How Do Canadians Rate the Health Care System?
Nov 23, 2010
A new report from the Health Council of Canada has found that Canadians are generally satisfied with and confident in the health care system and the care they receive. But it also identifies some gaps in important areas.
“How Do Canadians Rate the Health Care System? Results From the 2010 Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey” reflects the perceptions of a random sample of about 20,000 individuals from 11 countries including Canada, the United States, Australia, Franc e, and Germany.
The survey suggests that people’s confidence in the Canadian system is improving. There are areas of concern, however. Of all the countries surveyed, Canadians have the greatest difficulties accessing health care in the evenings, on weekends, and on holidays – anywhere other than the emergency department. As a result, Canadians are the heaviest users of emergency departments of the countries that participated in the study. Furthermore, of those who used an emergency department in the last two years and who have a regular doctor, almost half said they could have been treated by their regular care provider had he/she been available.
Although Canadians have publicly-funded health care under Medicare, the survey also showed that cost can in certain instances be a barrier to access and treatment. This was primarily the case with regard to prescription drugs. About ten percent of respondents said they had not taken medications due to cost, and five percent said they’d skipped a recommended test, treatment or follow-up appointment for the same reason.
Canada also ranked poorly in terms of timeliness of care. In fact, it ranked last when it comes to people’s ability to get an appointment on the same or the next day. Canada also fares poorly compared to other countries in the length of wait for appointments with specialists or to get a diagnosis. And many Canadians say that their time has been wasted because of poorly organized or poorly coordinated care. Many complaned of the lack of sharing of information between doctors and specialists.
In conclusion, the survey results highlight the gaps in the Canadian health care system. Although there seems to be general improvement in Canadians’ overall confidence in the system, there are obvious and significant gaps in coverage and challenges in the way information is shared. These then become manifested in poor results for access, affordability, coordination and timeliness.
The entire report can be accessed here.
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