Digital Information Revolution Changes in Canada:E-Government Design, the Battle Against Illicit Drugs, and Health Care Reform by Scarlett Kelly

Author:Scarlett Kelly [Kelly, Scarlett]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scarlett Kelly
Published: 2016-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

5. Health Care Reform

5.1. Background: Problematic System

The current health care system is costly and inefficient. For example, in 2012, nearly 40% of the total budgets of provinces and territories went to health care budgets, yet the wait times of six or more days to see a doctor rose from 25% to 33% (National Post, 2014, para. 8, 9). In 2014, the Commonwealth Fund in the US conducted an international study, which compared eleven nations on health care quality, access, efficiency, and equality (The Commonwealth Fund, 2015, para. 13). In this study, the Canadian health care system ranked second last among eleven developed countries, while the government spent the sixth most per capita of any developed nation (National Post, 2014, para. 1, 2). All these disproportionate spending and outcomes suggest that the current Canadian health care system needs to reform as it is both underperforming and expensive (Senate Canada, 2012, p. V).

However, the attempts that the governments have made have not improved the current situation. For example, in the 2004 First Ministers’ 10-Year Plan to Strengthen Health Care, the federal government devoted a portion of $41 billion funding to reduce wait times (BCMA, 2006, p. 5). Despite the new funding, the median wait time for cataract surgery in British Columbia remained at 7.6 weeks and even increased 0.9 weeks for all orthopedic surgeries (BCMA, 2006, p. 6). As the expected wait time decrease is out of proportion to funding increase, the waiting time as an example indicates that increasing expenditure is not the right path to take and we need to explore new methods to conduct a successful reform. After all, the Canadian health care system needs a make-over, not a touch-up as the funding increase has attempted to do.

A national electronic health record (EHR) is not only about digitizing and communication among jurisdictions. It is an application of information technology into government functions that directly relate to all citizens’ lives. Its social impacts exceed its technical impacts. The successful implementation of a national EHR requires significant changes in the health care system, including changes in open-federalism, fundamental changes within the Canadian Health Act, and changes in the current health care culture. A national EHR will bring efficiency, decrease costs, and establish the accountability that the attempts to reform have failed to deliver.

5.2. From Open-Federalism to Federal Leadership

The federal government has been excising leadership in providing care for Aboriginal people, refugees, and members of the Canadian Forces and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Picard, 2013, p. 96). Via large departments such as Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada, the government is responsible for public health, drug regulation, food safety, international health, and health research (Picard, 2013, p. 96). Therefore, it is not true to say that federal leadership does not exist in our care system. Yet there is not a national system that all the provinces and territories agree to common goals and standards (Picard, 2013, p. 97). Health is a provincial responsibility (Picard, 2013, p. 106). The

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