_News Talk 770
6/20/2012
A leading Canadian think-tank says health care wait times costs Canadian patients over a billion dollars a year in lost time and productivity last year.
The Fraser Institute says considering time outside the work week, the cost of waiting for treatment balloons to almost $3.3 billion. That doesn't include the cost of time put in by family and friends providing care for people awaiting surgery.
Study author Nadeem Esmail says "Patients waiting for surgery suffer both physically and emotionally, which diminishes their ability to participate fully in their lives both at work and at home."
The Fraser Institute report calculates wait times increased to 9.5 weeks last year from 9.3 weeks in 2010. The report goes on to say Canadian patients spent a combined 11.8 million weeks waiting for treatment last year.
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