It’s much faster to get hip or knee replacements if there’s a central waitlist: study [Video]

Canadians who need a hip or knee replacement could get the surgery more quickly — without adding to health-care budgets or opening more operating rooms — if central waitlists were created, the author of a new study says. 

The findings, published in Tuesday’s issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, suggest it’s significantly faster to add patients to a central list where they can see any surgeon in their area, compared to each surgeon having their own waitlists. 

Right now in Ontario, a primary care provider, such as your family doctor, refers you to a surgeon or physiotherapist to decide whether surgery is needed. If it is, you’ll be put on one surgeon’s waiting list, which could be …