The same treatment at a hospital will cost you up to 51 per cent more, depending on what Canadian province or Territory you’re in. An analysis, done by Tamara Spitzer with data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), showed the growing increase in the difference in costs of an average hospital stay. It also marks a continued trend in the increase of health care costs across Canada.
The average cost of a hospital stay in Canada costs $6,098 in 2016, jumping almost 5 per cent from last year’s average cost of $5,820. This staggeringly high number is more than the total increase of the past 5 years combined. Not only has the average cost drastically increased, but the disparity of cost per province and territory continues to grow.
The financial burden of a hospital stay in Canada varies greatly from province to province to territory. Take the Yukon. An average hospital stay in this territory costs $8,094 while in New Brunswick it costs $5,339. The 51 per cent difference in cost accounts for inefficiencies in provincial and territorial health care systems.
https://infogram.com/health-care-1g8e20d53e6qmod
Riley Denver, a CIHI specialist says that the reason these costs, “vary among peers and over time, is an acknowledgment to many factors including staff mix and facility size and classification.”
Smaller hospitals tend to have a higher running cost. The smaller the size, the more remote the hospital, and the higher cost of labour in certain provinces and territories, all point to the large variation in the average cost of a hospital stay. This however, doesn’t explain why the margin is growing.
The cost of an average hospital stay is neither linked to the quality of care a patient is receiving. The Yukon, which has the highest cost of an average hospital stay, also has the highest percentage of patients experiencing worsened pain over long-term care.
The Yukon also has one of the country’s lowest rates of hospital per person in Canada. Its three hospitals are designed to take care of a population of 35,874. Furthermore, the Yukon also has the highest administration costs across Canada, more than doubling that of New Brunswick.
In a time where healthcare consumers -patients- are more informed than ever, Canadians are taking these costs into account.
“I would certainly consider relocating if I could access a treatment that was more accessible there than in Ontario,” says Brett Parnell, who’s studied medical tourism and travel services. He says that although the cost would be a determining factor, it wouldn’t be the only one.
The average Canadian costs of a hospital stay still remains largely cheaper than those of the States which, according to the Agency for Healthcare and Research Quality, costs on average of $13,190.
https://infogram.com/health-care-1g8e20d53e6qmod
Recently released census information indicates, an ever growing Canadian narrative; the aging population is putting more and more strain on healthcare systems. With an all time high standing cost of hospital stay and an all time high variability of health care costs, resolving health care gaps could is the answer to an equitable system.