CAR members know too well that when patients wait for diagnostic imaging it is emotionally draining for them as well as their families. Everyone knows someone that is waiting for care and may miss work but how much does it cost?
According to the Conference Board of Canada, excessive waiting for MRIs alone cost the economy $3.54 billion in 2018. In addition, these excessive wait times keep over 380,000 Canadians from work resulting in a loss of $430 million in tax revenue.
The second in a series of the Value of Radiology reports, the study also estimates the amount of investment needed to close the gap in wait times for MRIs and CTs by investing in new equipment. Using the best publicly available data on [provincial] wait times and combining it with the Conference Board’s econometric models.
How to close the gap?
According to the Conference Board an investment of $1.1 billion in medical imaging equipment over five years we bring wait times down to the acceptable 30-day average, the Wait Times Alliance standard
The report has been widely distributed on Twitter and Facebook and received significant media coverage in various newspapers and websites across the country. Dr. Michael Barry, CAR President, published an editorial which was featured in 13 different newspapers across the country.
The Conference Board news release was picked up by 87 different news sources and yielded over 2 million impressions.
We encourage our members to share this report widely within their networks. We have also produced an advocacy toolkit to help radiologists in meeting with their local MPs.