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Thursday, 7 January 2016
Estimated 2015 Canadian Healthcare Spending
In 2015, it is estimated that Canada’s health expenditures will reach $219.1 billion, or an equivalent of $6,105 per Canadian. This amount would represent 10.9% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
About 71% of the total health expenditure this year is estimated to come from public-sector funding, 66% of which will be provincial and territorial government spending. Another 5% will come from other parts of the public sector, such as the federal government, municipal governments, and social security funds.
The remaining 29% of health spending for the year will comprise of private funding, made up of out-of-pocket spending (14%), private health insurance (12%), and other sources (3%).
Health spending in Canada, compared to other countries
According to the 2013 data on spending, Canada was in the top quarter of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries when it came to health expenditures. Only the United States ($9,086USD), Germany ($4,920USD), and Denmark ($4,847USD) spent more than Canada ($4,569USD) per person on health in 2013.
France ($4,361USD), Australia ($4,115USD), Japan ($3,713USD), Finland ($3,645USD), and the United Kingdom ($3,364USD) completed the list of the top 9 spenders out of the 29 countries in the OECD that have comparable accounting systems. The OECD average spending per person was $3,566USD.
What Canada spends its health dollars on
Three main categories, hospitals, drugs, and physicians, make up over 60% of health expenditures in Canada. In 2015, it is forecasted that hospitals will account for 29.5% of spending, drugs will reach 15.7%, and physician services will be at 15.5%. A growth of 0.9%, 0.7%, and 2.2%, respectively, is estimated for 2015 health expenditures in the three categories from the previous year of data.
The remaining 40% of health spending goes towards purchasing other health care goods and services, administering public and private insurance plans and public-sector health programs, and funding research. Long-term care institutions will make up about 10.7% of this spending, with another 10% going to allied health professionals in the dental, vision, and other fields.
Hospitals and physicians are services covered under the Canada Health Act and are therefore financed mainly through the public sector. Drugs and other health professionals and services are primarily financed from sources in the private sector.
Health spending in Canada’s provinces and territories
Canada’s territories have the highest health expenditures per capita, in large part due to the vast geographical area that needs to be covered and low population, compared with the rest of the country. In 2015, the Yukon Territory is projected to spend $10,949 per person in health expenditures. The Northwest Territories will spend $13,880 per person. Nunavut is projected to spend the most per capita in the country at $14,059.
The provinces spend less per capita. The amounts range from the lowest, $5,665 spent in Quebec, to the highest, $7,036 spent per person in Newfoundland and Labrador. A full breakdown of health expenditures for all provinces and territories can be seen in the table below.
Province/territory
|
Amount spent per capita (projected for 2015)
|
% of budget for provincial/territorial government health spending (projected for 2014)
|
% of per capita growth/decline
|
British Columbia
|
$5,875
|
43%
|
+1.2%
|
Alberta
|
$6,966
|
42%
|
+0.1%
|
Saskatchewan
|
$6,686
|
38%
|
+1.2%
|
Manitoba
|
$6,927
|
46%
|
+2.1%
|
Ontario
|
$5,920
|
41%
|
-0.1%
|
Quebec
|
$5,665
|
30%
|
+0.5%
|
Newfoundland and Labrador
|
$7,036
|
40%
|
+3.7%
|
New Brunswick
|
$6,310
|
40%
|
+1.7%
|
Nova Scotia
|
$6,560
|
46%
|
+2.2%
|
Prince Edward Island
|
$6,352
|
37%
|
=0.0%
|
Yukon Territory
|
$10,949
|
18%
|
+8.8%
|
Northwest Territories
|
$13,880
|
21%
|
+8.5%
|
Nunavut
|
$14,059
|
29%
|
-0.8%
|
Canadian average
|
$6,105
|
38%
|
+0.6%
|
Health spending by population group
The spending varies among population groups, particularly when it comes to age range. The last available data for provincial/territorial spending based on age groups is from 2013.
