Tim Berezny (Health)

"Virtual Visits" aren't words normal people use, we should just call online health appointments "Video Calls". Language is UX.

Tim's 1st law of screen-sharing: When typing while everybody is watching, every 11th letter will be a typo.

"Fly-in" is the only PowerPoint animation you ever need.

What's next for #FHIR? Find out at #FHIRNorth, where I'll be presenting on "How to build a FHIR iGuide that gets adopted". Join me: bit.ly/3hsAZcW

@hidrees Yes, we published the Canadian FHIR eReferral spec. Though … it may have been more of a workgroup than a “table”: simplifier.net/guide/ca-on-er…

@hidrees It’s a bit more complicated than in US because you can all a snap election any time, so terms vary in length. A certain natural ennui among the electorate seems to seep in after 7-8 years anyway. Only the early years prime ministers went past 10 years.

New Canadian eReferral guide is out! It has a greatly improved narrative, and a few technical changes. simplifier.net/guide/ca-on-er…

@psych_k8 I favourite part is the bot’s passive aggressive “as I mentioned in my previous email”…

@chrissyfarr We do genetic screens for hearing problems in newborns universally in Ontario. Consent is required to inspect the result - which is quite a difficult process to collect and track.

Talked to a geneticist friend last night about sequencing newborns. Lots of considerations (privacy, consent, etc) but I’d personally say yes. The upside of discovering something actionable when it’s still early for me is worth it. Thoughts?

eConsult is a subset of eReferral. Applications and interoperability specifications should be designed as such.

@supermarioelia @fauldscat I find the @TorontoStar dashboard is pretty good now. They revise it pretty regularly, I’m sure in a few days they’ll bring back the “% of adults” metric for us to check compulsively.

Ontario needs a live vaccine dashboard that the public can compulsively check, as the sole arbiter of adult vaccine data truth, over the next 4 weeks to see when we crack 60%. And clarity on how quickly we go from 60% achieved to phase 1 activated. For once, please, be clear.

It's good to step away from a UI design for a week to get some distance from my own brain. When I come back it's easier to see it with user eyes - and figure out if I really love it or hate it. I had a "love it" feeling this morning on some recent work.

Looking for a DevOps engineer who would likes helping people in healthcare. Message me if interested.

@IlanShahin @GrayMoonen @UofTFamilyMed @FamPhysCan @OntarioCollege “We eat externalities all day” ... sounds like a brewing blog post title ;)

@GrayMoonen @UofTFamilyMed @FamPhysCan @OntarioCollege The job market for “proper” family medicine is absolutely terrible. The job/workplace of full scope family medicine hasn’t evolved enough compared to what other industries have tried to do. Plus we eat externalities all day - who wants that? This is for trainees to answer though.

I find that committee-style meetings contribute a lot more to "Zoom fatigue" than highly focused problem-solving meetings - which energize me. Probably not just a Zoom thing, just a thing thing.

@IlanShahin Creating a shared wait list with an API that could integrate to booking systems could have been money we’ll spent.

The vaccine availability posts on NextDoor are a nightmare of inconsistent, rapidly changing information but consistent frustration. Everyone trying to help their neighbours but it seems way harder than it needs to be.

How many thousands of people are currently in this vaccine booking death loop at the @ShopprsDrugMart website?:

@waynemsamuels @SandyTecimer @IlanShahin Yes exactly right, but to provide good value that team needs streams of care rather than one big funnel of work. A large care team could have a Maple-style stream for basic care while maintaining continuity. Prescription #7 is jumping at me right now. lifeclub.org/books/the-inno…

@TimOnHealth @SandyTecimer @IlanShahin Tim, Christiansen’s model only works when the ‘solution shops’ (ERs and yes, your GP office) are adequately funded to only deal with the hard stuff. In reality, truly team-based care (where there’s a mix of staff, all working at the top of their license) is the way to optimize.

Whether primary care likes it or realizes it, this is the reality we are now in. Buckle up and build a better front door and distribution channel. Be proactive on service availability issues that are revealed as much as exacerbated by things like this. Reject complacency.

@SandyTecimer @waynemsamuels @IlanShahin Would your opinion change if you were funded for the hard stuff?

@TimOnHealth @waynemsamuels @IlanShahin The easy stuff helps fund the hard stuff. That’s why the other places don’t want to do the hard stuff, it’s expensive to & pays little. Your family doctor can completely do the hard stuff but it needs to be funded properly. Also overlooks the importance of continuity of care.

@waynemsamuels @IlanShahin Imagine a collaborative care team - each of whom have access to my health record - with a Maple-like process. Then work backwards from there to figure out how to make it work. Seems entirely do-able to me with the right leadership and levers.

@IlanShahin Reform of the fee schedules can only partially address this (secure messaging, for example). But structural reform is also needed - there’s no way a solo MD (or even an office of four) can provide this coverage. Team-based care must be opened and the default for Family Med...

Reform must address this.