private vs. public

Cord blood banking in Canada

cord blood banking

Minutes after giving birth, blood from the umbilical cord is collected and sent off to a central cord blood bank to be cryogenically frozen.  Years later this cord blood could be used to cure some cancers and treat rare diseases. While to some this sounds like the stuff of science fiction,  the use of cord

Alberta regulatory body makes important move to address private MRIs

Lynette Reid

In a surprising move, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta has challenged financial barriers to medical imaging. While some believe that regulatory colleges should limit themselves to individual physician discipline, the Canadian public should support the growing willingness of Colleges to move beyond disciplinary issues to act as a voice for the public

“Private” is not a curse word in medicine

private vs. public health care

As physicians, we hope to not only improve quality of life for our patients, but also help them live longer. Colorectal cancer deaths are widely agreed to be up to 90% preventable by regular screening with colonoscopy. A major barrier is getting people to participate in screening programs. Now that awareness is increasing, another limiting

Shouldice Hospital sale should be rejected

Irfan Dhalla blog healthydebate.ca editor

Last week, the family that owns Shouldice Hospital announced that it would like to sell its facility to Centric Health, a for-profit company traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Shouldice, a facility renowned for its care of patients with hernias, was founded by a surgeon in the 1940s and allowed to continue as a private

Why we need to change the revenue model for health care

Mark Macleod healthydebate blogger

There are three options when a service or product costs more or is perceived to cost more than it should – agree to pay more, find a similar product for lesser cost, or refuse to purchase.  All of these options are valid in health care, including the last one – with funders deciding that some

Charging patients for services: much confusion, little consensus

The Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) does not cover all health services that can be provided by a doctor. These “uninsured” services include telephone renewal of prescriptions, writing sick notes for work or school and transferring medical records. Doctors can offer patients the option of paying for a set of uninsured services with a single

Public and private payment for health care in Canada

It is inaccurate to say that Canada has an entirely publicly funded health care system.  While often described as a publicly-funded system, only about 70% of health care costs are paid for publicly, with the remaining 30% paid for privately.  In Ontario, medically necessary hospital and physician costs are entirely covered by the public health care system.