Canadian Institute for Health Information Archives

Grey Matters: Seniors shouldn’t quietly take their medicine

November 27, 2017

When it comes to pharmaceuticals, seniors tend to be super users. Two-thirds of those in long-term care facilities take 10 or more medications, according to a 2012 Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) report.

Even among active older Canadians, pharmaceutical use is high. A poll of 5,190 CARP members in July revealed that, while 10 per cent use no prescription medications, CARP members are prescribed four medications each on average and five per cent take 10 or more.

Report finds increase in opioid prescriptions from doctors

November 22, 2017

The overall number of prescriptions for opioids has increased over the last five years, but doctors have been giving patients fewer doses at one time, a report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information has found.

The report, released Wednesday, shows the number of opioid prescriptions rose by almost seven per cent between 2012 and 2016, while daily doses on average dropped by five per cent — to 226 million from 238 million.

Last year, 21.5 million prescriptions for the potent painkillers were dispensed, up from 20.2 million prescriptions in 2012, CIHI reported. Most were for chronic non-cancer pain relief.

Drugs pushing Canada’s total health spend to $242 billion in 2017: CIHI

November 8, 2017

As Canada’s total health spend is expected to reach $242 billion by the end of 2017, the amount spent on drugs is expected to grow at the fastest pace, according to new figures by the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

The total projected growth in health spending for 2017 is about four per cent, a slight increase on 2016. Since 2010, the average annual increase has been 3.2 per cent. The total estimated growth of drug spending for the year is 5.2 per cent, followed by growth in physician spending (4.4 per cent) and in hospital spending (2.9 per cent).

Opioid poisonings land 16 Canadians in hospital each day on average, 53% jump over 10 years

September 14, 2017

The number of Canadians hospitalized because of opioid poisoning is growing dramatically, according to new numbers published by the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

But even with new data, tracking the breadth of the crisis in Canada continues to run up against problems.

Between April 1, 2016 and March 31, 2017, an average of 16 Canadians were hospitalized each day because of opioids, a jump from an average of 13 people every day two years ago.

And more than half of all cases were considered accidental, says CIHI.

Canadians’ health-care costs have skyrocketed: Study

August 1, 2017

TORONTO – Health-care costs for the average Canadian family have increased by nearly 70% during the last two decades, a new Fraser Institute report says.

The study, which used data from Statistics Canada and the Canadian Institute for Health Information, says the typical Canadian family of four will pay $12,057 for health care in 2017.

Publicly funded opioid prescriptions increase, despite addiction risk

July 31, 2017

Doctors are prescribing more opioids to vulnerable people in three Atlantic Canadian provinces, despite years of warnings about the addictive prescription painkillers.

The number of publicly funded prescriptions for opioids increased by 26 per cent between 2010 and 2015, according to data compiled by the Canadian Institute for Health Information for CBC News.

One in 18 Canadian patients suffer from preventable hospital errors, report finds

October 26, 2016

Pretty well everyone has heard a horror story about a serious hospital mishap: a medication mix-up, a sponge or retractor left in a patient after surgery, the wrong kidney removed.

So it would be no surprise if some patients facing an operation or admission to a medical ward may be somewhat anxious about their care.

And that begs the question: just how safe are Canada’s hospitals?

As it turns out, 138,000 — or one in every 18 — patients admitted to a Canadian hospital in 2014-15 suffered some kind of harmful event that could potentially have been prevented, from getting the wrong drug to developing an infection, a report released Wednesday has found.

Of those 138,000 patients, about 30,000 had more than one adverse event that compromised their care.

“We know that most patients experience safe care, but when harm happens there’s a big impact on patients, families and the health team,” said Kathleen Morris, vice-president of research and analysis at the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), which compiled the report.

Source: https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/10/26/one-in-18-canadians-suffer-from-preventable-hospital-errors-report-finds.html