Average wait times

Elective surgery vs emergency surgery

Elective surgery: surgery performed on a patient whose medical needs are
not life-threatening and can be scheduled in advance
Emergency surgery: surgery that must be done if someones life is in
jeopardy
There are different wait times for different kinds of surgery. In 2005,
Canadas 10-Year Plan classified 5 different groups of surgeries according to
wait times. (for elective surgeries)
1. radiation therapy for cancer: within 4 weeks
2. hip and knees: within 26 weeks
3. cataract: within 16 weeks
4. cardiac bypass: 2, 6, or 26 depending on the level
5. diagnostic imaging: undetermined
significant wait time between decision to treat and booking of surgery
People needing each year
- due to complaints of Canadians of wait times for coronary artery
surgery, BC Ministry got additional surgical services for BC patients
performed in Seattle
How much it costs hospital
wait times can be determined by fee payments
- hospitals can calculate how long it takes patients to receive surgery by:
o billing date of decision to treat
o billing date of consultation after physician referral
Determining Schedules
- based on priority list based on patients needs (not by registration date)
- OR rooms available
- Patients suitability to surgery
- Moving out of province removes patients from waitlists
Contrasting systems of countries
- 25% of patients in Canada have waited over four months for elective
surgery
o 21% for UK
o almost 0% for Germany
o 7% for USA

Not all countries determine treatment priorities the same way

- for example, New Zealands wait list is priotorized to patients who pass
a certain clinical threshold determined by its governments funding
- In Canada, physicians determine where patients are on the priority list
(clinical assessments are not as common)
References

Canadian Institute for Health Information, Canadian Government EBook

Collection, & Canadian Institute for Health Information. (2012). Health
care in canada, 2012: A focus on wait times. Ottawa: Canadian
Institute for Health Information.
Globerman, S., desLibris - Documents, & Fraser Institute (Vancouver, B.
C. ). (2013). Reducing wait times for health care: What canada can
learn from theory and international experience. Vancouver, British
Columbia: Fraser Institute.
Hamilton, B. H., Hamilton, V. H., & Mayo, N. E. (1996). What are the
costs of queuing for hip fracture surgery in canada? Journal of Health
Economics, 15(2), 161-185. doi:10.1016/0167-6296(95)00036-4
Sobolev, B., Levy, A., Hayden, R., & Kuramoto, L. (2006). Does wait-list
size at registration influence time to surgery? analysis of a populationbased cardiac surgery registry. Health Services Research, 41(1), 23-39.
doi:10.1111/j.1475-6773.2005.00459.x