Age group
|
Average estimated amount spent per person
|
infants (less than 1 year old)
|
$10,897
|
youths (1 year old to 14 years old)
|
$1,408
|
adolescents/adults (15 years old to 64 years old)
|
$2,637
|
seniors (65+ years old)
|
$11,598
|
While seniors make up around 15% of the Canadian population, provinces and territories spend more than 45% of all public-sector health care funding on them. Costs increase as the population ages. By breaking down senior age groups into 5 year increments, a steady rise occurs.
Age group
|
Average estimated amount spent per person
|
65 - 69 years of age
|
$6,298
|
70 - 74 years of age
|
$8,384
|
75 - 79 years of age
|
$11,557
|
80+ years of age
|
$20,917
|
Factors that influence health spending
A number of factors influence the cost of health care, including inflation, population growth, the aging of the population, and other residual factors such as health sector inflation, the efficiency of the health care system, and changes in the technology available and the use of services.
Health care costs have risen by approximately 14.5% over the past 15 years, 6.6% of which is estimated to be attributed to general inflation. Demographic cost drivers (population growth and aging) have only contributed to a combined estimate of 2% growth over the last decade, although these factors vary greatly by province or territory.
Since 2013, the last year that health spending data by age and sex is available, it is forecasted that health expenditures have risen by 3.1% in 2014 and another 1.5% in 2015.
For more information on health spending in Canada, please see the Canadian Institute for Health Information’s October 2015 report on national health expenditure trends [pdf].
tl;dr? That's ok, we've made a simple easy to read infographic! Check it out here.
Thursday, 22 October 2015
Donation Update
Recently we made the decision to start giving donations to charities as a thank you to new clients coming on board. Basically, our plan is that for every new client that
comes on board we're taking a % of their payment and giving it directly
to someone in need.
Today we made our second major donation to two of our favorite charities.
1 - Doctors without Borders Canada / MSF
http://www.msf.ca/
For more than 40 years, MSF has been providing medical assistance to people affected by armed conflicts, natural disasters, disease epidemics, malnutrition crises and other emergencies. All of these types of situation call for the rapid deployment of specialized medical and logistical expertise and equipment. MSF is world renowned for their ability to respond quickly and for their efficient work in complicated crises.
2 - Free the Children
http://www.freethechildren.com/
Founded in 1995, Free the Children works to free children from poverty and exploitation by empowering communities with the skills and resources needed to change their lives. The charity implements the Adopt-a-Village development model in rural and marginalized areas in 8 countries: Kenya, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Ecuador, Haiti, Nicaragua, China, and India. This model has 5 pillars: education, health care, alternative income, clean water/sanitation, and agriculture/food security. FTC builds schools and water wells, and provides medical treatment and income sources to the developing regions. These projects are designed to address the root cause of poverty and remove the barriers to children's education in the developing world.
Thank you to all our new clients for making this possible.
Cheers! Have a happy and healthy day.
The whole OscarHost team.
Today we made our second major donation to two of our favorite charities.
1 - Doctors without Borders Canada / MSF
http://www.msf.ca/
For more than 40 years, MSF has been providing medical assistance to people affected by armed conflicts, natural disasters, disease epidemics, malnutrition crises and other emergencies. All of these types of situation call for the rapid deployment of specialized medical and logistical expertise and equipment. MSF is world renowned for their ability to respond quickly and for their efficient work in complicated crises.
2 - Free the Children
http://www.freethechildren.com/
Founded in 1995, Free the Children works to free children from poverty and exploitation by empowering communities with the skills and resources needed to change their lives. The charity implements the Adopt-a-Village development model in rural and marginalized areas in 8 countries: Kenya, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Ecuador, Haiti, Nicaragua, China, and India. This model has 5 pillars: education, health care, alternative income, clean water/sanitation, and agriculture/food security. FTC builds schools and water wells, and provides medical treatment and income sources to the developing regions. These projects are designed to address the root cause of poverty and remove the barriers to children's education in the developing world.
Thank you to all our new clients for making this possible.
Cheers! Have a happy and healthy day.
