(Halifax) A new report released Monday by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business reveals that Canadian physicians spend 18.5 million hours a year on unnecessary paperwork.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) report, “Patients Before Paperwork,” recommends that provinces cut medical red tape by 10%. The federation estimates that nationally, 10% less paperwork would save time, which equates to 5.5 million patient visits.
The DD Leisha Hawker, president of Doctors Nova Scotia, which represents all licensed physicians in the province, says eliminating redundant paperwork and reducing medical forms can improve patient care and reduce physician burnout.
“A lot of doctors typically do this work after hours, early in the morning before clinics open, during non-existent lunch breaks, or after the sun goes down,” says Dr.D Hawker in interview. She adds that paperwork typically involves “navigating through poorly designed electronic medical records or filling out forms.”
A doctor spends more than 10 hours a week on medical paperwork, she says, much of which is required by the provincial government for programs like pharmaceutical care or disability support. Some medical forms are necessary, but many are longer and more detailed than they should be, according to Ms.me Hawker.
“If we improve the efficiency of the forms by 10 or 20% – because of the huge amount of time doctors take to fill out the forms – that would be a pretty dramatic improvement,” she says. In Nova Scotia, she says, a 10% reduction in time spent on paperwork would theoretically allow about 150,000 additional patient visits per year.
“What makes doctors happy is actually talking to patients and helping to improve their health and their lives. Anything that takes physicians away from direct patient care contributes to burnout,” she recalls.
Laura Jones, CFIB executive vice-president and co-author of the report, says in an interview that Nova Scotia is leading the way in Canada when it comes to cutting red tape in medicine.
She adds that while Canadians worry about the strain on the health care system, the quest to reduce unnecessary administrative work is “too often overlooked.”
“Reducing paperwork is an incredibly powerful tool that has a lot of potential to improve lives,” says Ms.me Jones.
Doctors Nova Scotia has been working with the Department of Health and the Office of Regulatory and Service Effectiveness since 2019 to identify document redundancies. To date, three forms used by physicians in Nova Scotia have been simplified.
The professional medical association estimates that of the 1.36 million annual working hours doctors spend on administrative tasks, about 500,000 of those hours are spent on unnecessary work. Prior to the CFIB report, Doctors Nova Scotia had set a goal of reducing administrative work hours by 50,000 hours per year.
National estimates in the new study are extrapolated to data from all provinces from a 2020 study in Nova Scotia. This study, conducted by Doctors Nova Scotia and the Office of Regulatory and Service Efficiency, surveyed 500 physicians who said that on average, 38% of their administrative work is unnecessary.
CFIB spokesperson Dariya Baiguzhiyeva says the organization chose to study medical administrative burden because its members said health care should be a top priority for the government.
“In looking at how to navigate this area on behalf of our members, we identified paperwork issues among physicians as an area we could work in,” says Ms.me Baiguzhiyeva in an email.
This article was produced with the financial support of the Meta Fellowships and The Canadian Press for News.