The government of Ontario (Canada), in an effort to curb expenditure on healthcare, plans to put more of the province’s doctors on salary.
The majority of Ontario’s approximately 24,000 doctors are paid on a fee-for-service basis, meaning they bill the provincial health plan for each service they provide to a patient. But in recent years, some hospitals, particularly those in smaller, rural communities, have switched to a salary system for doctors in their emergency departments. As well, the 1,900 doctors who work in clinics as part of family health teams … are also paid a salary.
[Health Minister Deb] Matthews said she would like to see that compensation model expanded to include more doctors. She was responding to a report released this week by Toronto-Dominion Bank, which made eight proposals to wring more efficiencies out of the health-care system, including moving doctors away from the fee-for-service compensation model.
In a system where doctors are paid for each service, the report says, there is no incentive for them to measure the cost-effectiveness of their treatment decisions against the potential benefits.
Karen Howlett, “Ontario aims to put more physicians on salary”, The Globe and Mail (Toronto), 28 May 2010.
The TD Economics Report cited by Howlett was released yesterday (27 May), and can be downloaded here.
Tags: Canada
