Published: February 10, 2021
Source: Ontario Medical Association
OMA media briefing to discuss how physicians and researchers are using vast amounts of information generated by routine medical care to accurately predict and improve patient outcomes.
Drs. Fahad Razak and Amol Verma of St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto discuss their new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal debunking the myth that having COVID-19 is no more serious than having the flu. The study comparing patients hospitalized during the pandemic reveals those with COVID-19 were more likely to need ICU care and had longer hospital stays and higher death rates than those with the seasonal flu.
They also discuss some of their new work, including a large CIHR grant to study how hospitals can be more efficiently organized to manage the pandemic, including the use of scarce resources such as ventilators and personal protective equipment.
They are joined by Dr. Jane Philpott, a former federal minister of health who now is dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Queen’s University in Kingston and special adviser to the Ontario government for the design and implementation of the new Ontario Health Data Platform.