Canadian Health Policy Institute: Non-medical spending costs Canada's health system $billions every year without any scrutiny, meanwhile governments ration your access to hospitals, nurses, physicians, medical devices and pharmaceuticals.

TORONTO, Nov. 16, 2017 /CNW/ - A new paper published by the Canadian Health Policy Institute (CHPI) examines non-medical spending in Canada, as well as known instances of waste from financial mismanagement and redundancy that represent costs for the health system with no direct benefit to patients. The paper concludes that there is a huge potential for savings from more public scrutiny of non-medical categories of health spending.

To manage public healthcare costs, governments devote substantial resources to assessing the cost-effectiveness of, and rationing access to pharmaceuticals, medical devices and diagnostics that directly benefit patient health outcomes, and even though such medical technologies account for a minor percentage of total health spending.

Governments also spend a lot of political effort to control the number of practising physicians, physician fees, hospital operating budgets (and by extension the number of practising nurses), even though it is these health professionals that deliver medical care directly to patients.

By contrast, there is a serious lack of political attention to assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare administration and to scrutinizing spending on things other than medical care.

The evidence suggests that billions of dollars are potentially being squandered annually on non-medical expenses without any demonstrable benefits for patients.

The paper, "Costs without benefits for patients? Non-medical spending in Canada's public health system.", was published at CHPI's online journal, Canadian Health Policy, and can be accessed at www.canadianhealthpolicy.com.

SOURCE Canadian Health Policy Institute

Canadian Health Policy Institute (CHPI) Contact: Managing Editor: [email protected]