COLLINS: CFIB study on health care is telling

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business has come out with a report that it says can immediately provide doctors a chance to provide real care and possibly reduce the stress for many who are trying to find a family doctor.

The CFIB report claims that if we got rid of a lot of the red tape doctors face, we would add the equivalent of 55 million patient visits across the country. In B.C., that saving amounts to 8 million patient visits.

A doctor spends a large percentage of their day keeping track of what happens when their patients visit. That is work only they can do. But the report identifies a large percentage of time doing work that could be done by someone else or eliminated altogether.

Nova Scotia is leading the way in this area, and other provinces, including ours, are finally realizing the importance of doing something about this. But they could be acting much more quickly.

And while we’re at it, let’s loosen up the regulations regarding physicians and nurses who want to move here from other countries, give nurse practitioners quicker routes to certification and give RNs and pharmacists more power to help. We are moving far too slowly.

If removing red tape gives us a little breathing room, what are we waiting for?

This, of course, would only be a stopgap, and there is so much work to do, but it could provide a way to get more people into a doctor’s office, and surely that’s not a bad thing.

I’m Doug Collins and that’s One Man’s Opinion.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.

by Doug Collins

COLLINS: CFIB study on health care is telling

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