The Canadian health system's "administrative efficiency" is a problem

Healthc Manage Forum. 2018 Nov;31(6):230-234. doi: 10.1177/0840470418766629. Epub 2018 Sep 17.

Abstract

The Commonwealth Fund's "administrative efficiency" criterion ranks Canada poorly-sixth of the 11 countries compared. On two of the four patient-sourced measure used in this criterion, Canada was below the international average performance. For two of the three physician-sourced measures, Canada performs well but is significantly behind the best performing country. This suggests that Canada has room to improve, despite being better than average. Two opportunities for health leaders to make improvements are in relation to reducing the time physicians spend negotiating patient access to needed medications and reducing other administrative burdens related to claiming.

MeSH terms

  • Canada
  • Delivery of Health Care / organization & administration*
  • Efficiency, Organizational*
  • Emergency Service, Hospital / organization & administration
  • Health Services Accessibility / organization & administration
  • Humans
  • Medical Records
  • Prescription Drugs / supply & distribution
  • Quality of Health Care / organization & administration

Substances

  • Prescription Drugs