The whole OscarHost team.
Tuesday, 20 October 2015
Watsi donation update and Ontario fee changes | OscarHost blog
We recently made a Watsi donation to help a young girl in Thailand receive the medical care she needs. You can find out more about our first donation below.
Changes have also been made to fees for physicians in Ontario. Further details on this can also be found below.
Changes have also been made to fees for physicians in Ontario. Further details on this can also be found below.
Watsi donation update
Crowdfunding has recently revolutionized the healthcare world, especially in developing nations. It has allowed people that would otherwise not be able to receive the care they need to get access to that care through the donations of others. We recently did some research into how crowdfunding has improved healthcare and made the decision to regularly donate a percentage of our revenue to those who need it most.
Our first donation was to a nine-year-old girl name Naw who lives in Thailand. She developed tumours on her leg and tongue and required surgery in order to remove them. We were able to contribute to the full funding of Naw's care. You can find out more about our donation by reading our first donation update. We will keep you posted on future donations as well.
Our first donation was to a nine-year-old girl name Naw who lives in Thailand. She developed tumours on her leg and tongue and required surgery in order to remove them. We were able to contribute to the full funding of Naw's care. You can find out more about our donation by reading our first donation update. We will keep you posted on future donations as well.
Fee changes in Ontario
As of October 1st, 2015, fee-for-service rates in Ontario were reduced by 1.3%. Additional cuts to specific fees for certain specialists were also made.
To update the fees in your OSCAR EMR, please download the new OHIP Fee Schedule Master file and import it through your OscarHost account. If you need assistance with this, please email us at support@oscarhost.ca.
The action is part of an ongoing dispute between the Ontario government and Ontario's physicians. It has been speculated that the issue could escalate into job action from physicians. The Ontario Medical Association has suggested the matter be settled through binding arbitration.
Hopefully, both parties will be able to come to a resolution quickly and patients won't be affected by these changes.
As always, please let us know if you have any questions or feedback regarding these updates!
To update the fees in your OSCAR EMR, please download the new OHIP Fee Schedule Master file and import it through your OscarHost account. If you need assistance with this, please email us at support@oscarhost.ca.
The action is part of an ongoing dispute between the Ontario government and Ontario's physicians. It has been speculated that the issue could escalate into job action from physicians. The Ontario Medical Association has suggested the matter be settled through binding arbitration.
Hopefully, both parties will be able to come to a resolution quickly and patients won't be affected by these changes.
As always, please let us know if you have any questions or feedback regarding these updates!
Thursday, 3 September 2015
Crowdfunding improvements in Healthcare
The concept of crowdfunding has really taken off in the last five years thanks to the internet. Globalization and interconnectivity has made it even easier for people to find out about new ideas, products, and projects around the world. It has also made it easier for them to contribute to and support these initiatives through donations. Sites like Indiegogo, Kickstarter, and GoFundMe have provided avenues for products and ideas to get funded by fans, allowing projects that may otherwise not have existed because of a lack of funding to take off.
The possibilities have filtered over into other industries as well. In the healthcare industry, the freedom that crowdfunding provides has been transformed into creative ways to deliver healthcare and improve the industry as a whole.
One such example, Crowdfundhealth.org, is run by a non-profit organization called Possible and its goal is to “make healthcare possible in the world’s most impossible places”. With a current focus on Nepal, Possible delivers treatments and safe-births through a network of partners, including Watsi.org and Kangu.org.
Watsi and Kangu are two more examples of organizations that use donor contributions to help patients around the world receive the healthcare that they otherwise are unable to afford. Similar to an adopt-a-child charity, Watsi and Kangu allow contributors to learn about various patients, their stories, and their health conditions. Donors are then able to donate money to help a particular patient get the care they need. The organizations will provide the donor with updates about the patient they are supporting.
Watsi focuses on various treatments in 20 countries, sending 100% of the donations they receive to the patient. They also have a universal fund that donors can contribute to on a recurring basis. Kangu focuses on providing healthcare services to pregnant women in the regions in the world with the highest maternal mortality rates, including Uganda, Nepal, Burundi, and India. Kangu’s main goal is to provide expecting mothers in these countries with access to safe birth practices and care.
