Organization Name / Canadian Doctors for Medicare
Organization Description / CDM advocates for the maintenance, defense, and improvement of accessible and equitable public health care in Canada. The organization is overseen by a board of practicing physicians from across the country, and it serves those who believe access to health care should be based on need, not wealth or status.
Division or Department / NA
Website /
PROJECT INFORMATION
Project Description
PLEASE BE AS CLEAR AND SPECIFIC AS POSSIBLE, i.e. What is the problem that your organization is trying to solve?
Why is it an important problem?
How does the project fit into your organization’s regular operations?
PGI is a student-led organization. Why/how could you benefit from student-run consulting? / Over the last five years, Canada’s public health care system has been subjected to increasing levels of scrutiny and critique. While these criticisms take a variety of forms, the issue of wait timesrecurs most frequently. A 2013 report on the subject by the Fraser Institute, for instance, found that average wait times for referrals had “risen from 17.7 weeks in 2012 to 18.2 weeks in 2013,” and perhaps more damning, that “Compared to 1993, the total waiting time in 2013 is 95 percent longer.”
The notion of above-average wait times has been picked up by anti-Medicare and pro-privatization voices. Dr. Brian Day, Canada’s most vocal Medicare opponent, has hung the entirety of his constitutional challenge on the wait times debate. In a 2014 article in the National Post he states that “Our constitutional challenge includes five plaintiffs, all of whom have suffered significant harm while waiting for care,” and that their suffering “would not occur in any other developed country on Earth.” Day advocates for a mixed, two-tier model (much like in America) as the solution to this “crisis.”
For those of us committed to equitable care, to a system that treats patients based on need, not financial status, the wait times issue poses a significant challenge. There is no doubt that too many Canadians wait for extended periods for referrals and primary care appointments, or that the current system struggles with lists for elective surgeries. But it is also the case that our system excels in other aspects – in its response to acute injuries and illnesses, for instance. It is also the case that unregulated privatization and the implementation of two-tiered service (two of the most common prescriptions offered by anti-Medicare groups) are not ideal, and would in fact exacerbate waits for those in the “lower” tier.
The problem CDM would like to address in a collaboration with PGI researchers is this: what is the best research available on the issue of wait times that can be leveraged to build (1) a top 5 list of solutions to the problem, (2) a top 5 list of rebuttals to recurring criticisms coming from anti-Medicare proponents, and (3) a general list of the top 10 facts associated with wait times in Canada? The form of these lists will be determined in partnership with the PGI consultants. Some possibilities include a brief fact sheet summarizing the evidence, options notes comparing wait times and solutions in various jurisdictions, or a literature review. Essentially, the PGI consultants will be building an evidence-based policy resource that analysts can use when engaging in the health policy arena.
This research and the resulting lists would offer an invaluable set of tools for pro-Medicare advocates. Misinformation on wait timesis widespread, and anti-Medicare groups have capitalized on this. The lists produced by this work would help cut through the noise, and would anchor debate in credible and evidence-based research, not rhetoric. CDM has already made headway with research on wait times and potential solutions (the Alberta Bone and Joint Institute, for example). This project would expand upon this work to investigate wait times and innovations to address excessive wait times across several aspects of health care (e.g., in the emergency care setting, access to specialists, specific types of surgery, etc.).
The first steps of this work would involve sharing the organization’s findings with students. By picking up where CDM has left off, and by performing original research and designing instructive lists that help frame debate and future analysis, our hope is that PGI students will have participated in a unique, rewarding project that has the potential to greatly assist CDM’s advocacy, and in the long-term contribute to a dialogue with wide-ranging policy implications.
Project Start Date / October 2015
Project Duration / 7 months, ending in April 2015
Research and Analysis Required / By acquainting themselves with existing research on wait times in Canada, as well as CDM’s own findings, students would develop 3 lists designed to clarify the issue and embed CDM’s advocacy in a scholarly framework. /
Deliverables Expected / Midterm Deliverable (due in December):
- Citation list of relevant literature
- Completion of one list
- Completed scan of existing research
- 3 lists: top 5 solutions, top 5 rebuttals, and top 10 facts
- 3. Final presentation to CDM’s Board of Directors
Timelines / Familiarization with CDM’s research and policy documents would be a first step, and would occur in October. A scan of existing literature would occur November through January, and production of the lists would take place in the last three months: February through April. Key in-person meetings with CDM staff (project manager and Chad Andrews) would take place at the outset to determine the scope (with respect to wait times in which health services) and the best way to present the lists. In-person meetings would also occur after each significant stage (familiarization, scan, and production of lists), with small meetings (in-person or over phone) whenever necessary. CDM staff would be available for support throughout. /
Resources to be Provided / Researchers would have access to advisors, public policy and research documents, office resources (a printer, computers, phones, and works space) when needed, and would liaise with CDM staff familiar with the issue. /
Project Impact / Along with like-minded organization across the country, CDM is involved in defending and advancing public health care, and creates policy and discourse tools that facilitate these goals. The creation of evidence-based lists on the wait times phenomenon will ensure our efforts are grounded in legitimate research, and that the arguments and tools we employ are as effective as possible. /
CONSULTANT INFORMATION
Number of Consultants Required / 2-3 /
Expected Hours per Week, per Consultant / 1-3 hours a week per consultant /
What the Consultants can Expect / In coordination with CDM staff, the consultants would be given the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the Canadian health care landscape, and would be involved in a project designed to analyze and frame a dialogue around one of the central sites of health care debate. At the project’s conclusion, PGI researchers would be better equipped to pursue careers in research and policy analysis, including (but not limited to) health care policy and reform. /
Desired Qualifications* / Only a willingness to learn and a desire to engage in original research with policy implications. /
PROJECT COORDINATOR CONTACT INFORMATION
Contact Person and Title / 1. Kevin Beaulieu, Project Manager
2. Chad Andrews, Research and Fundraising Developer
Address / 340 Harbord Street, Toronto, ON, M6G 1H4 /
Telephone / 416-351-3300
Fax / 416-531-7210
Email /
Page 1 of 3