Plans for improving Canada's healthcare system

The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) has published a report on the steps that need to be taken to "make health care work better for Canadians". The report*, outlines an "ambitious but realizable roadmap to ready the system for the future".

In both 2008 and 2009, Canada was ranked 30th out of 30 countries (the US was not included) by the Euro-Canada Health Consumer Index. The CMA says that "Canadians deserve better", and the current system "needs to be massively transformed". So it has proposed a plan to improve population health, improve the patient experience of healthcare, and improve value for money. Specifically, the plan calls for:

* creation of a Charter for Patient-Centred Care

* incentives for improving access and quality of care

* enhancement of patient access by providing universal access to prescription drugs and continuation of care

* ensuring healthcare providers have adequate resources and health information technology

* improved accountability.

Taken together, these approaches "contain the necessary directions toward the more efficient, high-functioning, patient-focused system that Canadians deserve", say the CMA.

* entitled "Health Care Transformation in Canada: Change that Works, Care That Lasts"

[Reference]

1. Canadian Medical Association.Health care transformation in Canada. Internet Document: [48 pages], 2010. Available from: URL: http://www.cma.ca. .