case study: wait times

Question 1

what causes wait times?

Answer 1

when the demand for treatment exceeds the supply

either due to lack of capacity or inefficient use of existing capacity

Question 2

compared with the CMWF (commonwealth fund) average, how likely were canadians to receive care within 4 hours at the emergency department?

Answer 2

very unlikelyyyy

Question 3

what is the ontario’s wait time strategy (2004)?

Answer 3

provides funding to hospitals to provide additional wait list surgeries, etc

as a condition of funding, hospitals must supply and verify their wait times information to the ‘wait times information system’

Question 4

what are benchmarks?

Answer 4

targets representing the maximum amount of time a patient should wait, beyond which evidence shows adverse health effects will likely occur

Question 5

describe the status of wait time policies for psychiatry

Answer 5

government mandated legislation for the creation of benchmark targets, mandatory tracking, and reporting of wait times in psychiatry do not currently exist in ontario

Question 6

what are some alternative policy solutions for wait times?

Answer 6

eliminate inappropriate tests and treatments

recruit/increase pay for key human resources

increase after-hours care

pay-for-performance

activity-based funding

integrated funding models

establish centralized intake of patients