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The following is a review of developments affecting health care in CanadaThe information is updated the first week of every month - so ... make this a regular stop in your information gathering activities.The following information has been compiled from publicly available sources, StratCom does not assume any responsibility for the accuracy or the authenticity of the information and StratCom cannot be held liable for errors.
Welcome back to the StratCom monthly update, hope you had a healthy and productive summer. The following are highlights of diagnostics related events that took place in July and August 2000.
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Healthcare in Canada - July and August 2000
In July, Alberta's new private health legislation, the regulations for Bill 11, the Health Care Protection Act, had been drafted and forwarded to stakeholders for review and consultation. The regulations will apply to accredited surgical facilities in the province providing insured services, such as cataract and dental surgery. The government's aim is to finalize the regulations in time for Bill 11 to be proclaimed law before the end of September. On this date the existing contracts with Alberta's private surgical facilities are due for renewal. The new contracts will be for a two-year term with the option to extend a further one year. Five of Alberta's 17 regional health authorities have contracts with surgical facilities. The Calgary, Capital (Edmonton-area), David Thompson, Chinook and Headwaters regions hold a total of 36 contracts, with a total value of $9.2 million (0.24% of total health care spending in Alberta). The contracts are for: ophthalmology services, such as cataract surgery; therapeutic abortions; dermatology and plastic surgery; ear, nose and throat procedures; and dental services. The New Brunswick government has cancelled a contract it had awarded Blue Cross to design and administer a computerized medicare billing system. The Medicare Administration and Technical Services program was designed to use the magnetic strip on the back of health cards to confirm patient identity, process physician billing claims, cross-reference information, and record individual medical histories and health-care statistics in a central data base. The province scrapped the contract because the project was behind schedule, key deadlines had been missed and the government was not confident that Blue Cross could deliver the system in a reasonable time and within agreed upon costs. The Ontario Medical Association has been given the green light by the Ministry of Health to examine the possibility of a $150-million Internet network that could see all Ontario doctors accessing and sharing medical information province-wide. The government has already pledged $250 million to fast-track primary care reform, with $150 million of that amount to be devoted to new office information systems. The direction of the multimillion-dollar provincial project will be determined by three groups: the OMA executive committee, an internal OMA committee and an outside consultancy group.
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