New data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information shows patients in all provinces are waiting longer than before the pandemic for some priority orthopedic and cancer surgeries, but it’s not all bad news — overall more surgeries are being performed than ever.
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 …