Sunday House Call #288 for November 1, 2009

3:10

When we last spoke to Nadeem Esmail in October 2007 regarding a report on efforts to reduce hospital wait times in Canada, the results were less than stellar.: wait times remained a major problem and barrier for prompt care. The Fraser Institute’s annual report on hospital wait times, the 19^th edition of Waiting Your Turn: Hospital Waiting Lists in Canada reports that Canadians seeking surgical or other therapeutic treatment are enduring a median wait time of 16.1 weeks, roughly the same delay they experienced in 2000-2001. The result is disappointing because of the substantial increases in health care spending since then.

• Nadeem Esmail, Director of Health System Performance Studies, Fraser Institute

3:30

I am reminded of a scene from the science fiction movie Logan’s Run where a plastic surgeon uses a laser to cut the skin, makes the cosmetic change, and then seals the wound with a laser leaving no scar. Although this seemed an impossible feat of technology at the time, real science has edged closer to it.

Researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital are using light to “stitch” surface wound openings back together. The process is called nanosuturing or photochemical tissue bonding..

• Dr. Irene Kochevar, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry and Dermatology at the Harvard Medical School Wellman Center for Photomedicine and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School