New Data Concludes Wait Times for Patients With Gastrointestinal Disease Are Increasing Across Canada - MarketWatch

New Data Concludes Wait Times for Patients With Gastrointestinal Disease Are Increasing Across Canada - MarketWatch

OAKVILLE, ONTARIO, May 17, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- The Canadian Association of Gastroenterology (CAG) today joined the Ontario Association of Gastroenterology (OAG) in voicing their objection to the Government of Ontario's May 7, 2012 decision to overhaul the fee structure for approximately 40 medical procedures and services that Ontario doctors provide. Colonoscopies are among the medical tests for which professional fees face a cut of 10%.

Pointing to new initial data gathered in April 2012 from the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology Survey of Access to GastroEnterology (SAGE), Desmond Leddin, Lead of the SAGE, says "a comparison of data from surveys performed in 2005 and 2008 shows that wait times for patients with gastrointestinal disease have increased across Canada."

"This CAG national survey information combined with the new fee structure in Ontario gives us cause for concern about patient safety," says CAG President Dan Sadowski.

"With evidence in hand that patient wait times have been increasing over the past seven years, we can't support any government decision - in Ontario or elsewhere in Canada - that results in reduced access to, or longer wait times for, important medical procedures including colonoscopy, which can prevent and reduce cancer rates.".....

abstract: Cancer patients' concerns regarding access to cancer care: perceived impact of waiting times along the diagnosis and treatment journey

Abstract

Waiting times can raise significant concern for cancer patients. This study examined cancer patients' concern levels at each phase of waiting. Demographic, disease and psychosocial characteristics associated with concern at each phase were also assessed. 146 consenting outpatients (n= 146) were recruited from two hospitals in Sydney, Australia. Each completed a touch-screen computer survey, asking them to recall concern experienced regarding waiting times at each treatment phase. Approximately half (52%) reported experiencing concern during at least one treatment phase, while 8.9% reported experiencing concern at every phase. Higher proportions of patients reported concern about waiting times from: deciding to have radiotherapy to commencement of radiotherapy (31%); the first specialist appointment to receiving a cancer diagnosis (28%); and deciding to have chemotherapy to commencement of chemotherapy (28%). Patient groups more likely to report concern were those of lower socio-economic status, born outside Australia, or of younger age. Although a small proportion of patients reported very high levels of concern regarding waiting times, the experience of some concern was prevalent. Opportunities for reducing this concern are discussed. Vulnerable groups, such as younger and socio-economically disadvantaged patients, should be the focus of efforts to reduce waiting times and patient concern levels.

Improving Wait Time for Chemotherapy in an Outpatient Clinic at a Comprehensive Cancer Center (MDA)

"Purpose:
We conducted our study at the Ambulatory Treatment Center (ATC) of the MD Anderson Cancer Center, a network of six outpatient treatment units for patients receiving infusion therapies. Excessive patient wait time for chemotherapy was a primary source of ATC patient dissatisfaction. ATC employees expressed frustration, because often, patients arrived physically on time but were not treatment ready. Additionally, ATC staff emphasized challenges associated with obtaining finalized treatment orders for prescheduled appointments (ie, placeholder appointments without associated physician treatment orders). We aimed to decrease mean patient wait time from check-in to treatment in one ATC unit by 25%."

published March 21st: Wait Times in Canada--A Comparison by Province

click here for the pdf file


Conclusion
Although there is still much we don’t know, today the picture of wait times across priority areas and provinces is more complete and comparable than in the past. All-Canada estimates indicate that 8 out of 10 patients across the country receive priority procedures (hip, knee, hip fracture repair, cataract and bypass
surgery and radiation treatment) within the time frames that clinical evidence shows is appropriate. That said, the likelihood of receiving treatment within these time frames varies considerably, depending on both the priority area and where one lives in Canada. While there have been some improvements in wait times for priority area procedures over the last three years, these improvements are not being seen consistently across
all procedures or across all provinces. The ability to report these important findings has been enabled by provincial collaboration on measuring and collecting data. Important steps remain in improving consistency of cardiac urgency levels, as well as building more comprehensive diagnostic imaging data before the wait time information can be assessed in a more meaningful way."

full free access: 2010 annual report published Dec 6th: Waiting Your Turn: Wait Times for Health Care in Canada - Fraser Institute

re: surgical/treatment related

Seeking Patient Feedback: An Important Dimension of Quality in Cancer Care.

California limits appointment wait times - - ModernMedicine

Wait Times For Medical Care: How The US Actually Measures Up - Better Health

Note: ACOR ovarian cancer members - the report will be in the archives - Commonwealth Fund