If you live in Alberta and in need of crucial diagnostic testing, be prepared to wait.
Diagnostic imaging technologies including MRI machines and CT scanners are critical for the efficient functioning of our healthcare system, used to diagnose illness and injury, accurately prescribe treatments, and prioritize patients according to medical necessity.
And yet, as this Fraser Institute post points out, between 2014 and 2019 in Alberta, wait times exceeded targets 25 to 70 percent of the time.
Additionally, the wait list for CT exams grew by 213 percent, and by 40 percent for MRI exams between 2015 and 2020. In March 2020, the total CT exam wait lists sat at 60,000 while the MRI waitlist sat at 66,000.
In 2020, Albertans could expect to wait 14 weeks for a CT scan and 26 for an MRI. This is significantly longer than the national averages of 5.4 weeks and 11.1 weeks, respectively.
There are consequences to such an inefficient system, including worse patient outcomes and severe economic costs for individuals and families as patients exit the workforce while waiting for care.
This is not for lack of funding, either. As the authors highlight:
“To be clear, the scarce availability and utilization of resources is not the result of inadequate funding. In 2018, after adjusting for age, Canada ranked 7th out of 28 high-income universal health-care countries for health-care spending per capita. That same year, Alberta ranked as the second-highest health spender per capita in the country. In other words, Alberta’s provincial government operates a remarkably inefficient health-care system with a world-class price tag for taxpayers.”