Samahope.org is another example of a crowdfunding health startup. Samahope allows people to support the work of specific medical professionals around the world. By donating, contributors are helping doctors continue their work to care for patients in areas like Somaliland, India, Ghana, Uganda, Nepal, the US, and beyond. Each doctor’s specialty helps him or her provide necessary care to patients that would not have the resources required to receive effective help for their conditions.
The idea of crowdfunding opens a whole new world of possibilities for patients requiring care in rural, often impoverished areas of the world. It also provides medical professionals with another source of funding to help them continue providing crucial care.
Approaching the problem from another angle, MedStartr.com offers companies and people with innovations in the healthcare industry an avenue to raise the funds they need to put their innovations into production. These innovators are able to find partners, mentors, and funding through MedStartr, allowing them to develop their ideas into realities.
Another example of health tech crowdfunding is one that’s very close to home. OscarHost recently crowdfunded the development of Alberta lab integrations for the OSCAR EMR through gofundme.com. While we didn’t raise 100% of the money we were looking for to complete the project, we were able to raise enough to justify funding the rest ourselves. We’ve now finished the development of the Alberta Labs feature for OSCAR 12.1 and have also committed the code back to the open-source OSCAR EMR source code which will make it available for public release soon.
The developers of OSCAR EMR are using crowdfunding as well to sustain development for a number of module re-designs and a health registry.
Crowdfunding has provided a new source of means and impacts the healthcare industry on all levels. From those able to contribute to caring for someone that desperately needs it through donations, to those providing the care, to those receiving the care they otherwise would not, to the people developing the innovations in the healthcare industry, the opportunities that crowdfunding creates may be limitless.
The possibilities have filtered over into other industries as well. In the healthcare industry, the freedom that crowdfunding provides has been transformed into creative ways to deliver healthcare and improve the industry as a whole.
Crowdfunded health startups
Crowdfunding in healthcare gives startups focused on the industry a chance to get the support and resources they need to develop and expand. Many of these companies are using crowdfunding to enable doctors and other medical professionals to give patients that cannot afford the care they need access to that care through the help of donors.One such example, Crowdfundhealth.org, is run by a non-profit organization called Possible and its goal is to “make healthcare possible in the world’s most impossible places”. With a current focus on Nepal, Possible delivers treatments and safe-births through a network of partners, including Watsi.org and Kangu.org.
Watsi and Kangu are two more examples of organizations that use donor contributions to help patients around the world receive the healthcare that they otherwise are unable to afford. Similar to an adopt-a-child charity, Watsi and Kangu allow contributors to learn about various patients, their stories, and their health conditions. Donors are then able to donate money to help a particular patient get the care they need. The organizations will provide the donor with updates about the patient they are supporting.
Watsi focuses on various treatments in 20 countries, sending 100% of the donations they receive to the patient. They also have a universal fund that donors can contribute to on a recurring basis. Kangu focuses on providing healthcare services to pregnant women in the regions in the world with the highest maternal mortality rates, including Uganda, Nepal, Burundi, and India. Kangu’s main goal is to provide expecting mothers in these countries with access to safe birth practices and care.
Samahope.org is another example of a crowdfunding health startup. Samahope allows people to support the work of specific medical professionals around the world. By donating, contributors are helping doctors continue their work to care for patients in areas like Somaliland, India, Ghana, Uganda, Nepal, the US, and beyond. Each doctor’s specialty helps him or her provide necessary care to patients that would not have the resources required to receive effective help for their conditions.
The idea of crowdfunding opens a whole new world of possibilities for patients requiring care in rural, often impoverished areas of the world. It also provides medical professionals with another source of funding to help them continue providing crucial care.
