Performance of Canada`s Health Care System (Essay Sample)

[Name]
[Course]
[Institution]
[Professor]
[Date]
The organization of people, systems, resources and institutions to ensure that health care services needed by a certain population are delivered can be used to denote a health system. Different countries and governments have different ways by which they plan and implement their health care systems. To achieve a quality, efficient, equitable and acceptable health system, well structured financing, resource generation and stewardship is required. This paper attempts to look at how Canada’s health system fares and compares with the Australian version and what improvements can be made on the Canadian Health system to make it better. Circumstances in the two countries are different and the solution applied in Australia may not apply in Canada in its exact form. The solution may be similar but their application has to suit the nation they are to be implemented in to work. (Eluta C.A, 2013)
The time Canadians wait to access a specialist or receive selective surgery has been evaluated as considerably longer than that of counterparts in most other developed countries. This may be partly as a result of the fact that Australia for instance allows for Private medical insurance providers to operate and thrive, more than the same is accepted in Canada. A private system of doctors and hospital care has been allowed to thrive in Australia, besides the public one. Alongside other countries like The United Kingdom, the wait time has been considerably reduced by the use of aggressive targets for health providers and severe penalties if these targets are not met. A thriving private health care system in Canada on the other hand has not been allowed to thrive as in Australia. Australia spends 1.5 per cent less on Health care compared to Canada. The thriving private system there takes off some spending pressure on the public one. A reasonable compromise between equity and efficiency is more accept in Australia than Canada. There is also a higher ration of practitioners relative to the Australian population than Canada.
In comparison to other countries also, Canadian primary health care practitioners have the lowest use of electronic medical records, 37% compared to USA’s 46% and above 90% in seven other countries. This is despite the fact that sufficient investment in e-Health provincially and nationally has been implemented in Canada. In hospitals, Canada has fewer acute care beds per population yet the highest average length of stay. This periodically causes overcrowding in the emergency departments and more beds are needed to accommodate patients well. Investment in community and long-term care may help the hospital care.
The amount of money spent on health care by Canada in comparison to economic peers of countries varies significantly. At 17 percent, the United States spends the most while Japan spends the least at 8.5 percent. Canada alongside other countries like Switzerland, Germany, France and Denmark spends 11 percent of Gross domestic product annually. Higher spending on healthcare however did not translate to a better health system. The health system of the United States for instance had among the worst measures of quality. (CIHI, 2011)
Statistic taken on public satisfaction indicate that more Canadians suggest changes and improvements on the existing system or a total overhaul, than those who are satisfied with it. A commonwealth report comparing Canada’s health care system to others. Despite lower performance in accessibility and use of electronic health records, Canada was average in survival after heart attack. Canada was also among top two countries in survival after the diagnosis of breast cancer and lower limb amputation frequency in persons with diabetes. The disparity in Canada’s performance is...