Canadian doctors spend millions of hours on unnecessary paperwork: CFIB

Jurisdictions across Canada are starting to make progress in reducing physician red tape, revealed a new report by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) released Thursday as part of the 15th annual Red Tape Awareness WeekTM.

In last year's Patients before Paperwork report, the CFIB estimated that Canadian doctors are spending 18.5 million hours on unnecessary administrative work and challenged all governments to help physicians better manage patient backlog. A year later, a new snapshot spotlights governments that accepted CFIB’s challenge and reiterates the need to make red tape reduction in health care a priority.

“We’re glad to see provincial governments start to tackle unnecessary administrative tasks for doctors. Too much paperwork causes physician burnout and prevents them from seeing their existing patients and taking on new ones,” said Seo Rhin Yoo, CFIB policy analyst and co-author of the report. “While the first year has been encouraging, there is still a lot of work to do to hit CFIB’s recommended 10% reduction target to free up 1.85 million hours or the equivalent of 5.6 million patient visits across the country.

“Health care challenges are affecting not only citizens, but small business owners as well, including family doctors that own practices. In fact, a strong majority of small businesses we surveyed want governments to reduce unnecessary paperwork for physicians so the latter can focus on patient visits. Governments at all levels need to move quickly to prevent further burnout and shortage of healthcare professionals.”

The CFIB said Nova Scotia and Manitoba are leading the way by measuring the administrative burden on physicians and setting a reduction target.

"The two provinces have achieved significantly more progress than the rest of the country, with Nova Scotia having eliminated an estimated 250,000 hours of unnecessary physician paper burden and Manitoba creating a joint task force with CFIB and Doctors Manitoba to take an inventory of the time physicians spend on paperwork and setting a reduction target," said the report.

Some provinces like Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador have implemented positive initiatives — labour mobility rules, dedicated working groups, and electronic medical records — to reduce red tape in health care. However, these initiatives fall short of the necessary efforts required to broadly alleviate the physician administrative burden and improve access for citizens seeking medical care, added the CFIB.

“Better access to care requires a healthy physician workforce,” said Dr. Kathleen Ross, Canadian Medical Association President. “Nearly 60% of Canadian doctors say that administrative burden directly contributes to worsening mental health, according to our National Physician Health Survey, and 75% say it gets in the way of caring for their patients. Reducing unnecessary paperwork improves physician wellness and retention and improves access.”

CFIB is urging all governments to:

1. Measure the total physician administrative burden;
2. Identify the impact of the physician administrative burden;
3. Identify the sources of physician administrative burden and top irritants to resolve;
4. Set a reduction target (such as 10%) and identify short, medium, and long-term actions to achieve the target. Publicly report on progress annually; and
5. Assign responsibility for physician red tape reduction to a specific entity with dedicated resources to begin the work.

• “Reducing the physician administrative burden is a concrete way government can, and should, use to help address issues facing Canada’s health care systems,” said Keyli Loeppky, CFIB director of interprovincial affairs. “The progress we’re seeing so far is promising, but there’s still a long way to go. We continue to call on all governments to make reducing physician red tape a priority to help address overarching health care challenges.”

Mario Toneguzzi is Managing Editor of Canada’s Podcast. He has more than 40 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist, and editor. He was named in 2021 as one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the World by PR News – the only Canadian to make the list

About Us

Canada’s Podcast is the number one podcast in Canada for entrepreneurs and business owners. Established in 2016, the podcast network has interviewed over 600 Canadian entrepreneurs from coast-to-coast.

With hosts in each province, entrepreneurs have a local and national format to tell their stories, talk about their journey and provide inspiration for anyone starting their entrepreneurial journey and well- established founders.

The commitment to a grass roots approach has built a loyal audience on all our social channels and YouTube - 500,000+ lifetime YouTube views, 200,000 + audio downloads, 35,000 + average monthly social impressions, 10,000 + engaged social followers and 35,000 newsletter subscribers. Canada’s Podcast is proud to provide a local, national and international presence for Canadian entrepreneurs to build their brand and tell their story.