Sesame Unveils Specialized Care for

Health Care

April 7, 2024admin

Sesame Unveils Specialized Care for

NEW YORK CITY, April 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sesame, the company building a radically new healthcare system for uninsured Americans and those with high-deductible plans, today unveiled an expansion of its partnership with Costco to offer specialized health care for weight loss with pricing exclusively for Costco Members.

The story was first reported by USA Today national consumer reporter Betty Lin-Fisher.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 42 percent of US adults are obese (defined as a body mass index above 30), comprising 108 million Americans. However, with recent medical advances in exercise and nutrition, and the development of exciting, effective new drug therapies, clinically-based weight loss has never been better positioned to make a significant difference to the problem, at scale.

“We are witnessing important innovations in medically-supervised weight loss,” said David Goldhill, Sesame‘s co-founder and CEO, and a serial author on American healthcare reform. “Sesame’s unique model allows us not only to make high-quality specialty care like weight loss much more accessible and affordable, but also to empower clinicians to create care plans that are specific to — and appropriate for — each individual patient.”

How does Sesame’s weight loss service work?
When Costco Members sign up for the weight loss program within the Sesame marketplace at the exclusive discount price of $179, they will:

Receive three months of clinical consultation;
select the clinician of their choice;
have an initial live video consultation with the clinician;
be able to message their clinician outside of scheduled appointments;
receive a nutritional guide and recommendations;
and be guided to an individualized, clinically-appropriate treatment program.

Sesame clinicians will begin by collecting a detailed medical history from each patient, and help patients with appropriate diet, exercise and lifestyle modifications. When clinically appropriate, the clinician may pair these interventions with medications,

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Health Care

April 6, 2024admin

B.C. health care: Parents question status of Surrey hip clinic

It’s been two years since the province said it had plans to expand a clinic to help children with hip dysplasia and clubfoot. The clinic was supposed to open at Surrey Memorial Hospital, but many parents told CTV News they’ve received no update on the clinic’s status.

Nicola Robinson’s eight-year-old son Matthew was born with left clubfoot. She said the last time she received information about the hip clinic was in the Spring of 2022.

“We’re really left in the dark, and the upsetting part is not having that continuity of care for my child but also for so many families in the Fraser region,” she said. “It’s just not kids with clubfoot. It’s hip dysplasia, it’s leg length discrepancy. It’s kids with any joint and limb condition that are being left really in the unknown.”

Specialist leaving

Robinson is one of hundreds of parents worried about the future of their children’s care – especially following the departure of Dr. Magdalena Tarchala, a paediatric orthopaedic sports medicine surgeon.

According to Fraser Health, Tarchala has decided to leave her practice at Royal Columbian Hospital at the end of this month.

Robinson said she found out about Tarchala’s departure through a social media post through a Facebook support group.

“For us, it was very upsetting, unsettling, shocking to hear that she was leaving,” she said.

In 2022, Ian Paton, a BC United MLA for Delta South sent a letter to the Health Ministry asking about pediatric care following the retirement of Dr. Shafique Pirani, a long-term physician who served the Fraser Health region.

In a response letter dated, March 29, 2022, Minister Adrian Dix said, Fraser Health was in the process of developing a comprehensive pediatric surgical program with a two-phased approach

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Health Care

April 5, 2024admin

Mankal: Let’s clear up confusion about nurse practitioners in Ontario

Everyone who works in an NP-led clinic is salaried by the Ministry of Health. The government must address any issues of exploitation or unfair billing practices.

Published Apr 02, 2024 • Last updated 2 days ago • 2 minute read

Hoda Mankal (at right) and Joanna Binch have received provincial funding for a new nurse practitioner clinic in Ottawa. Photo by Jean Levac /POSTMEDIA

The following is in response to “Ottawa woman ‘outraged’ at $110 charge at Appletree clinic for routine cervical cancer screening,” March 12:

I am writing regarding the Ottawa resident who was charged for a Pap test. As a primary care nurse practitioner (NP) with almost two decades of experience, my commitment has always been to fair and equitable access to health care. I share your subject’s outrage at the situation described.

