PUBLIC RELEASE OF HOSPITAL SPECIFIC WAIT TIMES DATA AN IMPORTANT FIRST STEP: OHA
Ontario Hospital Association
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Monday, October 24, 2005
PUBLIC RELEASE OF HOSPITAL-SPECIFIC WAIT TIMES DATA AN IMPORTANT FIRST STEP: OHA
The Government of Ontario’s efforts to make hospital-specific wait-times data available to the public is a good first step toward improving wait times for all Ontarians, said Hilary Short, President and CEO of the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA).
“We welcome this initiative as an important step toward improving the quality of the debate about wait times, and as a way to even further enhance Ontario hospitals’ accountability to patients and to taxpayers,” said Short.
“For the first time, hospital administrators, health professional, the government and the public will know what the wait times for cardiac, cancer, cataract, joint replacement and diagnostic testing are at certain facilities,” said Short. “These facts will allow us to begin discussing the causes of wait-times, and how we can best address them.”
Ontario’s hospitals are working hard to reduce wait times. Many will perform additional surgeries using targeted wait-times funding provided by the Government of Ontario earlier this year. In addition, the OHA’s Wait Times Reference Group is working with Dr. Alan Hudson and the Wait Times Strategy Team to increase efficiency and standardize surgical and diagnostic best practices.
“Although this data is an important yardstick, conclusions about the quality of care that a patient will receive at a hospital cannot be drawn from it,” said Short. “Many factors influence the length of a wait time, including the availability of health professionals, the volume and complexity of the procedures done at a hospital, demographics and funding. These are issues that this data will begin to allow us to address.”
For further information:
OHA Public Affairs
416-205-1305