Healthcare Quarterly

Healthcare Quarterly 7(2) March 2004 : 19-23.doi:10.12927/hcq.2004.20465
Departments

79th Annual OHA Convention Highlights

2003 Healthcare Issues Survey Summary of Findings

On October 2, 2003 voters elected the Ontario Liberal Party to form the new provincial government. Like most Canadian election campaigns in recent years, healthcare was a key issue. The government's healthcare platform outlines a number of initiatives to be pursued during its mandate. The key initiatives articulated in its platform include:
  • Passing a "Commitment to Medicare Act" that will:
  • ensure all Ontarians have access to medically necessary public services; and
  • end the growing privatization of services
  • Establishing an independent Health Standards Council to measure and report progress on the status of Ontario's healthcare system
  • Authorizing the Provincial Auditor to audit all healthcare agencies and deliverers
  • Setting and meeting maximum needs-based waiting times for care, beginning with cardiac care, cancer care, total joint replacements and MRI/CT scans
  • Expanding MRI and CT services in the public system
  • Providing adequate multi-year funding for hospitals
  • Increasing provision of homecare services
  • Investing in community mental health agencies
  • Increasing the number of family physicians and qualified foreign-trained physicians
  • Increasing the number of nurses and improving their quality of working life
  • Focusing on health promotion and disease prevention
The new government was sworn in just days before the start of the Ontario Hospital Association's annual Convention and Exhibition.

Participants and Methodology

Delegates at the OHA's Convention and Exhibition, held November 3-5, 2003, were invited to participate in the annual Hospital Quarterly "Healthcare Issues Survey," co-sponsored by TkMC, and weigh in with their perspective on the new government's priorities for healthcare.

In total, 414 completed surveys were received. Of these, 67% of respondents identified themselves as working within the hospital sector and a further 55% of the hospital sector respondents were identified as "management." Survey participants were asked to review the 12 key commitments for healthcare contained in the Ontario Liberal Plan document (described above) and:

  • rate their support for each commitment to the health system on a scale from 1 (not supportive) to 5 (very supportive)
  • rank the priority that should be placed on implementing each of the 12 commitments from 1 (most important) to 100 (least important)

Findings

Level of Support

Survey participants indicated a high level of support for all of the initiatives outlined above. Table 1 provides a summary of respondents' support for each. All 12 commitments had greater than 60% support (rating of important or very important). The initiatives with the greatest level of support include:
  • Providing adequate multi-year funding for hospitals
  • Focusing on health promotion and disease prevention
  • Increasing the number of nurses and improving their quality of working life
Three initiatives received somewhat lower support, in which more than 10% of respondents indicated a support level of 1 or 2. The initiative with the least amount of support among respondents is "Increase number of qualified foreigntrained physicians."


Table 1. Level of support for initiatives of new ontario government
Government proposed Initiative Average Support Percent Favourable*
Pass a "Commitment to Medicare Act" 4.0 71.9%
Establish independent Health Standards Council 3.9 68.0%
Allow Provincial Auditor to audit all health care agencies 3.8 63.6%
Set and meet standard waiting time limits 4.2 83.3%
Expand MRI and CT services in the public system 4.1 75.0%
Provide adequate multi-year funding for hospitals 4.6 92.7%
Increase provision of homecare services 4.4 86.9%
Invest in community mental health agencies 4.1 77.8%
Increase number of family physicians 4.3 86.7%
Increase number of qualified foreign-trained physicians 3.7 62.3%
Increase the number of nurses 4.4 89.1%
Increase focus on health promotion and disease prevention 4.5 89.6%
n=391
*Percent favourable refers to those responding with either 4 or 5.

Implementation Priority

Survey respondents were also asked to review the 12 healthcare initiatives and rank the priority in which each should be implemented, from 1 (lowest priority) to 100 (highest priority). The Table 2 provides a summary of the rankings, showing the proportion of respondents who ranked each initiative as either a top priority (ranked 100), a high priority (ranked higher than 90 out of 100) or low priority (ranked less than 20 out of 100).

