Challenges Facing Medicare in Canada

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Outline

Over the years, there has been an increased demand for medical care in Canada. Due to this increasing demand, the available facilities have proved to be inadequate which has led to congestion and poor services at various health centers. Increased medical bills have also made individuals spend a lot of money on drugs. These are among the reasons that motivated the government of Canada to invent means and procedures to ensure that this important facility is available to all citizens. Several programs aimed at reducing medical expenses have been instituted to facilitate the affordability and availability of health care services.

Challenges facing medicare

Medicare is one of the areas that have raised a lot of attention from the public. There has been a need to improve the quality of services being offered in this area and to make the facilities accessible and affordable to all. Despite the efforts of the government and the health professionals to offer these services, the health care department has continued to face various challenges. There have always risen conflicts between the health service providers, the patients, and the relatives to the patients concerning how and when the services should be provided. Even though both parties have the right to suggest, the biggest challenge comes when the suggestions clash.

The biggest challenge that is faced especially by doctors and other Medicare staff is the kind of treatment and diagnosis that should be offered to the patient. The doctors usually feel that they have carried out the right diagnosis and together with the experience and knowledge they have in medicine, they possess all the right to prescribe a certain dose to the patients. The relatives of the patient’s on the other hand are always very careful and keen with their patients and usually feel that certain treatments and diagnoses are not necessary to their patients (Gregory, 2006). This conflict has always risen due to the many reported cases of the doctors’ prescribing wrong medicine to the patients and at times performing wrong operations. Such mistakes have made people lose confidence in the doctors and thus demand their own way of treatment. There have also been cases where the families will demand the services of a particular doctor even if the same is currently busy. They become adamant and stubborn when they are advised to take a different option. Such conflicts may also arise where the doctors take long time to either release the reports of the patients or to treat them. When it comes to the medical reports, the families are curious and anxious to know the results and any delay caused a lot of tension among them. When their patients take more time in the hospital than expected, the family members become curious about whether the right medication is being offered to them or not.

Some family members will go to the extent of demanding that the treatment be changed or worse still, transfer the patient, not minding their current situations, to another hospital that they feel will provide them with better services. Such situations usually cause a lot of confusion especially for the doctors and hospitals that can not be trusted to offer good services. To solve such problems the doctors and nurses should ensure that they give the relatives of the patients the right information concerning their patients. They should also ensure that they update them on the progress of their patients on a regular basis to clear any anxieties they may be having.

Another bigger challenge that is faced by the patients and their relatives is the amount of time they have to wait for them to be attended to. Due to increased demand for health care, the health facilities have not increased equally and this causes a lot of pressure on the few that are available. The queues especially in the provincial health centers are long which causes the patients to sufferer psychological pain as they wait to be attended to. What mainly cause this is the inadequate doctors and health facilities which have to be shared by this increased number of patients. Most of the time, priority is given to the patients who are in serious conditions, causing the others to wait before they are finally attended to. To solve this issue, the government should ensure that there are enough facilities in the hospitals to take care of each and every need of the patients. More medical staff should be trained and modern medical equipment to be installed to enhance the quality of diagnosis and also to save on the time taken to treat the patients.

The other Medicare challenge that has to be taken care of in Canada is providing health care facilities to the aged, the terminally ill, and the mentally ill (Bruce, 2007). These are three groups of people that are not given much attention by the medical staff and the community at large. It is at times assumed that such people have no economic contribution to the country or that their conditions are beyond treatment. Investing in such patients is hence seen as a waste of resources. Such patients may also not receive much attention from the society that has developed certain attitudes towards them. Their family members usually damp them in hospitals or care centers where they are rarely visited or given medical attention. Such attitude from the society and especially from the close relatives that are to show them love and care causes them a lot of stigmas that will either worsen their situation or cause them to die early.

To solve such an issue, the government needs to be at the forefront to educate the people on the importance of taking care of these patients. They also need to be assured that the conditions they face are not beyond care and that they can be transformed into useful people only when they are given the attention that they need. Medical staff should also be trained to specialize in taking care of these patients. By doing this, the patients will be helped not only to live productive lives but also to clear the attitudes that the public has been having against them.

