Canadian doctors spend 18.5 million hours on unnecessary paperwork, says new report

By Lyndsay Armstrong The Canadian Press
Canadian doctors spend 18.5 million hours per year on unnecessary administrative work — the equivalent of more than 55 million patient visits — a report published Monday by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business says. Dr. Leisha Hawker, president of Doctors Nova Scotia, which represents all licensed physicians in the province, said eliminating paperwork redundancies and shortening medical forms can improve patient care and reduce burnout experienced by doctors. “A lot of physicians are typically doing this work after hours, early in the morning before clinics open, on non-existent lunch breaks, or after the sun goes down,” Hawker said in an interview. She said administrative work typically involves “navigating clumsy electronic medical records or filling out forms.” A physician spends more than 10 hours a week on medical paperwork, she said, much of which is required by the provincial government for programs like pharmacy care or disability support.
Hawker said that some medical forms are necessary, but many are longer and more detailed than they need to be.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business report, titled “Patients before Paperwork,” recommends that provinces reduce red tape in medicine by 10 percent. The federation estimates that nationally, 10 percent less paperwork would save time equivalent to 5.5 million patient visits.
Hawker said both doctors and patients would see the benefit.
“If we improve the efficiency of the forms by 10 or 20 percent _ because of the sheer volume of time that forms take to be completed by physicians _ that would be a pretty dramatic improvement,” she said. In Nova Scotia, she said, a 10 percent reduction in time spent on paperwork would theoretically allow for about 150,000 more patient visits per year. “The things that bring physicians joy in medicine are actually talking to patients and helping improve their health and their lives. Anything that’s taking physicians away from direct patient care is contributing to burnout,” she said. Laura Jones, an executive vice-president with the business federation and co-author of the report, said in an interview Monday that Nova Scotia is leading the way in Canada in reducing red tape in medicine.
She said that as Canadians worry about strain on the health system, looking at reducing unnecessary administrative work efficiency is “too often overlooked.”…
Source:globalnews.ca