Doctors from Quebec, like their counterparts elsewhere in Canada, complain that the paperwork and unnecessary administrative tasks are too numerous and prevent them from taking care of the patients. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) agrees. He estimates that doctors in Canada spend 18.5 million hours a year on these activities, which equates to 55.6 million visits a year.

In a report released Monday, CFIB is calling on provincial and territorial governments to eliminate “unnecessary” paperwork and administrative tasks for doctors. According to the CFIB, if the latter were abolished or entrusted to other professionals, about 13.2 million additional medical consultations could be offered annually in Quebec.

The SME group recognizes that reducing the administrative burden on physicians is “far from a panacea” for Canada’s healthcare systems. But by reducing these redundant tasks by just 10%, “provinces and territories could reduce physician fatigue and burnout, improve the quality of care and save time, the equivalent of 5.5 million consultations a year,” he calculates.

The report’s authors base their estimates on a 2020 study conducted in Nova Scotia. From Nova Scotia data, they extrapolate figures for other provinces – assuming “relatively comparable working conditions and administrative tasks”.

In Nova Scotia, physicians spend more than one day a week (10.6 hours) on administrative work, the 2020 study found. 62 percent of those tasks are necessary, according to survey respondents, but 38 percent are redundant, meaning they could be done by others People (24%) or eliminated (14%).

Faced with those numbers, the Nova Scotia government has pledged to clean up doctors’ paperwork. By the end of 2023, she promised to save 50,000 hours of time doctors spend on unnecessary administrative tasks. More than a dozen measures have been taken, such as simplifying forms such as B. Applications for exceptional medicinal products.

In Quebec, the Quebec General Practitioners Association (FMOQ) wishes to see a paperwork working committee formed very soon. “Today or tomorrow we will make an official request to Minister Christian Dubé to sit down and try to find solutions,” said Public Affairs Director Jean-Pierre Dion.

The FMOQ will testify Tuesday in a parliamentary committee during consultations on Bill 3 on health and social services information. In the memoir she will file, she mentions a survey conducted a year ago among 2,248 general practitioners. “The results show that 24.25% of the workload of GPs would be administrative work, it says. For example, we are talking about 9.7 hours per 40 hours worked […] These activities are far too time-consuming and detrimental to clinical work. »

The FMOQ in its letter lists the many forms doctors must fill out: disability insurance for salary, mortgage insurance, personal loan insurance, travel insurance, life insurance, driver’s license, etc.

The doctors’ union says it wants to work with Quebec to revise public body forms and take steps with insurers.

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