Supporting healthcare’s tech advancements
Aside from directly supporting patients or healthcare professionals, companies that provide services to the healthcare industry have also tapped into the crowdfunding possibilities.Approaching the problem from another angle, MedStartr.com offers companies and people with innovations in the healthcare industry an avenue to raise the funds they need to put their innovations into production. These innovators are able to find partners, mentors, and funding through MedStartr, allowing them to develop their ideas into realities.
Another example of health tech crowdfunding is one that’s very close to home. OscarHost recently crowdfunded the development of Alberta lab integrations for the OSCAR EMR through gofundme.com. While we didn’t raise 100% of the money we were looking for to complete the project, we were able to raise enough to justify funding the rest ourselves. We’ve now finished the development of the Alberta Labs feature for OSCAR 12.1 and have also committed the code back to the open-source OSCAR EMR source code which will make it available for public release soon.
The developers of OSCAR EMR are using crowdfunding as well to sustain development for a number of module re-designs and a health registry.
Why is crowdfunding important for healthcare?
Health issues and complications are the leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States and they often make the lives of people in countries both wealthy and poor exceptionally difficult. Even with today’s technological advancements, it is all too common that those needing life-changing healthcare are unable to afford it. Through the internet and the rise of crowdfunding, more of the people that could greatly benefit from proper healthcare resources have been able to access what they need.Crowdfunding has provided a new source of means and impacts the healthcare industry on all levels. From those able to contribute to caring for someone that desperately needs it through donations, to those providing the care, to those receiving the care they otherwise would not, to the people developing the innovations in the healthcare industry, the opportunities that crowdfunding creates may be limitless.
Thursday, 20 August 2015
New OscarHost support portal launched for OSCAR EMR users
New support portal is live!
Our brand new help centre is ready to go, full of useful information to make sure our users know the ins and outs of OSCAR. The portal is quickly and easily accessible through the "Help" link in the top right corner of our users' schedule screen or by going to help.oscarhost.ca.This new portal will provide OscarHost users with a one-stop shop for help with common issues and frequently asked questions. It also collects various demonstrations videos, training videos, and other resources relevant to our users in one handy spot.
The Community Forums section provides users with a place to discuss OSCAR functionality, as well as OscarHost-specific topics. The forums are a great way to connect with colleagues and fellow OSCAR users while also giving us an easy way to see what is important to our clients.
In order to post a new topic, users will need to log in to the forum. This can be done using a social media account or by making an account on the forum itself. Support tickets can be created and sent to us directly through the help portal as well. A status update will be available for any tickets created.
If you have any questions or feedback regarding the new support centre, please let us know by contacting us!
Thursday, 18 June 2015
Email notifications feature update, OntarioMD funding ends, and BC MSP fees increase
Just a few quick updates regarding the email notifications feature, the OntarioMD funding program, and a recent change to BC's MSP fee schedule. Find out more about the changes below.
Email notifications without online booking
The feature that sends email notifications for appointments is now available for Oscar without needing the online booking module as well! If you'd like to find out more about how this works with Oscar, please get in touch!
OntarioMD funding ends
Going the way of the dodo (like PITO in BC and POSP in Alberta), the OntarioMD funding program has now officially come to an end. Physicians in Ontario can no longer be funded for using an EMR.
MSP fee increase in BC
As of April 1st, 2015, a fee increase occurred in BC, funded from the 2015/2016 fee allocation. The fee increase was implemented on June 4th, with the most current rates available for download as of June 5th.
Any claims that were being processed when the change was made and have been submitted at the previous rates will be adjusted to match the new rates. The explanatory code BG-Amount will be displayed and a retroactive payment will be applied to a future remittance for any services provided between April 1st and June 4th that have been paid using the previous rates.
The MSC Payment Schedule on the MSP website will be updated with the new rates shortly.
Any claims that were being processed when the change was made and have been submitted at the previous rates will be adjusted to match the new rates. The explanatory code BG-Amount will be displayed and a retroactive payment will be applied to a future remittance for any services provided between April 1st and June 4th that have been paid using the previous rates.
The MSC Payment Schedule on the MSP website will be updated with the new rates shortly.
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