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Health Care

April 4, 2024admin

My trip to a Winnipeg hospital turned into a medical ‘gong show’

This First Person column is the experience of Winnipegger Jo Davies. For more information about CBC’s First Person stories, please see the FAQ.

You know things are going off the rails with Manitoba’s health care when it feels like the average emergency room wait time equals a round of golf.

I experienced such a wait after I woke up one day last month with arms in so much pain, I was screaming. The walk-in clinic doctor I saw sent me to Victoria Hospital urgent care.

Six hours later, no one had taken my temperature, let alone given me any diagnostic tests. In all, I waited for 38½ hours there. (These sort of wait times aren’t unheard of in Manitoba. In January, the Manitoba Nurses Union said some ER wait times exceeded 30 hours.)

For nearly two days I didn’t eat, because no one could decide if I would be getting emergency shoulder surgery or not. The one doctor I managed to corral told me the X-rays they’d taken of my shoulders had been sent to Health Sciences Centre’s orthopedic team, and revealed fractures that only a seizure could have caused.

To be clear: I’d never had a seizure. I had, however, reluctantly started taking a specific medication at the insistence of my family doctor. It wasn’t until later that I discovered one of its side-effects, although rare, was seizures. Lucky me.

A woman with long blond hair stares into the camera. — Davies says ‘devoted yet overburdened’ nurses did their best to provide care. ‘How they keep working in these conditions is a mystery,’ she says. (Submitted by Jo Davies)

I was then packed into an ambulance to HSC with what turned out to be two broken shoulders and a dislocated left arm — all of it, according to the doctors, caused by seizures.

If you’ve ever wanted to experience

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Health Care

April 3, 2024admin

Costco to new offer weight-loss program possibly including Ozempic

Costco and its low-cost health care partner are expanding into weight-loss management.

Costco will begin offering its members in the U.S. access to a weight loss program through Sesame, a health care marketplace, Sesame exclusively told USA TODAY. The service, which will cost $179 every three months, is scheduled to become available April 2.

“We are witnessing important innovations in medically supervised weight loss,” said David Goldhill, Sesame‘s co-founder and CEO. “Sesame’s unique model allows us not only to make high-quality specialty care like weight loss much more accessible and affordable but also to empower clinicians to create care plans that are specific to − and appropriate for − each individual patient.”

Last fall, Costco began offering $29 visits with a primary care physician through its partnership with Sesame. It also offered virtual mental health therapy for $79 a session and health checkups with a standard lab panel and virtual follow-up consultation with a provider for $72.

The expansion into medical weight loss services by Sesame with Costco came as a result of inquiries from patients, Goldhill told USA TODAY.

“The No. 1 search term of Costco members seeking primary care on Sesame was around weight loss,” Goldhill said.

Both parties got together about two months after the primary care doctor partnership started to begin looking into offering weight loss management because consumers were coming to Sesame “unprompted and saying ‘What do you have?’ ” he said.

How does Costco’s weight loss program work?

This is what’s included for $179 every three months for Costco members:

Three months of clinical consultation.
Ability to select the clinician of your choice.
An initial live video consultation with the clinician.
Ability to message your clinician outside scheduled appointments.
A nutritional guide and recommendations.
An individualized, clinically appropriate treatment program.

Sesame clinicians will begin

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Health Care

April 1, 2024admin

Redefining excellence in health care: uniting inclusive compassion and shared humanity within a transformative physician competency model

KEY POINTS

The Canadian Medical Directives for Specialists (CanMEDS) revision project, due to approach completion in 2026, has identified limitations in the current framework’s ability to address the diverse needs of the Canadian population.
Presented here is a dynamic model — a transformed physician competency framework— that centres inclusive compassion and shared humanity and encompasses mechanisms to actively address existing systemic inequities in health care systems.
The model expands medical expertise and supports physicians to take an action-oriented stance and commit to equity, justice, and addressing health disparities, emphasizing the vital competencies that are required in both physician training and patient care to transform health systems.

