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Canada scores poorly in health care:
International survey suggests doctors here trail U.K., Netherlands, Australia and others in such areas as waiting times
THE VANCOUVER SUN
November 3, 2006
by Beth Gorham
Canada lags far behind other countries except the United States in an international study of effective primary health care for patients released
Thursday by the Commonwealth Fund.
The survey of more than 6,000 doctors in seven countries gave Canada poor marks on several aspects of patient care, including waiting
times for tests, use of electronic medical records, doctors available after hours, multi-discipline teams to treat chronic illness and
financial incentives for improving quality of care.
The survey suggested Canada has a long way to go on many fronts to catch up with such countries as the United Kingdom, Netherlands,
New Zealand, Australia and Germany.
Only 23 per cent of Canadian doctors use electronic medical records, the lowest percentage and far behind 98 per cent in the Netherlands.
Most Canadian physicians don't use computers to prescribe medications, access test results and hospital records, receive
alerts about potential problems with drug doses or interactions or know when patients are overdue for essential care.
A Canadian official acknowledged the country needs to do a lot better, especially on waiting times and ensuring doctors have information technology.
"While we are certainly not celebrating the results," said Frank Fedyk, acting assistant deputy health minister,
"we are happy to note that they confirm what we already know, areas where we are, in fact, already taking action.
"We recognize that primary care health renewal involves fundamental changes in the organization and delivery of health
services and not simply more of the status quo," he told a news conference held by the private, non-partisan research group.
And provinces are negotiating with doctors on varying incentives to spend more time with patients, said Fedyk.
The College of Family Physicians of Canada released a report Thursday in Toronto blaming waiting times for primary care
and more specialized services on a shortage of family doctors.
A Decima Research poll commissioned by the group suggested some two million Canadians have tried but failed to find a
family doctor in the past year.
HOW CANADA LAGS BEHIND
Finding of the Commonwealth Fund study on primary health care.
- 51% of Canadian physicians report patients face long waits for diagnostic tests, compared with 6% in Australia.
- Canada's doctors wait longest for full hospital discharge reports or don't get them at all.
- 47% have arrangements for after-hours care so people can avoid going to an emergency room, compared with 95% in the Netherlands.
Only the United States is lower than Canada at 40%.
- 32% routinely work with multi-discipline teams and non-physicians to treat chronic illnesses, compared with 81% in the United Kingdom.
- 41% report getting government financial incentives to improve care, compared with 95% in the U.K.
- Canada had the lowest rate of doctors giving plans for home care to patients with chronic diseases.
- Only 27% of doctors set formal targets for clinical performance, compared with 70% in Germany and the U.K. Few collect information on patient satisfaction
or clinical outcomes.
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