Using Blood Wisely: lessons learnt in establishing a national implementation programme to reduce inappropriate red blood cell transfusion.

Background: Up to 50% of blood is transfused inappropriately despite best evidence. In 2020, Choosing Wisely Canada launched a major national programme, 'Using Blood Wisely', the aim was to engage hospitals to audit their red blood cell transfusion use against national benchmarks and participate in a programme to decrease inappropriate use.

Study Design: Using Blood Wisely is a quality improvement programme including national benchmarks, an audit tool, recommended evidence-based effective interventions and a designation to reward success.

Baseline Inappropriate Antibiotic Use in Primary Care Patients with Viral Respiratory Tract Infections with 2019 and 2020.

Context: Respiratory tract infection (RTI) is the leading cause of avoidable antimicrobial use in primary care. How the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted antibiotic prescribing practices across Canada is unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine rates of antibiotic prescribing for RTI in primary care during the first year of the pandemic (2020), compared to baseline in 2019.

Antibiotic prescribing for respiratory tract infection across a national primary care network in 2019.

Background: Respiratory tract infection (RTI) is the leading reason for avoidable antimicrobial use in primary care, yet provider-level feedback on its use is only available in some provinces. The aim of this study was to validate case definitions for RTI across the Canadian Primary Care Sentinel Surveillance Network (CPCSSN) and determine baseline provider-level variability in antimicrobial prescribing in 2019.

Methods: The RTI case definitions were developed using demographic, diagnostic coding and keywords in electronic medical record.

Inappropriate use of clinical practices in Canada: a systematic review.

Background: Inappropriate health care leads to negative patient experiences, poor health outcomes and inefficient use of resources. We aimed to conduct a systematic review of inappropriately used clinical practices in Canada.

Methods: We searched multiple bibliometric databases and grey literature to identify inappropriately used clinical practices in Canada between 2007 and 2021.

The experience of a severe hypoglycaemic event from the perspective of people with diabetes and their caregivers: "What am I going to do?".

Aims: Among people with diabetes using insulin, severe hypoglycaemia (SH) can be a life-threatening complication, if untreated. The personal experiences during an SH event from the perspectives of people with diabetes and their caregivers are not well-characterized. This study assessed the perceptions of the event and the decision making processes of people with diabetes (T1D n = 36; T2D n = 24) and their caregivers during SH events.

Prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder in the United States: a systematic literature review.

Objective: This study synthesized evidence regarding the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the United States (US).

Methods: A systematic literature review (SLR) identified recently published (2015-2019) observational studies of PTSD prevalence in the US the MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsycINFO databases. Eligible studies' most recent data were collected no earlier than 2013.

Reframing Resource Stewardship and Sustainability as Professionalism: What Can Efforts for a Net-Zero Health System Learn from Choosing Wisely Campaigns?

Miller and Xie (2020) issue a compelling and wide-ranging call to action for how healthcare systems, leaders and decision makers can and should mobilize to address the climate crisis. Issues of sustainability and the climate crisis are complex, wicked problems with no simple solutions. Sustainability considerations and the imperative to use healthcare system resources wisely are a motivator of the Choosing Wisely Canada campaign.