Canadian Chat → Re: Ontario to outsource some procedures to specialised clinics

So what? When has the payer ever been an issue?

One should also remember that filth is not limited to clinics. Not by a long shot.

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Thank you. I was reading this thread for the first time prepared to post a response into elwoodblues insinuation that specialized clinics will hire low wage earners when the 'official' medical industry does the same.

I wonder if he even knows how many doctors outsource their transcriptions to India...

But the assumption that this is a) cost effective and b) better is wrong.

If it's not for profit I would suspect that the motivation is access to care rather than cost savings.

As I said before and will say again, all the same "fears" that apply to moving specific procedures to specialized clinics apply equally to a hospital setting as well. If one down here is lucky enough to still have a local hospital, it's not some shining modern facility like in Hamilton or Toronto (at least not until March anyway, the new hospital in St. Cats is outright impressive)

A "shining modern facility' is not a guarantee of infection control. Peterborough Regional Health Centre is only 4 years old but is run by a arrogant prick dismissive of most of the lower level staff including housekeeping and cleaning. I don't see them being too enthusiastic about doing a good job under his abysmal stewardship.

It's not a guarantee, but it can help so long as you have competent people running the facility. Unfortunately as your example shows that is not always the case.

It's a shame. A nice new facility but underfunded from the start then they bring in a hatchet man to turn around the faux deficit and the place goes to shit.

Same thing happened in Niagara, except the backlash was so intense that the government turfed the CEO only to appoint the CEO of St. Joe's in Hamilton as "interim supervisor" which became permanent supervisor a few months ago.

How that man can realistically run two of the largest health systems in the entire country is beyond me.

don't worry...mismanagement isn't exclusive to your regions...plenty of it here too.

Sounds like Peterborough and Sudbury have a lot in common...we waited 10+ years and stopped construction just short of the goal due to deficits and whatnot....we have a "new" tower...along with the old towers...and no parking...and have more problems than ever...

I don't know if this would be better, I know some oral surgeries are done in surgeon's offices and they are covered by OHIP....
Things like wisdom teeth removal I think are covered by OHIP?...If they're medically neccessary of course...

But anywho...nothing beats our former CEO, look up "Vicki Kaminski"...now there's a laugh, talk about taxpayers picking up the whole cost of her MBA?....

Unfortunately she's Eastern Health in NF's problem now ....

I maintain that you're going to get incompetence regardless of who is at the helm...and there will be money gouging...even at hospitals....

I would say for infection control, provided everything is sterilized things should be better....

I won't be more scared than I was in 1999, had Jaw Surgery at Toronto Western Hospital I believe....had the surgery Wednesday morning and was discharged Friday morning because he said "there are sick people here"....and the man next door to me in my semi-private room was coughing up blood and it was on his stuff, and on the floor....it was everywhere....

...I figure if its a clinic at least you can't have people stuffed in there like sardines....for routine stuff anyways...I'm not against it...so long as there is some accountability and health inspectors are in regularly to check the facilities (surprise/weekly inspections, etc).

Do they?

Do they ever.

It started in 2009 and now it's pretty much a standard amongst specialists. A doctor evaluates their charts, records their transcription into a voice recorder then emails or uploads the MP3's overseas and by morning they're sent back in .doc format.

Some investigations were done a few years back regarding privacy concerns but since the usage is so widespread and there hasn't yet been any known issues, all's been quiet on the government front for a few years now.

If I found out my medical records were being disclosed to individuals not bound by the Personal Health Information Protection Act I would file a complaint with the IPC.

If it's wrong, what is the correct assumption?

There are other assumptions. The assumption that private clinics are better than hospitals is not accurate. Both have serious infection problems. Hospitals, however, have a better ability to deal with it than smaller clinics. There are also no outcome measures for private clinics, as there are for hospitals. Thus any assumption of "better" is unproved.