Canada’s lagging healthcare productivity: Lost efficiencies and missed economic opportunities.

Summary

Author: Shahzia Teja, M.A., B. Comm.

This paper discusses the lost efficiencies and missed economic opportunities that are implied by lagging productivity in health care in Canada and draws conclusions about the lessons for achieving sustainable rates of growth in health spending and capturing societal economic gains. It presents available data on productivity growth in the health care sector versus total industry in Canada, and discusses factors affecting productivity growth in health care, including the divergent impact of technology on health outcomes, as well as the particular effect of incentives and organization of health care in Canada; and explores implications for the sustainability of total health costs, and unrealized economic potential in the health care sector.