Ontario wants to close a pharmacist-billing loophole, but might open new ones
Ontario is considering expanding pharmacists' prescribing powers while simultaneously re-examining the MedsChecks program due to concerns over corporate billing practices.
Why it's important: Expanding pharmacists' roles is touted as a solution to crises in both primary and emergency care, but it presents a dual potential for widespread misdiagnosis and abusive corporate billing practices.
Health Minister Jones aims to grant pharmacists more power to treat 14 common ailments. The OMA warns that while an expansion offers convenience, it risks patient safety due to pharmacists' limited diagnostic training. It's easy to write off doctors' fears as simply a turf war over scope, but this needs to be disentangled from valid concerns around abusive corporate billing practices. The MedsChecks program, intended to mitigate polypharmacy and prevent drug interactions, has been under scrutiny for misuse by chain pharmacies to convert the tax-funded program into increased profits. As the government moves to close the MedsChecks loophole, is it inadvertently creating new ones?
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Shoppers Drug Mart seeks in-house blood testing through partnership with tech startup
Shoppers Drug Mart partners with Truvian Health to potentially offer on-the-spot blood tests in pharmacies, pending Health Canada approval.
Why it's important: Shoppers Drug Mart has partnered with Truvian Health to introduce in-pharmacy blood testing services, pending Health Canada approval.
The collaboration aims to leverage Truvianâs technology to streamline the blood testing process, which now requires multiple steps and locations in patient care pathways. The venture faces some significant hurdles, including securing Health Canada approval and integrating the tech into provincial healthcare funding schemes. This new effort is very much in line with the broader trend of expanding pharmacy-based healthcare services, which enhance patient-access and convenience, but raise concerns over the quality of emergent primary care-esque services which lack traditional medical oversightâas well as the reliability of new technology in light of past controversies like Theranos.
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Quebecâs doctors are leaving its public system
A record number of Quebec doctors are leaving the public system to offer private care, exacerbating health disparities and increasing wait times for publicly funded services.
Why it's important: Quebec is seeing a significant exodus of physicians from the public healthcare system, with 780 general practitioners and specialists now operating privately, a 22% increase from the previous year.
Driven by frustrations with administrative burden and inadequate resourcing of the public system, the shift has led to the emergence of two-tiered healthcare, where those who can pay receive faster care, while public system wait times grow. Health Minister Christian Dubé's initiatives to bolster the public system face an uphill battle as private clinics continue to lure doctors with promises of higher pay and better working conditions.
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Ontario nurses have the worst staffing ratio in Canada
A new CIHI report shows Ontario has just 651 registered nurses per 100,000 people, the lowest ratio in the country.
Why it's important: CIHI's report indicates that Ontario's RN ratio has dropped 7% over the past decade. The shortage is part of a vicious cycle, leading to burnout and further attrition among nurses, compounding the issue.
ONA President Erin Ariss attributes the trend to Premier Ford's refusal to implement minimum nurse staffing ratios, as was done in B.C. earlier this year as part of a provincial strategy to recruit and retain nursing staff. Ariss also calls out Ontario's underspending on public healthcare, with a health budget surplus in the billions. While the arguments do make sense, thereâs an elephant in this room, which is any analysis of how population growth has factored into the per capita decline.
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Holland promises federal clarity on user fees for primary care
Federal Health Minister Mark Holland says Canadians shouldnât be paying out of pocket for primary care services delivered by non-physician health professionals.
Why it's important: After a leak teasing the move weeks ago, Holland announced forthcoming federal guidance to prevent out-of-pocket charges for medically necessary care provided by NPs and other ânon-physicianâ professionals.
The guidance, to be issued in the form of an interpretation letter, is in line with a recent CMA recommendation (see #2) to prohibit such fees by cracking down on provinces that allow them. Holland alluded to the delicate nature of navigating federal-provincial jurisdictional boundaries when explaining the extended delay in issuing the guidance.
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Quebec is stifling access to English healthcare
Protesters say Bill 96 is complicating access to healthcare services delivered in English, compromising patient care in Quebec.
Why it's important: Protests were held outside of Santa Cabrini Hospital as Quebec's Bill 96 faced criticism for restricting healthcare services in languages other than French.
The 2022 bill, which mandates French as the primary language in healthcare settings, is causing upset among anglophones and allophones. The Office québécois de la langue française insists its clinical inspections do not impede medical tasks, yet professionals and community groups remain concerned, arguing the push for strict language compliance in healthcare settings is undermining the quality of care for non-French-speaking patients.
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