Last week the Canadian Institute for Health Information lifted the veil of secrecy surrounding the performance of Canadian hospitals with its Canadian Hospital Reporting Project, an interactive web site that measures the performance of Canadian hospitals based on 21 clinical and nine financial indicators.
This project, known by the acronym CHRP, is a bold and much awaited step toward greater patient rights, transparency, and improved health care delivery in Canada.
With rumoured spending cuts in the upcoming federal budget, look for the Conservatives to play up one area of spending theyve committed to increasing: health care transfers to the provinces. Last December, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced a new 10-year plan for health care transfers that will see transfers increase by six per cent for the next five years and thereafter by the rate of economic growth until 2024.
The true cost of Medicare for individuals and families in Canada is often misunderstood, with many people thinking its either free or covered by our provincial health insurance premiums.
This misconception has many sources. In part, it stems from the fact that health care consumption is free at the point of use, leading many to grossly underestimate the actual cost of care delivered. Furthermore, health care is financed through general government revenues, rather than financed through a dedicated tax, further blurring the true dollar cost of the service.