The Canadian Association for Health Services and Policy Research held their annual conference in Vancouver from May 28 to 31, 2013. The conference was well attended by the Health Care Funding team, and we gave a presentation about our evaluation of the effects of introducing activity-based funding in BC and a poster about linking costs of care across different parts of the health system.
- Presentation: Collecting Patient-Reported Outcomes in a Large Canadian Health Region Chan A, Crump T, Sutherland J, Wright J.
- Poster: Selecting a Generic Health Status Instrument for the Systematic Collection of Patient-Reported Outcomes in Elective Surgery. Crump T, Chan A, Sutherland J.
We appreciated the chance to present our work and to receive feedback, and we were impressed by the breadth and quality of the conference plenary and breakout sessions. Our team of researchers, data analysts, and students liked the theme of the conference, Making Good on the Triple Aim. The following are some of our comments:
“I was surprised at how much attention was paid to the patient experience dimension of the Triple Aim. It is usually treated like an afterthought compared to the cost and health Aims, but several talks (particularly those from UK-based researchers) had the patient experience front-and-centre. How patients’ experiences and satisfaction with care is objectively and systematically measured, particularly across the continuum of care, will be an exciting opportunity for research.”
~Postdoctoral Fellow
“As the first conference I have attended this was a great experience for me. I thought the talks were of high quality and that there was something for everyone. The variety in presentations allowed for glimpses into the many different areas of current health policy and services research going on in our country. I enjoyed hearing international guests such as David Blumenthal speak about their country’s work towards the triple aim. It was slightly discouraging at times to hear about the array of problems within the Canadian health system, but I felt inspired and optimistic being surrounded by so many professionals working towards its improvement.”
~Graduate student
“I found the panel presentations really effective because of the consistent focus that connected all the presentations. I really enjoyed the panel on disinvestment by Craig Mitton et al and on patient engagement by Ross Baker et al. For the former, I found the way that the presenters described the widespread lack of a formal process for disinvestment decision-making to be illuminating and troubling. I liked the way that the presenters articulated the problem and some possible solutions. For the latter panel, I enjoyed learning about the meaningful ways that patients are being engaged in the health care system across the country, not just as recipients of health care services but also as contributors.”
~Project Manager
If you are interested in what our healthcare funding team presented at the conference please see our sister blog and while you are there read about what our other team thought about the conference.
Hope to see you at CAHSPR next year in Toronto!