Improving health care in Canada

Despite the challenges facing health care institutions, several measures can be taken to minimize these challenges. One of the most fundamental steps that can probably be taken by the government is to educate the doctors and other health staff on the ways and means of handling disagreements from the relatives of the patients. Since such disagreements will always exist, the medical staff needs to be prepared to handle them in an appropriate way to avoid conflicts. The doctors being the main people in control of the patients are in a better position to take control of the situation and offer the correct advice that can restore confidence.

Another way of avoiding conflicts in health care institutions is through the creation of policies. Through these policies, the patients and their relatives will have to follow the right procedure in addressing their grievances. Every health care center will also be required to work under certain terms and conditions. These conditions need to be observed by both the medical staff and the patients’ relatives. In this case, appropriate measures will be taken by the court of law in case any of the parties operates contrary to what has been specified in the policies.

Another common disagreement is usually between the patients and the doctors. The patients usually feel that they have a right to decide the kind of treatment they want which may not be appropriate according to the doctors. To solve this issue, the doctors need to take a keen study on the patient, with consideration on their needs and try to find out the reason behind the decision they are insisting on. They also need to give them convincing advice on their conditions and vividly explain to them the various options available and the outcome of each of them. Once they have this information, they should give in to the patients’ demands after consultation with their next of kin.

Among other solutions to improve health care facilities, the government of Canada instituted a ten-year agreement in 2004 to improve the health care system in Canada (McIntyre, 2005). Among the fundamental aims of this program is to reduce the waiting times of the patients. The procedures involved include ‘a time’s reduction fund’ that is being distributed to the health centers to enable them to hire and train more staff to the hospitals to deal with the increasing number of patients. The money is also to be used in installing health care facilities that will speed up the process to avoid congestion. It is also to be used to purchase facilities such as ambulances and beds to enhance treatment. To monitor their progress, the health centers have set targets on wait times to ensure that they improve strategically.

The Public Health Agency (PHAC) was established in 2004 to effectively combat chronic diseases (Gregory, 2006). The agency mainly targets the rural population in northern Canada where there is a deficiency in health care facilities. Apart from providing emergency health care facilities to the rural communities, the agencies are also involved in establishing health care institutions to train more health care staff. They are also involved in educating the rural communities on first aid procedures that can be followed in case of emergencies before proper medical attention is administered.

The use of modern technologies of communication is another method that is employed to help the residents of the northern region access medical care. Through the system of telehealth, the residents can easily make calls at any time to access the necessary health care services. This service is confidential and is operated by registered nurses. The patients can personally consult the nurses who will assist them diagnose their disease and consequently prescribe them the treatment.

To be able to understand the agony that the patients go through in waiting to be attended to, a survey was carried out to establish the main cause of wait times. This survey was carried out to find out the areas that needed urgent attention and the most appropriate way of using the available resources to satisfy the community. Through the survey, cases that need urgent medical attention and equipment are provided to administer the required surgeries.

The government of Canada is sponsoring various research programs in the medical field. This is done to find out the common diseases that the citizens are prone to. Once this has been identified, they will search for preventive measures like vaccines to ensure that the diseases are not prevalent. Environmental factors that cause some diseases are being studied and the citizens are taught to employ precautionary measures that will protect them from such infections. Community-based organizations are at the forefront in educating the masses on the importance of proper diet to protect them from future complications. Hygiene procedures are also being encouraged to ensure that the citizens do not suffer from preventable diseases.

The medical faculty of Canada has also received strong support from the government. Several institutions are offering medical-based courses. Through such institutes, new medical staff is being trained so as to take care of the increasing health demands. They also offer technical training to those that are already working in hospitals to ensure that, they are equipped with the modern health requirements. There are employment opportunities for the new medical staff where they work and after a given period of time, they gain valuable experience which is very useful in providing quality medical services to patients all the time (Gregory, 2006).

