Research Commentaries on Healthcare Policy reform

Summary

The goal of this project is to prepare actionable research for policymakers and stakeholders regarding cost-effective delivery of quality healthcare. Six articles will be published, tackling issues such as How to Pay Specialist Physicians, and Patient Responsibility in the Canadian Health Care System.

Grant Outputs

Paying Hospital Based Doctors: Fee for Whose Service? – https://www.cdhowe.org/paying-hospital-based-doctors-fee-whose-service

Whereas most hospital-based specialist doctors are paid via fee-for-service by provincial insurance plans, most hospital funding comes through a separate pipe in the form of lump-sum amounts not linked to the number and quality of services provided. The result is a system in which neither specialists’ time nor hospital resources are efficiently used, contributing to high costs and long waiting lists. This article suggests that hospital-based physicians be paid directly from hospital budgets as opposed to the current practice of paying them separately through provincial insurance plans. Hospitals would then engage doctors and pay them appropriately – either by salary, fee-for-service, or a blend of methods. This would result in stronger incentives for providers to better deploy resources.

Capturing Value from Health Technologies in Lean Times – http://www.cdhowe.org/sites/default/files/attachments/research_papers/mixed/Commentary_396_0.pdf

In budget-constrained times, adopting new drugs or medical technology is a high-stakes challenge that requires a comprehensive, balanced approach, according to a report released today by the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Capturing Value from Health Technologies in Lean Times,” authors Ake Blomqvist, Colin Busby and Don Husereau argue healthcare policymakers should make greater use of Health Technology Assessment (HTA), a policy tool that can help them balance demand and supply pressures for new technologies within a health-system budget.

The Case of the Vanishing Quebec Physicians: How to Improve Access to Care – http://www.cdhowe.org/case-vanishing-quebec-physicians-how-improve-access-care

Despite having more family physicians per capita than many other jurisdictions, Quebec lags Ontario and Western Europe when it comes to access to primary care, according to a report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “The Case of the Vanishing Quebec Physicians: How to Improve Access to Care,” author Claude E. Forget, former Quebec Minister of Health and Social Services, calls for primary care reforms that focus on providing more care in communities and clinics, rather than in hospitals.

Should Public Drug Plans be Based on Age or Income? – https://www.cdhowe.org/public-policy-research/should-public-drug-plans-be-based-age-or-income

Provinces with age-based drug coverage should switch to income-based plans to head off serious financial pressure over the next few decades, according to a new C.D. Howe Institute report. In “Should Public Drug Plans be Based on Age or Income?” authors Colin Busby and Jonathan Pedde find that age-based plans are ill-equipped to handle the coming surge of seniors in the population.

Rethinking Canada’s Unbalanced Mix of Public and Private Healthcare: Insights from Abroad – http://www.cdhowe.org/public-policy-research/rethinking-canada’s-unbalanced-mix-public-and-private-healthcare-insights-abroad

A better mix of public and private funding in the healthcare system could reduce coverage gaps, as well as create incentives for politicians and bureaucrats to manage the public system more efficiently, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Rethinking Canada’s Unbalanced Mix of Public and Private Healthcare: Insights from Abroad,” authors Åke Blomqvist and Colin Busby make the case for policies that allow private health insurance and services outside the provincial plans to play a somewhat larger role than they currently do, along lines similar to those healthcare systems found in Europe and elsewhere.

Measuring Outcomes in the Canadian Health Sector: Driving Better Value From Healthcare – http://www.cdhowe.org/public-policy-research/measuring-outcomes-canadian-health-sector-driving-better-value-healthcare

While Canada has a well-established tradition of transparency and accountability for health-system performance comparisons, few measures of outcomes are reported, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Measuring Outcomes in the Canadian Health Sector: Driving Better Value from Healthcare,” authors Jeremy Veillard, Omid Fekri, Irfan Dhalla, and Niek Klazinga examine the state of outcomes measurement in Canada, and offer recommendations so that the generation of better information on health system outcomes can help achieve greater value in the health sector.