On Health Care

Submitted by Richard on Fri, 14/03/2008 - 2:13am

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On Health Care in Canada

Across our country of Canada, one topic of concern to all Canadians frequently headlines the news, Health Care.

Canadians enjoy one of the best health care systems in the world. Canada boasts one of the highest life expectancies (about 80 years) and lowest infant morality rates of all industrialized countries.

The most frequent complaint is wait times, the efficiency of the health system to deliver treatment in a timely fashion. Secondly is access to primary care physicians who are at the forefront of Canadian health care.

Access to Primary Care Physicians

The availability of physicians depends largely on the number of doctors and the current demand for medical services. Currently there is about 1 primary care doctor for every 1000 Canadians. Canada needs more doctors.

The problem is two-fold. Our universities are graduating less doctors per population than 20 years ago and about 10% of doctors are leaving Canada for more lucrative positions, mainly in the US.

Fewer doctors are taking on new patients while the population is living longer and requiring more doctor care. This all adds up to more and more people visiting an emergency clinic because they have no ‘family’ doctor, placing a further strain on already understaffed hospitals. Children under five years account for the highest proportion of emergency department visits.

Factors that Determine Wait Time for Medical Procedures

Wait times allow physicians and hospitals to prioritize patients based on their medical needs and the urgency of each procedure and vary per procedure and hospital. Wait times can also depend on factors such as:

  • Which specialists your doctor refers you to.
  • The capacity of hospitals to do the procedure.
  • The number of patients requiring a similar procedure.
  • How busy specialists are in your community.

When referring to the capacity of hospitals to do the procedure, the capacity depends on:

  • The number of specialists in that procedure.
  • The number of operating nurses available.
  • The availability of post operation care.
  • The equipment available to perform the procedure.

Study Factors Impact of Lost Productivity on Economy
The Sarnia Observer

"– According to a study for the Canadian Medical Association, excessive waits for medical procedures cost the economy at least $14.8 billion in 2007.

The study, which focused on just four specialties, also concludes that the federal and provincial governments lost $4.4 billion in revenues last year because of prolonged wait times.

The “conservative” figures are based on loss of productivity for those awaiting hip and knee replacements, MRI scans, coronary bypass grafts, and cataract surgery. These areas were singled out for number-crunching because the provincial premiers agreed to make them priorities back in 2004.

“To put this in perspective, the economic value lost to excess wait times for these four procedures is equivalent to 40 per cent of Ontario's total health care budget,” says the study, carried out by the Centre for Spatial Economics. It does not estimate what the cost to the economy would be to reduce wait times to meet physicians' recommendations.

Lost productivity was calculated based on the inability of the patient to work or spend due to poor health while awaiting the medical procedure past the recommended wait time."

Also factored in was the cost of having a friend or family member give up some of their own work and leisure activities to help the person on the waiting list. Extra health costs were added, too, such as additional checkups and drugs that would not have been needed if the patient had not been kept waiting so long."

Canadian Expectations

It would be unrealistic to expect our health system to reduce wait times to 0, the costs would be prohibitive. The diagnostic and operating procedures that tend to create wait lists are the most expensive factors in the health care budget. To reduce wait times by even 50% would nearly double the costs of hospital care in Canada.

First; health regions would need to invest in more equipment, which means training and hiring more technicians to use the equipment. There would be a need to train and hire more specialists to diagnose and perform the procedures. More surgical and extensive care nurses would need to be hired and trained. More post operation beds would be required.

On average, the cost to each Canadian for health care is $4,867 ea.(CIHI 2007) When each of us or a family member is put on a wait list, we naturally would like to see more monies devoted to health care.

How much more of our tax dollars should be spent on health care?

Are the respective jurisdictions spending our health care dollars wisely?

Should Canada allow private health care facilities to fill the voids in Canada's health care system?

If private; who should pay? – the puplic health insurance? – private health insurance?

Total Expenditure on Health 2004 (WHO)

Country per capita: % GDP:
Canada $3,173 9.8
Australia $3,123 9.6
Belgium $3,133 9.7
France $3,040 10.5
Germany $3,171 10.6
Japan $2,293 7.8
Netherlands $3,092 9.2
Sweden $2,828 9.1
Switzerland $4,011 11.5
United Kingdom $2,560 8.1
United States of America $6,096 15.4

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