Saskatchewan Pharma

This is a committee that is endowed with the responsibility of approving the quality of the drugs before they are prescribed to the patients. This program operates with permission from the ministry of health. The ministry requires that all drugs be frequently tested for effectiveness and any drug that is not fit for use, be removed from the medical stores. This committee is also supposed to test and verify any drug that has been introduced to the market and ensure that the same is fit for the treatment thereon.

There is however an exception to the conditions of Saskatchewan which may be exempted in the following cases; a rear disease has been diagnosed in the region and requires the use of a particular drug if the drug that was rendered ineffective with some patients is found to be effective with another patient, a drug that is to be used only in hospitals is used outside because of the necessity that has risen and if the drug has been discouraged to due its high cost yet provides the best alternative for treating ailments (Wister, 2005).

Through this program, the ministry of health is able to minimize the use of illegal drugs and to ensure that the right medicine is being used for the correct purpose. There have been cases where patients have been given drugs that are no longer working due to the resistance that the viruses have developed towards them. Some of the common drugs that are frequently changed are those for malaria. With this program such cases will be minimized and the patient will be confident of good results after using those drugs.

National Pharma Care

Through this program, drugs are to be bought in large quantities and sold cheaply. This program was initiated by the NDP leader to cut the annual cost of drugs. A total amount of $1500 dollars is to be distributed annually to the provinces to take care of the medical expenses of the patients in the province. In reducing the annual expenses on drugs, the drugs are to be bought in large quantities at wholesale price and then cheaply sold to the people. The people are therefore relieved from having to buy the same drugs at a retail price normally by contributing a little fee to facilitate the purchase. The program was established due to the many Canadians that were uninsured yet had to spend a lot of money to cater for various prescriptions annually. The national pharma care aimed at reducing the expenses on Medicare through joint insurance policies. In this program, instead of an individual insuring him or herself, different groups were introduced and contributed a certain amount of money in form of premiums to the insurance company (Rachlis, 2004). In case any of the members fall sick, the contributed amount will take care of the bills.

Through the pharma care program, the members of the group that have invested in a certain health policy, generally assist each other in taking care of the hospital bills in case of sickness. Since it is not normal for all the members of the group to fall sick at a similar time, there will always be some funds to offset the bills of a sick member (Wister, 2005). This also makes it easy for the insurance companies because; they will not have to suffer losses. Through the system of pooling risks, each and every member is required to contribute a certain amount of money on annual basis to keep the program active. In determining the amount of money to be paid by each member, different groups are selected according to the diseases that they are most likely to suffer from. The premium contributed will be according to the expenses that the diseases are likely to consume in case a member suffers.

The main disadvantage of such a policy is that the beneficiaries will not benefit from it in case none of the group members suffers from the disease that has been insured against. The policies are so specific and they will only provide cover against the ailments that have been insured against. The policies also require that individuals who are at higher risks of suffering from certain illnesses pay higher premiums than those that are unlikely to suffer from them. In ascertaining this, it is sometimes difficult for the insurer to determine who is at a higher risk. In carrying out such investigations, a lot of finances are involved which may never be recovered. This is because; the decision to take covers lies on the client. It does not always matter how much process and resources have been involved in getting an individual to be insured. If he is not willing to do it, he can not be forced. Insurance companies have hence had to suffer losses due to such outcomes.

Canada is making some steps forward in ensuring that citizens have access to medical care without much strain in their pockets. It has also been easy for the people who were afraid of seeking medical care due to the high expenses to do so due to reduced cost. This factor contributes to the countries general growth because; people can carry out their activities without much interference of ill health. With much more programs that the country is yet to invent, the expenditure on medication will continue to reduce.

References

Bruce C. Medicare: Facts, Myths, Problems, Promise: James Lorimar & Company Limited, 2007 pp. 60-70
Gregory P. Health systems in transition: University of Toronto Press, 2006 pp. 20-25
McIntyre M. Realities of Canadian nursing: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2005 pp. 18-20
Rachlis M. Prescription for Excellence; how Innovation is saving Canada’s Health Care System: HarperCollins, 2004 pp. 15-19
Wister A. Baby boomer health dynamics: University of Toronto Press, 2005 pp. 30-35

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