Author(s)
Canadian Health Policy Institute (CHPI)
Objective
The objective of this annual report is to examine the availability of medical resources in the Canadian health system compared to a group of economic peer countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Data and methods
We collected information on a set of indicators pertaining to the availability of the most important medical resources (human, physical and technological). Data were obtained from the OECD Health Statistics database, QuintilesIMS, and from World Medical Market Fact Book 2014 published by Espicom Business Intelligence.
Results
Canada ranks 29th among the 35 OECD countries in terms of physician-to-population ratio, and ranks 16th out of 35 for the number of nurses as a proportion of the population. In terms of the number of curative (acute) care beds available to the population, Canada stands very near the bottom of the list of the 35 OECD countries, earning the 33rd spot. On a per capita basis, Canada has less CT scanners, PET scanners, MRI units and mammographs than most other OECD countries. Moreover, coverage of new medicines under Canada’s public drug plans is less generous than most countries considered in this analysis. As for medical device spending, it accounted for only 0.39% of GDP per capita in Canada in 2014, which places the country at rank 23rd out of the 25 richest OECD countries.
Conclusion
Canada’s health system supplies patients with fewer medical resources as a share of the population than the health systems of most OECD countries.
