Melanie de Wit

Work with urban angels as chief legal @UnityHealthTO. MPH @JohnsHopkins. Teach Health Law, Risk & Ethics @ihpmeUofT. Maman to n=3. Views mine, only mine.

[Melanie de Wit @witmelanie]

15 yrs in healthcare has taught me that when emerg docs and intensivists say they’re scared, then it’s truly terrifying

[Melanie de Wit @witmelanie]

Best practices: use tools like SOAP & flow sheets, words/tone matter, manage expectations for access, highlight patient successes & plan of care

Empathy is your best tool to avoid complaints & lawsuits

[Melanie de Wit @witmelanie]

Patient portals

Benefits: ⬆️ follow up on results (which is a high risk area for critical incidents), ⬆️ patient engagement & self management

Challenges: inequitable access, stigmatizing language, proxy access, high impact results, medical literacy, correction requests

[Melanie de Wit @witmelanie]

Lessons learned from simulations, debriefs and video review = best in class trauma design
Debriefs tell you about interpersonal & comms issues
Video reviews tell you about space & equipment issues

[Melanie de Wit @witmelanie]

@mbismark In Ontario (Canada), there were two key coroners inquests into deaths of patients in physical restraints — recommendations in those cases changed the hospital safeguards in place when using physical restraints + prompted uptake of restraint minimization approaches

[Melanie de Wit @witmelanie]

Send the note, wear the dress, take the trip, make the call, linger with friends. Show up, find your voice, shed the pretense, cast some light, speak the truth. Tomorrow isn’t promised.

[Melanie de Wit @witmelanie]

Centralized referral system for specialist and diagnostic care would shorten wait times, free up family physicians to see more patients, and save lives. It’s a low cost, win win win idea whose time is overdue.

[Melanie de Wit @witmelanie]

Never ceases to amaze me that care providers are expected to navigate the complex world of mental health law with very little legal training.
Here is a link to my go-to guide:
https://t.co/7ILVJ2Li1E

[Tara Kiran @tara_kiran]

Let's cut down on unnecessary admin burden and support family docs to better care for patients

✅Centralize referral + triage systems for specialists and tests

✅Legislate EMR interoperability + provide pts access to their records

✅Expand teams so MDs can share the care

[Melanie de Wit @witmelanie]

Kindness over everything - start em young. Happy #Pride2023 from ⁦@UnityHealthTO⁩

[Melanie de Wit @witmelanie]

This crew makes me feel hopeful about what we can achieve. Congratulations to all MHSc & MSc grads @ihpmeuoft @IHPMEqips Be bold, be brave, be unrelenting about what’s possible.

[Melanie de Wit @witmelanie]

Because with so much potential benefit on the line, we can't afford to get it wrong. #AIMI2023 #aiinhealthcare

[Stanford AIMI @StanfordAIMI]

Join us tomorrow for AIMI Symposium 2023, as we discuss the latest for AI in healthcare, explore best practices & gain insights from experts in the field. It's not too late to register for online participation (free & open to all): https://t.co/kNTQWUMNRF #AIMI23 #AIinHealthcare

[Melanie de Wit @witmelanie]

“Without courage, you cannot practice any other virtue consistently. You can be kind for a while; generous for a while; just for a while; or merciful for a while. But it is only with courage that you can be persistently & insistently kind & generous & fair.” -M Angelou
#Pride2023

[Melanie de Wit @witmelanie]

@UofT well represented in this call to action for responsible #AI

https://t.co/NEmldBixPx

[Melanie de Wit @witmelanie]

@UofT well represented in this call to action for responsible #AI
Collective debt of gratitude to @geoffreyhinton et al.

https://t.co/NEmldBixPx

[Melanie de Wit @witmelanie]

How much patient health info can you collect, use and share to manage safety issues in the ED?

As much as you need to address a safety risk in the ED. No more, but also no less. Safety trumps privacy.
#CAEP23

[Sahil Gupta @bysahilgupta]

Always great to learn from @witmelanie. Dissecting the the tightrope of occupational safety and rights to care in the ED. One key takeaway: your safety trumps privacy legislation to build a safe working environment. #CAEP23

[Melanie de Wit @witmelanie]

Digital health projects, from EPRs to AI:
➡️listen to clinicians & fix what frustrates
➡️tell patients what we do with data & why
➡️privacy, security, legal & ethics at one table from the start
➡️don’t replicate the way things are -optimize, iterate, break down silos

[Infoway @Infoway]

Today at 4 p.m. ET, Infoway's Abigail Carter-Langford joins @witmelanie from @UnityHealthTO and Ira Parghi from @INQLaw to talk about #Tech innovation in health care and some of the hurdles that can arise when planning, launching and scaling digital health projects. #eHealth2023

[Melanie de Wit @witmelanie]

Go ⁦@Baycrest⁩ ! Love this reminder to mind your brain. It’s trauma season. Helmets! 🚴 Don’t be a trauma.

[Melanie de Wit @witmelanie]

A woman has been a person under 🇨🇦 law for less than 100yrs, since 1929 when 5 women asked the UK to overrule the Supreme Court. As a result, a woman became Senator in 1930. In 2020, we quietly reached gender parity in the Senate. Watch for broken glass, ladies. #WomensDay2023

[Melanie de Wit @witmelanie]

“The question is not whether intelligent machines can have any emotions, but whether machines can be intelligent without any emotions.” Marvin Minsky, on machine learning

[Melanie de Wit @witmelanie]

My guiding principles for working with police in Emerg Depts:

1. Collaborate w/ police to prioritize patient & staff safety
2. Provide best possible usual care & protect privacy as safety permits
3. Maximize psych & addictions care > criminalization

[Melanie de Wit @witmelanie]

This one @CAEP_Docs was a treat with @DrSandySimpson & @TPSLookBeyond working together to get best possible care for vulnerable patients

[Sahil Gupta @bysahilgupta]

@CAEP_Docs Do you find it difficult how to navigate caring for patients brought in by police to the emerg? Do you feel like noone seems to know what to do or the right way is? Come check out a panel discussion TODAY! 1400 ET | 1100 PT. https://t.co/f5DsoJdIvf