Overview of the wait-time reporting systems for elective surgery in Canadian provinces and territories
| Characteristic | BC | AB | SK | MB | ON | QC | NL | NS | NB | PE | TRS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MOH budget, $ | 20.8 billion | 20.6 billion | 5.89 billion | 6.65 billion | 63.5 billion | 39 billion | 3.2 billion | 4.6 billion | 2.8 billion | 750 million | 1.36 billion†† |
| Centralized wait-time reporting system exists* | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Wait times reported for more than procedures included in the 5 priority areas† | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Wait times reported for procedures in the 5 priority areas | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||
| Wait 1‡ measured | ✓ | ✓‡‡ | ✓ | ✓ | NR | ||||||
| Wait 2§ measured | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓§§ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Comprehensive diagnostic prioritization system exists¶ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Benchmarks established** | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Data quality and error checks | ✓ | ✓ | NR | NR | ✓ | NR | NR | ✓ | ✓ | NR |
Note: The populations of the provinces and territories in 2019 were as follows: BC, 5 046 780; AB, 4 350 901; SK, 1 171 027; MB, 1 364 400; ON 14 484 242; QC, 8 447 609; NL, 522 818; NS, 966 709; NB, 772 887; PE, 155 656, Northwest Territories, 44 909; Nunavut, 38 666; Yukon, 40 601. AB = Alberta, BC = British Columbia, MOH = ministry of health, NL = Newfoundland and Labrador, NR = not reported, NS = Nova Scotia, ON = Ontario, PE = Prince Edward Island, QC = Quebec, SK = Saskatchewan, TRS = territories (Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut).
↵* Centralized wait-time reporting systems are province wide and collect data for various elective surgical procedures into a single database.
↵† The 5 priority areas, as defined in the 2003 First Ministers’ Accord on Health Care Renewal, are sight restoration surgery (cataract surgery), diagnostic imaging, cancer surgery, cardiac surgery and joint replacement surgery (hip and knee replacements).
↵‡ Wait 1 is defined as the time between referral from the family physician to the specialist and the first (or only) specialist appointment.
↵§ Wait 2 is defined as the time between when the specialist and the patient decide to proceed with surgery and the date the surgery is completed.
↵¶ A diagnostic prioritization system is a method for determining patient wait times or location on a wait list or both, on the basis of urgency or acuity. A comprehensive diagnostic prioritization system was defined as a system that is embedded within a centralized wait-time reporting system that includes 2 or more surgical procedures.
↵** A benchmark is a standard against which actual wait times are measured.
↵†† Yukon = $428 million, Northwest Territories = $495.9 million, Nunavut = $431 million.
↵‡‡ Only some specialists report consult wait times to the directory.
↵§§ Wait times for joint replacement surgery, cataract surgery and cancer surgery are tracked by each regional health authority and are reported to the Department of Health and Community Services 4 times per year.