All respondents put a high priority on nearly all of the proposed initiatives. "Increase focus on health promotion and disease prevention" was ranked by 28.2% of respondents as the number one priority for implementation by the new government. Conversely, only 5.3% of respondents believe that "Increase number of family physicians" and "Increase number of qualified foreign-trained physicians" should be the first priority of the new government.


Table 2. Priority rankings for initiatives of new Ontario Government
Government Proposed Initiative Priority Rank to Implement on a Scale from 1 (least important) to 100 (most important)
% Priority = 100 % Priority >90 % Priority <20
Pass a "Commitment to Medicare Act" 20.1% 31.9% 15.7%
Establish independent Health Standards Council 8.2% 20.8% 10.0%
Allow Provincial Auditor to audit all health care agencies 8.9% 20.9% 14.7%
Set and meet standard waiting time limits 11.1% 30.8% 9.8%
Expand MRI and CT services in the public system 8.7% 26.6% 8.7%
Provide adequate multi-year funding for hospitals 26.8% 49.0% 9.6%
Increase provision of homecare services 14.5% 38.0% 7.7%
Invest in community mental health agencies 11.8% 28.9% 6.1%
Increase number of family physicians 15.7% 34.5% 10.6%
Increase number of qualified foreign-trained physicians 5.3% 15.4% 10.1%
Increase the number of nurses 20.4% 36.6% 7.7%
Increase focus on health promotion and disease prevention 28.2% 47.1% 7.1%
n=391

Nearly half of respondents ranked "Provide adequate multi-year funding for hospitals" as a high priority, while "Pass a 'Commitment to Medicare Act'" ranked at the bottom of the priority list for many respondents.

Conclusion

In general, respondents' support for each initiative aligned closely with the priority for implementation rankings. When combining the results for level of support and priority for implementation, the highest support can be found for:
  • Provision of adequate multi-year funding for hospitals
  • Increasing focus on health promotion and disease prevention
When combining the results for level of support and priority for implementation, the least support can be found for:
  • Increasing the number of qualified foreign-trained physicians
  • Allowing a Provincial Auditor to audit all healthcare agencies
  • Passing a "Commitment to Medicare Act"
Significantly, the survey results did not vary between participant groups and there is a high level of agreement between hospital trustee and manager responses. There is no significant difference between hospital and non-hospital participants.

Based on the findings of the 2003 Healthcare Issues Survey, Ontario healthcare leaders show a keen interest in the stated policy positions of the new government. The results illustrate that this group is largely supportive of the new government's platform. It is noteworthy that the government's first piece of healthcare legislation is the Commitment to the Future of Medicare Act, despite that initiative's position as the lowest-ranked item for implementation among survey respondents. Healthcare Quarterly will continue to follow the progress of health system change and will revisit these questions as part of the 2004 Healthcare Issues Survey.

79th Annual Ontario Hospital Association Conference & Exhibition

November 3,4 & 5, 2003 Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The annual OHA Convention is a must-attend for anyone involved in the field of healthcare. Here are 18 reasons why:
  1. Number of hospitals represented by OHA 159
  2. Number of days OHA convention lasts 3
  3. Number of members on the 2003 OHA Planning Committee 15
  4. Number of sessions 70
  5. Number of sessions on SARS 15
  6. Number of delegates / attendees 7,312
  7. Number of exhibitors 296
  8. Number of aisles for exhibition 17
  9. Number of booths 379
  10. Number of advertisers 19
  11. Number of sponsors 28
  12. Number of speakers 350
  13. Number of companies who participated in the exhibition 300
  14. Number of companies who participated from USA 30
  15. Maximum number of audience members in Constitution Hall 1,500
  16. Number of full-time staff planning Convention & Exhibition 2
  17. Total number of awards presented 115
  18. Number of awards given to exhibitors 6
A Successful Convention & Exhibition - Priceless!

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