Innovation in health services
Innovation is critical to improving health delivery with funding increases that are sustainable for the long term. The new Medicare Protection Act obliges government to deliver health services in keeping with the five principles of the Canada Health Act and with the principle of sustainability. We are committed to improvements that embrace individual choice, personal responsibility, innovation, transparency and accountability.
For the first time ever, the new Patient Care Quality Review process gives patients a clear, consistent means to have their healthcare service concerns formally addressed, independently reviewed, and resolved. Other innovations include new funding mechanisms to pay health providers premiums for higher performance and to have patient funding follow patients when they get treated by health
authorities. New pilot programs have shown amazing results. A new surgical innovation program at St. Paul’s Hospital has allowed surgeons to nearly double their surgical cases for foot and ankle, and hand and wrist injuries. It has resulted in much shorter surgical wait times, thousands of more surgeries to be performed each year, and significantly faster recovery times. For more on recent innovations in healthcare, check out www.gov.bc.ca/yourbc/patients
