Big changes coming to Alberta Healthcare
Under premier Danielle Smith, Alberta healthcare is going to change to the European model using activity based funding (paid according to how many patients treated) instead of the current block based funding (paid one lump sum upfront) and more choice in healthcare.
Block Based Funding
This is the current outdated model in Canada generally used to fund healthcare. Once a year the provincial govt sends a big check to the hospital with the hope that the hospital uses the money to help a lot of patients. There’s no accountability under this model. This model doesn’t incentivize hospitals to help patients and does the opposite. Each new patient is viewed as someone that’s going to use up the hospital’s budget. This also leads to more money being wasted on bureaucracy instead being used for patient care.
Activity Based Funding
This is the model used in many European countries to fund their hospitals and clinics. Instead of giving hospitals a big check at the beginning of the year, hospitals get money each time they help a patient. This provides the hospital an incentive to help a patient because each time they help a patient they get more money. This also encourages the hospitals to use the money on things that help patients, doctors and nurses rather than bureaucracy.
More Choice in Healthcare
Many European systems allow patients to choose public system or choose a non-governmental (private) clinic. Currently in Canada you generally have one choice: wait for the govt to provide treatment or leave the province/country and pay elsewhere. The current barriers make it extremely difficult for patients who do not want to use the public system.
Alberta has announced that it will offer patients the choice to get treatment at a non-governmental clinic. Those who can’t afford to pay for a non-governmental clinic will also benefit from this new policy because every time someone decides to pay for non-governmental treatment, they leave the public system which shortens the waiting list for those who can’t afford to pay for non-governmental care. This allows the government to use more of its resources to help patients that can’t afford to pay rather than picking up the tab for wealthy patients who can afford to pay.
Some critiques claim that having private clinics will result in them stealing all the staff from the public clinics resulting in shortages. But they found that in Europe the opposite occurs. More private clinics on top of the existing public clinics results in more employers. When you have more employers you have more employees.
This will also give doctors/surgeons who work in the public sector the opportunity to make additional money working in private clinics in their spare time. Under the current system, doctors are fleeing the province/country on the weekends to pick up some extra money working in private clinics outside the province.
Under premier Danielle Smith, Alberta healthcare is going to change to the European model using activity based funding (paid according to how many patients treated) instead of the current block based funding (paid one lump sum upfront) and more choice in healthcare.
Block Based Funding
This is the current outdated model in Canada generally used to fund healthcare. Once a year the provincial govt sends a big check to the hospital with the hope that the hospital uses the money to help a lot of patients. There’s no accountability under this model. This model doesn’t incentivize hospitals to help patients and does the opposite. Each new patient is viewed as someone that’s going to use up the hospital’s budget. This also leads to more money being wasted on bureaucracy instead being used for patient care.
Activity Based Funding
This is the model used in many European countries to fund their hospitals and clinics. Instead of giving hospitals a big check at the beginning of the year, hospitals get money each time they help a patient. This provides the hospital an incentive to help a patient because each time they help a patient they get more money. This also encourages the hospitals to use the money on things that help patients, doctors and nurses rather than bureaucracy.
More Choice in Healthcare
Many European systems allow patients to choose public system or choose a non-governmental (private) clinic. Currently in Canada you generally have one choice: wait for the govt to provide treatment or leave the province/country and pay elsewhere. The current barriers make it extremely difficult for patients who do not want to use the public system.
Alberta has announced that it will offer patients the choice to get treatment at a non-governmental clinic. Those who can’t afford to pay for a non-governmental clinic will also benefit from this new policy because every time someone decides to pay for non-governmental treatment, they leave the public system which shortens the waiting list for those who can’t afford to pay for non-governmental care. This allows the government to use more of its resources to help patients that can’t afford to pay rather than picking up the tab for wealthy patients who can afford to pay.
Some critiques claim that having private clinics will result in them stealing all the staff from the public clinics resulting in shortages. But they found that in Europe the opposite occurs. More private clinics on top of the existing public clinics results in more employers. When you have more employers you have more employees.
This will also give doctors/surgeons who work in the public sector the opportunity to make additional money working in private clinics in their spare time. Under the current system, doctors are fleeing the province/country on the weekends to pick up some extra money working in private clinics outside the province.
The employer also pays into the system for the employee in Canada.
I have heard of Americans coming to Canada for healtcare but NEVER the other way around unless the individual had plenty of $ to toss.