Developing a Model for Measuring the Efficiency of the Health System in Canada

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Date

2012

Advisor

Citation

Canadian Institute for Health Information (2012) Developing a Model for Measuring the Efficiency of the Health System in Canada. Project Report. UNSPECIFIED.

Abstract

Health system policy- and decision-makers have a responsibility to ensure that scarce health system resources are used wisely to provide the best possible health services to the public while containing current and future costs. Measuring variations in health system efficiency and learning from them could be a helpful approach for policy- and decision-makers in this regard as it could inform policies and interventions maximizing health outcomes from scarce public resources. The goal of this project is to develop an approach for measuring the technical efficiency of the health system in a manner that is relevant to federal, provincial, territorial and regional policy- and decision-makers. Consultations with health system stakeholders at federal, provincial and territorial levels were the most significant contributions in defining this approach. A review of health system data available in Canada at the provincial, territorial and regional levels helped assess the feasibility of the health system efficiency measurement model proposed. The report provides an overview of the methods used to develop the approach, describes the main decision points and concludes with a presentation of an approach to health system efficiency measurement at the provincial and regional levels. The next steps in the project are as follows: test the model, using available data to produce preliminary results of the health system efficiency measure; engage with policy-makers and health system managers at the regional level to explore possible factors leading to inefficiencies; and identify successful policies that can serve as a learning opportunity for Canadian jurisdictions.

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