CALGARY, AB—Residents of Quebec and Ontario receive better
value for money from their public health care systems than other
Canadians, concludes a new report from the Fraser Institute, Canada's
leading public policy think-tank.
Provincial Healthcare Index 2013
compares the per-capita cost of provincial health care systems to the
availability and quality of medical goods and services in each province.
The report measures 46 performance indicators comprising availability
of resources, timeliness, volume of services provided, and clinical
performance using publically available data from 2010 (or the most
recent year available).
Quebec’s health care system ranked highest
overall followed by Ontario and New Brunswick, while Newfoundland and
Labrador, Prince Edward Island, and Saskatchewan provide the least value
for money. The overall rankings are below.
“Measuring and
reporting the performance of health care systems is vital for ensuring
accountability and transparency. This study allows policymakers and
taxpayers to judge whether they receive good value for their health care
dollars,” said Nadeem Esmail, Fraser Institute Director of Health
Policy Studies.
The report analyzes five key areas of health system performance:
Availability of resources
Quebec
performed best overall in availability of medical resources (including
physicians, specialists, nurses, medical technologies, and drugs
approved for public reimbursement) per capita. New Brunswick and
Newfoundland and Labrador ranked second and third while Manitoba,
Saskatchewan, and Prince Edward Island have the fewest medical resources
among the provinces.
Volume of medical services
Ontario
performs the largest number of medical services per capita, including
services provided by family physicians, medical specialists, and
surgical specialists as well as diagnostic imaging. New Brunswick and
Alberta ranked second and third while Prince Edward Island, British
Columbia, and Saskatchewan provide the fewest services among all
provinces.
Wait for treatment
Ontario
offers the timeliest access to medical services in Canada followed by
Quebec and Alberta. The longest delays for specialist appointments,
surgery, diagnostic imaging, and pharmaceutical approvals among the
provinces are found in Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador,
and British Columbia.
Clinical performance
Alberta
was found to have the best overall clinical performance among the
provinces in terms of mortality rates, hospital re-admission rates, and
patient safety, followed by Manitoba and Quebec. Saskatchewan performed
most poorly, followed by British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Government spending
Quebec
spends the least on health care per capita followed by British Columbia
and Ontario, while Newfoundland and Labrador, Alberta, and Saskatchewan
spend the most.
“This study reveals how provinces have struck
different balances between health expenditures and health system
performance. For example, Quebec is able to offer its residents a
relatively high-value health care system at a low cost, while
Newfoundland and Labrador does its residents a disservice by providing
only average value at a very high cost. Low-cost, low-value BC and
high-cost, high-value Alberta fall in the middle of the pack in terms of
overall value for money,” Esmail said.
“On a national basis,
Canada’s health care system provides very poor value for money in
comparison with universal-access health care systems in other developed
nations. However, some Canadian provinces clearly provide better value
for money in health care than others.”
Overall Value for Money: Health Care
- Quebec
- Ontario
- New Brunswick
- Nova Scotia
- British Columbia
- Manitoba
- Alberta
- Saskatchewan
- Prince Edward Island
- Newfoundland & Labrador
17:00 (2 hours ago)
