the covid-19 pandemic has stretched health care systems across canada beyond capacity. surges of covid-19 have strained available beds and exhausted both healthcare workers and resources. to cope with these surges, some regional and provincial health systems have delayed all non-essential procedures, tests and surgeries.
at the same time, canadians’ health-seeking behaviours
have changed
over the past year with steep drops in utilization of emergency and hospital care. and while we know some of these delays in care may have resulted in harm, we also know that some didn’t.
unnecessary tests and treatments
research shows that
over 30 per cent of all healthcare
offered prior to the pandemic lacked clinical value to patients. as healthcare systems rebuild and reopen to the full range of pre-pandemic services, it is vital that this low value care be minimized to ensure capacity, services and care for those who need it most.
post-pandemic healthcare systems are under significant pressure to do more with less. addressing the backlog of delayed care can be done equitably by using resources wisely.
dr. karen born (left), is an assistant professor, institute of health policy, management & evaluation, dalla lana school of public health, university of toronto and knowledge translation lead, choosing wisely canada. dr. ken milne is an adjunct professor in the department of medicine (division of emergency medicine) and department of family medicine at the schulich school of medicine and dentistry. supplied
thankfully, there’s a large body of research to guide us. as part of a national process convened by the
canadian agency for drugs and technology in health
this spring which brought together an expert panel of patients, clinicians and decision makers, we reviewed over 400 clinician-led recommendations developed by national clinician societies to highlight opportunities to ensure high value care after the pandemic.