A policy analysis of hospital waiting lists.
The Canadian system of publicly provided health care has been praised for its cost containment attributes. Conventional cost measures do not identify costs associated with rationing access to medical facilities. This paper explores the economic relevance of hospital waiting lists and offers estimates of the economic costs of waiting for different hospital procedures in Canada. The estimated costs are relatively low as a share of overall economic activity but appear quite comparable to losses associated with labour strikes and lockouts.
Globerman
S
S
Faculty of Business Administration, Simon Fraser University, British Columbia.
D002170:Canada; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D003625:Data Collection; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D015276:Health Care Rationing; D006291:Health Policy; D006300:Health Services Misuse; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008511:Medicine; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013038:Specialization; D014850:Waiting Lists