Assessment of potential bias in research grant peer review in Canada.

Background: Peer review is used to determine what research is funded and published, yet little is known about its effectiveness, and it is suspected that there may be biases. We investigated the variability of peer review and factors influencing ratings of grant applications.

Methods: We evaluated all grant applications submitted to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research between 2012 and 2014.

What is in your wallet? A cluster randomized trial of the effects of showing comparative patient out-of-pocket costs on primary care prescribing for uncomplicated hypertension.

Background: Drug expenditures are responsible for an increasing proportion of health costs, accounting for $1.1 trillion in annual expenditure worldwide. As hundreds of billions of dollars are being spent each year on overtreatment with prescribed medications that are either unnecessary or are in excess of lowest cost-effective therapy, programs are needed that optimize fiscally appropriate use.

Improving patient safety and efficiency of medication reconciliation through the development and adoption of a computer-assisted tool with automated electronic integration of population-based community drug data: the RightRx project.

Background And Objective: Many countries require hospitals to implement medication reconciliation for accreditation, but the process is resource-intensive, thus adherence is poor. We report on the impact of prepopulating and aligning community and hospital drug lists with data from population-based and hospital-based drug information systems to reduce workload and enhance adoption and use of an e-medication reconciliation application, RightRx.

Methods: The prototype e-medical reconciliation web-based software was developed for a cluster-randomized trial at the McGill University Health Centre.

Pneumonia risk in asthma patients using inhaled corticosteroids: a quasi-cohort study.

Aim: Studies have linked the use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) to excess pneumonia risk in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients. The risk in asthma patients remains unclear. The objective of the present study was to examine the risk of pneumonia with ICSs in asthma patients aged 12-35 years.