Canada Newswire
Sept. 24, 2003
Release from Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI)
CIHI report shows dramatic increase in MRI, CT scans and scanners
A new national report on medical imaging by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) shows the supply of MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) and CT (Computed Tomography) scanners and the number of scans performed have risen dramatically in the past decade, and that the distribution of major imaging equipment varies across the country.
A recent Statistics Canada survey found that 6.7% of Canadians age 15 and
over – a total of 1.7 million people – had a non-emergency MRI, CT, or angiography in 2001. Provincial data show volumes have risen sharply in
recent years.
Canada had a total of 147 MRI scanners in January 2003 compared to 30 in
1993, an increase of nearly 400%. The number of CT scanners rose by about
50% over the same period, from 216 in 1993 to 326 in January 2003. The country also had 594 nuclear medicine cameras, 165 angiography suites,
94 Catheterization labs, and 14 PET scanners in January 2003. Canada’s MRI and CT machines are, on average, newer than those in Europe.
Waiting for Care: The 2001 Statistics Canada Health Services Access Survey
found that about half of Canadians aged 15 and older who reported receiving
a non-emergency CT, MRI, or angiography waited three weeks or less. Most
(55%) waited less than a month; about 5% waited six months or more. One-quarter of those who were tested felt their wait was unacceptable; about
one in six (16%) said the wait affected their lives. Most (68%) of those who
said the wait affected them said it caused worry, anxiety, or stress.
http://www.newswire.ca/releases/September2003/25/c4564.html
Comment: One of the most common arguments presented against the adoption of a single payer system in the United States is that there are unacceptable
queues or delays for services in any universal, government funded program.
Perhaps the most frequent example given is the unacceptable delays in diagnostic imaging in Canada due to the fact that they do not have enough CT or MRI scanners to meet their needs. This report reveals that, in the past decade, great progress has been made by Canada in addressing this problem.
Emergency imaging is always available without delay. And, by 2001, three-fourths of Canadians who had elective scans do not believe that they were subjected to unacceptable delays. Since the release of the Romanow report, an even greater effort has been made to ensure adequate capacity.
Canada’s access to imaging is not bad and is improving dramatically. Contrast that to imaging in the United States. We have the capacity, but the uninsured and many of the under-insured cannot afford CT or MRI scans. Tens of millions of Americans are not even allowed a place in the queue.
Which system is better: a lower cost system that recognizes a capacity problem and takes measures to resolve that, or a higher cost system that has adequate capacity but nevertheless engages in wholesale rationing based on ability to pay?