guidelines among neurologists: A mixed-methods study.

Objectives: Clinical practice guidelines have the potential to improve care, but are often not optimally implemented. Improving guideline use in clinical practice may improve care. The objective of this study was to identify the barriers and facilitators (determinants) of guidelines use among neurologists and to propose a strategy to improve guideline implementation.

Effect of physician specialist alternative payment plans on administrative health data in Calgary: a validation study.

Background: There are concerns that alternate payment plans for physicians may be associated with erosion of data quality, given that physicians are paid regardless of whether claims are submitted. Our objective was to determine the proportion of claims submitted by physician specialists using fee-for-service and alternative payment plans, and to identify and compare the validity of information coded in physician billing claims submitted by these specialists in Calgary.

Methods: We conducted a survey of physician specialists to determine their plan status and obtained consent to use physicians' claims data from 4 acute care hospitals in Calgary.

Toward systematic reviews to understand the determinants of wait time management success to help decision-makers and managers better manage wait times.

Background: Long waits for core specialized services have consistently been identified as a key barrier to access. Governments and organizations at all levels have responded with strategies for better wait list management. While these initiatives are promising, insufficient attention has been paid to factors influencing the implementation and sustainability of wait time management strategies (WTMS) implemented at the organizational level.

Colonoscopy and its complications across a Canadian regional health authority.

Background: Defining the complication rate of endoscopy performed across an entire city will capture usual as opposed to referral center data.

Objective: Our purpose was to evaluate the current practice of colonoscopy and complications associated with lower GI endoscopy in usual clinical practice.

Design: All admissions within 30 days of an outpatient lower GI endoscopy at any of the 6 adult-care Winnipeg hospitals were identified.

Patients hospitalized for medical conditions in Winnipeg, Canada: appropriateness and level of care.

A medical record review of patients hospitalized for medical conditions in Winnipeg, Canada during 1998/99 was completed using InterQual utilization review instruments. On admission, 95% of patients required the services provided in an acute care facility. Fifty-eight percent of days in hospital following the day of admission required an acute care setting, and 42% required an alternate level of care.

Measuring and managing waiting times: what's to be done?

On September 11, 2000, the First Ministers of Canada issued a communiqué pledging to develop and report on waiting times for a number of diagnostic and treatment services. Reporting is to begin by September 2002. Given this commitment, what are the ideal characteristics of such a data collection system? This article defines and evaluates methods of measuring waiting times, and recommends a prioritized waiting-time information system to permit both measurement and management.