Waiting for treatment and surgery cost Canadians nearly more than a billion CAD in 2015

Long waits for surgery and medical treatment cost Canadians about about 1.17 billion CAD (about 900 million U.S. dollars), or 1,308 dollars per patient in 2015, said a new study released on Tuesday.

The study, entitled The Private Cost of Public Queues for Medically Necessary Care, was issued by the Fraser Institute, an independent and non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.

The study calculates the average personal cost of time lost during the work week in Canada last year for each of the estimated 894,449 patients waiting for treatment, which include orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery and urology.

"In addition to the physical and psychological pain and suffering Canadians endure while waiting for medically necessary treatment, they often lose valuable time, either in lost income from not working, lower productivity, or less time with friends and family," said Bacchus Barua, study co-author and senior economist in the Fraser Institute's Center for Health Policy Studies.

When calculations are extended to include hours outside the traditional work week -- evenings and weekends -- the estimated cost of waiting jumps to 3.53 billion CAD (2.72 billion dollars).

The study draws upon data from the Fraser Institute's Waiting Your Turn study, an annual survey of Canadian physicians who reported an average median wait time from specialist appointment to treatment of 9.8 weeks in 2015 -- almost three weeks longer than what physicians consider clinically reasonable.

"Unless policymakers respond to Canada's long wait times with genuine reform, Canadian patients will continue to suffer undue loss of income and quality of life," Barua said. Endi