The Canadian Medical Directives for Specialists (CanMEDS) revision project is at a crucial juncture, with implications for the medical profession in Canada. Expert groups have identified limitations in the current framework’s ability to address the diverse needs of the Canadian population, raising questions about its adaptability to concepts such as antiracism, social justice, artificial intelligence, and planetary health. Previously, we underscored the imperative to include antiracism as a foundational competency in any reimagining of CanMEDS,1^,2 recognizing its pivotal role in combating health disparities. As the CanMEDS revision approaches completion in 2026, it presents a unique opportunity for transformative change in medical practice, informed by anti-oppression, cultural safety, and social justice principles. This prompts a critical examination of whether the existing framework can effectively integrate these vital competencies or if a comprehensive reimagining is necessary. The revision offers an unprecedented opportunity to envision a physician competency framework that not only facilitates, but propels transformative change within health care systems.

Transformative change in medical education and practice2^,3 demands explicit integration of anti-oppressive competencies. This shift aims to redefine the physician’s role, moving from a neutral to an action-oriented stance committed

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Health Care

March 31, 2024admin

Sask. health care worker battling cancer says job conditions driving colleagues out

A Saskatchewan healthcare social worker battling breast cancer shared her experiences navigating the health system – while also voicing concern over the culture and working conditions in the sector.

Shannon Orell-Bast was diagnosed with breast cancer in August of 2022. Since then she’s received 16 rounds of chemotherapy, 25 radiation treatments, a double mastectomy with no reconstruction and 17 immunotherapy treatments.

She attended the legislature on Tuesday to shed light on what issues she faced while receiving care.

“As a healthcare social worker, that’s what I do for a living, I navigate the healthcare system … and I was met with a lot of barriers trying to navigate for myself,” she told reporters.

Orel-Bast also highlighted diagnostic and treatment delays – and how those facing cancer simply cannot afford the wait.

“There is research that says from the time that you find breast cancer – within nine months you should be through that treatment for your best prognosis. So if we have delays in even getting diagnostic testing done or getting the treatment done, we are reducing the lifespan of these people,” she said.

“I was actually concerned at one point, this system is gonna kill me, truly.”

Orell-Bast said she witnessed the effects of staffing shortages and a culture of overwork, leading to burnout.

“The mission statement of the [Saskatchewan Health Authority] is ‘We work together to improve the health and well-being every day for everyone’ and that everyone includes health care workers,” she explained.

“Because if they’re not well, we’re not well.”

Orell-Bast’s appearance at the legislature was not her first time sharing her experiences navigating the health care system.

“We had a conversation back in December about her personal circumstances and just her view of

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Health Care

March 30, 2024admin

Steward Health Care strikes deal to sell its nationwide physician network to Optum

BOSTON (AP) — Financially embattled hospital operator Steward Health Care has struck a deal to sell its nationwide physician network to Optum, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, as it works to stabilize its finances.

The move comes as Gov. Maura Healey has said state monitors are keeping eye on the nine health care facilities operated by Steward Health Care in Massachusetts, including hospitals in some of the state’s poorer communities.

The Dallas-based company operates more than 30 hospitals nationwide.

Before the sale can be completed, the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission must review the proposal.

The commission doesn’t have the authority to block a transaction but can refer findings to the state Attorney General’s office, the Department of Public Health, or other Massachusetts agencies for possible further action.

The documents filed with the state did not include a cost for the transaction. Under the deal, Optum would aquire a Steward affiliate that includes the company’s primary care doctors and other clinicians in nine states.

