Foreign medical outsourcing: possibilities, perils and parameters.
Medical outsourcing is the process in which a healthcare provider, spanning the provider continuum from individual physician to a health system, contracts with a third party located either domestically or internationally to provide medical services. The combination of ongoing radiologist shortages and technological developments has set the stage for an increasingly probable reality of foreign medical outsourcing by Canada, specifically where diagnostics is concerned. This article briefly discusses liability and quality-of-care issues that arise within the context of foreign medical outsourcing and recommends stakeholder considerations to help inform future discussion.
Bean
Sally
S
Clinical and organizational ethics, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Joint Centre for Bioethics, Toronto, Ontario. sally.bean@utoronto.ca
D002170:Canada; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D038622:Internationality / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D009313:National Health Programs; D020416:Outsourced Services / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D011787:Quality of Health Care