Analysis on improving healthcare in Canada
A new analysis in the Canadian Medical Association Journal says that Canada can improve healthcare quality by expanding public funding for cost-effective treatments, investing in primary care, embracing technology and engaging patients. “The quality of healthcare in Canada is good, but arguably not great,” Drs Irfan Dhalla and Joshua Tepper of Health Quality Ontario write in the analysis. “With thoughtful change, we could all benefit from a healthcare system that provides safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable and patient-centred care at every opportunity.”
A new analysis in the Canadian Medical Association Journal says that Canada can improve healthcare quality by expanding public funding for cost-effective treatments, investing in primary care, embracing technology and engaging patients. “The quality of healthcare in Canada is good, but arguably not great,” Drs Irfan Dhalla and Joshua Tepper of Health Quality Ontario write in the analysis. “With thoughtful change, we could all benefit from a healthcare system that provides safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable and patient-centred care at every opportunity.”
The analysis explores the quality of healthcare in Canada and outlines strategies to improve it at the system level. “We generally focus our attention at the national level; inevitably, this obscures important differences within Canada, between provinces and territories, and also between groups (eg., Indigenous peoples and non-Indigenous Canadians),” the authors wrote. “Also, although we focus here on healthcare, this does not diminish the importance of income, housing, education, social networks and other determinants of health.”
The authors’ suggestions for improving care are: expand public funding for treatments shown to be cost-effective; invest in primary care; use electronic information systems that help doctors work together; engage patients to help determine what services should be offered; standardise and embed quality-improvement tools, such as guidelines; improve transparency; ensure meaningful involvement of physicians; ensure health education supports high-quality care; and support wellness of healthcare professionals.