Four of the biggest takeaways from CIHI’s ‘Taking the pulse’ report

Last month, the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) released its report on shared priorities for Canada’s healthcare system.Titled “Taking the pulse: Measuring shared priorities for Canadian health care, 2024,” the report looks at the areas of healthcare that the feds, provinces and territories have identified as shared priorities for improvement, from access to primary care to the supply of Canada’s healthcare workforce.Here are four of the biggest takeaways from the report.Primary care access highest among older adults and in OntarioAccording to the report, 83% Canadians 18 and older reported having access to a primary care provider. Access to primary care is also higher among women (87%) compared to men (79%). In addition, those 65 and older were more likely to report access (92%) while adults aged 18-to-34 had the lowest access (74%).In most provinces, access to primary car hovered just over 80%. Prince Edward Island was the province with the lowest access at 73%, while Ontario had the highest at 88%. However, access in the territories was considerably lower—as low as 42% in Nunavut.Read: Which province has the lowest rates for primary care access?Surgery wait times vary across provincesThe volume of surgeries has steadily increased each year after plummeting during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022-2023, there were 2.22 million surgeries, making it the first year that surgical volumes exceeded pre-pandemic levels. This trend still holds true, with 2.33 million surgeries logged in 2023-24.However, there is wide variance in wait times between provinces. For example, when it comes to hip fracture surgery, 81% nationwide receive their surgery within 48 hours—down from 76% in 2019. However, it’s as high as 91% in Newfoundland and Labrador, and as low as 72% in British Columbia.Joint replacement wait times are even more varied across Canada. Nationwide, 62% of Canadians get their joint replacement within 26 weeks—the clinically acceptable benchmark. Ontario and B.C. have wait times around or above the national average, but in P.E.I. and Saskatchewan, only 28% and 36% of joint replacements meet the 26-week benchmark. Most provinces are gaining family doctors, but variation remains largeThere is also wide variance among provinces and territories when it comes to how many family physicians are leaving or entering the workforce. According to data from 2021-22, most reported a net gain in family doctors. Prince Edward Island had the highest net growth rate of family doctors at 2.37% followed by Yukon (0.69%) and New Brunswick (0.48%).However, three provinces reported net losses of family physicians. Newfoundland and Labrador reported a net loss of 0.88%—the largest in the country, while Nova Scotia and Manitoba had net losses of 0.31% and 0.17%, respectively.Even though most provinces and territories are seeing a net gain in physicians, the report noted other factors beyond physician supply that are impacting access to care. For example, family physicians are seeing fewer patients per year (1,353 in 202, compared to 1,746 in 2013) and nearly 30% are providing services outside of primary care, such as emergency medicine, psychiatry and general surgery. Only two in five Canadians have accessed their health records electronicallyIn 2023, a study from Canada Health Infoway found that more than four in five Canadians supported accessing their own health information electronically. However, according the CIHI report, only 39% of Canadians have actually done so. Saskatchewan, B.C. and Alberta were the only three provinces where a majority of residents have been able to access their health data electronically. However, in Manitoba and the Atlantic provinces, the percentages ranged from 14%-to-26%.

Four of the biggest takeaways from CIHI’s ‘Taking the pulse’ report

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