Health Policy Commission Executive Director David Seltz said the panel is committed to a “rigorous, data-driven oversight of health care market changes to bring important information to the public.”

He said details of the proposal will be studied to examine potential effects on health care costs, quality, access and equity. The sale can’t be completed until after the commission’s review and any additional reviews by state or federal antitrust authorities.

“This is a significant proposed change involving two large medical providers, both in Massachusetts and nationally, with important implications for the delivery and cost of health care across Massachusetts,” Seltz said in a statement.

Emails to Steward Health Care and Optum seeking comment were not immediately returned.

The commission’s review of the transaction shouldn’t delay state and federal antitrust authorities from doing their own review to protect

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Health Care

March 29, 2024admin

Minor injury and illness clinic set to open in Brandon this fall, premier says

The province is banking on a $1-million investment to reduce ER wait times with the opening of a minor injury and illness clinic in Brandon.

The clinic, expected to open in September, is part of $17 million earmarked in the provincial budget, rolling out April 2, to open five primary care clinics and three minor injury and illness clinics in Manitoba, Premier Wab Kinew announced at the Brandon Regional Health Centre on Wednesday.

“This minor injury and illness clinic, it effectively functions somewhat like an urgent care centre,” Kinew said. “It’s for those less acute conditions.

“It’s not quite at the level of ER, but you do need to get addressed right away.”

Mayor Jeff Fawcett said emergency rooms in Brandon and across Canada are facing challenges.

He said it’s also been concerning to see walk-in clinics closing in the city.

A person stands at a podium as people fill a staircase listening. — Uzoma Asagwara. minister of health, seniors and long-term care, says the clinic will help reduce wait times at the Brandon Regional Health Centre emergency room. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)

“Our ER in Brandon has been stretched,” Fawcett said. “This is a well-needed service in Brandon.”

The Brandon clinic will be staffed by doctors, nurse practitioners and nurses who will provide primary health-care services and support for minor health-care concerns. Patients will be able to book same-day appointments and connect with health-care providers via the Virutal Care Resource Centre.

It will operate 12 hours a day, seven days a week as a starting point, Kinew said. An interim site will open in Brandon this September while Prairie Mountain Health identifies a permanent location.

Brandon is a growing city and health-care needs are growing in tandem, said Uzoma Asagwara, health, seniors and long-term care minister.

The province estimates the new clinic could see more than 700 people every week..

“Wait times are

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Health Care

March 28, 2024admin

Ontario budget: billions of dollars of new funding for health care

Liam Casey, The Canadian Press

Published Tuesday, March 26, 2024 4:21PM EDT

Last Updated Tuesday, March 26, 2024 4:50PM EDT

TORONTO – Ontario is set to inject billions of new dollars into health care, the budget for the upcoming fiscal year shows.

The province said it is investing $2 billion over three years in home care services, nearly $1 billion more for hospitals and hundreds of millions to expand primary care coverage.

“Ontarians are also counting on us to maintain a strong health-care system now and for future generations,” said Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy as he released the budget on Tuesday.

The province previously committed $1 billion over three years as part of its reforms for home and community care, which sees care providedat home or in a community setting by nurses, personal support workers and others.

“I don’t know many people who don’t want to age at home with their loved ones in familiar surroundings,” Bethlenfalvy said.

The finance minister said the new money for home care will be spent on increasing compensation for nurses, personal support workers and other front-line home care providers.

“A big chunk of this money is going to supporting the wages and recruiting and retaining more health-care workers so they can take care of people where they want to be taken care of,” Bethlenfalvy said.

Home care agencies have struggled to attract and retain nurses and personal support workers because there is more pay for those professions in hospitals and long-term care homes.

Home Care Ontario, which represents agencies that provide about 28,000 health-care workers who are sent to people’s homes, applauded the new funding.

“Today’s historic investment in the province’s home care system is great news for

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Category: Health Care

Specialist leaving

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How does Costco’s weight loss program work?