There is a way to achieve some savings in the Canadian health care system, claims a new report.
The Conference Board of Canada says by hiring more physician assistants and integrating them into health care teams, millions could be saved in efficiency gains.
In 2015, the health care system cost Canadians $219M, with physician services, hospitals and drugs making up 60% of the spending.
The report says the PAs could step in and complete more routine tasks, to free up the physicians’ time. The Board says if PAs are able to relieve more than 30% of physicians’ time in all areas, this could represent $620M in costs savings for the health care system