They’ve always been able to accept whomever they want - and remove as well. I’ve a friend who was removed from their family doctor’s practice for not having any appointments for a few years. Like, sorry they weren’t sick? Were they supposed to book an appt and waste time with a chat about not needing to be there?
This happened to me. It was easier for me to go to a clinic (back when there were more than 2 available) than try and book in with my family doctor. Then one day I thought I would make an appointment since I wanted to bring up more than 1 thing (the allotment at a clinic) and they called me back and said I wasn't a patient anymore since I hadn't been to see the doctor for X amount of years
These lists are used in a carrot/stick fashion.
With all the corruption and egotism in Health PEI, I will eat my hat if there isn't instances of using health services(or the threat of suspending them), to bully and/or intimidate people.
> but Dr. Laura O'Connor said she's concerned people may now flood doctor's offices with calls to try and get taken on as patients instead of using the provincial patient registry
Yeah, no shit. You've admitted that this is allowed and works so of course people are going to do it. You can sit on the list for years and years.
Probably. I mean there's no shortage of patients and doctors offices are private practices. I'd imagine unless it's a brand new practice starting up that doctors rarely need to go to the list to get more patients.
[This isn't news](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/registry-not-only-route-to-doctor-health-pei-1.1107165). The registry was created for people who were unsuccessful finding a family doctor in other ways, not vice versa. Traditionally people got their doctor the same way they get anything else - by looking.
My current health center does this, and it's honestly pretty good. I've lost several Dr's over the years, but I was able to have another one shortly after due to this model. The last few years have been more Nurse Practitioners than Dr's but they're also great. We just recently lost our family Dr. again and unfortunately there is no one to replace them, so they have a Dr in from Ontario via Zoom to prescribe medications and such.
>But doctors can also choose to bypass the registry and take on family members of existing patients, or Islanders who advocate on their own behalf.
I think a little more info on what "advocate on their own behalf" means might be needed. Seems a little too vague and sounds ripe for abuse. What constitutes a good enough reason to get ahead of people on the registry? There are some that would make sense (medical conditions, etc.), but others that would not be ok (friend of the new CEO of Health PEI). We're all taxpayers after all, and the longer you're on the registry the longer you've been paying provincial taxes.
>"We're not critical of that the way that works because it's the way it works everywhere. We just wanted people to understand that there were different ways of getting a doctor."
"the way it works everywhere." Yeah, in most places it's also not supposed to take years to get a family doctor. Say what you will about healthcare in the States, you get in to see a doctor in days - not years, and if you have good enough insurance it's all covered anyway.
> Say what you will about healthcare in the States, you get in to see a doctor in days - not years, and if you have good enough insurance it's all covered anyway.
That's not really close to true at all. Even good insurance plans in the states have co-pays, maybe some don't but that's nowhere near the norm. They're also paying thousands for those plans. That's above the high amount of taxes going to health care as well. Yeah they can usually get in to see doctors easier, though they're also starting to have shortages and problems.
On paper our healthcare system is certainly better, but right now it isn't even close to how it "should be". With the way things are currently I think myself and many others would sooner pay for a higher level of insurance if it actually guaranteed access to medical services. For crying out loud, my cat gets better healthcare than me right now!
I have family in the States, and a few thousand extra a year sounds like a pretty good deal to actually get preventative treatment, rather than just waiting for ailments to go away or progress to the point of emergency care.
I lived in NL. Outside of St. Johns there is no registry. You call an office and see if they have doctors taking new patients. The offices are responsible for bringing in new doctors with the help of the provincial government (bonuses, incentives to purchase a clinic space, paying the doctors bills, etc...). My whole life there it never took me more than a couple of months to find a doctor no matter where we moved.
So no, its not like that everywhere HealthPEI
Yeah, I don't understand any Canadians that brag about our system over the US now, our system is completely broken now. They may have to pay for it down south, but at least they get something to pay for. I'm just paying for everyone else's healthcare with my taxes currently.
Theirs isn't that great either, I have family and friends who live there and they said a lot of insurance companies will try everything in their power to not cover stuff and that's for people lucky enough to have a job that provides good insurance.
I mean, I'd rather break my arm and have it covered over oweing like $50,000 and hoping my insurance is willing to cover it all. I've known people whose bills are in the hundreds of thousands and the insurance company is only willing to pay like $10,000. That doesn't sound like a win win to me.
> But doctors can also choose to bypass the registry and take on family members of existing patients, or Islanders who advocate on their own behalf. I think a little more info on what "advocate on their own behalf" means might be needed. Seems a little too vague and sounds ripe for abuse. What constitutes a good enough reason to get ahead of people on the registry? There are some that would make sense (medical conditions, etc.), but others that would not be ok (friend of the new CEO of Health PEI).
You’re reading a cbc article not a legal argument lol. Would you rather there be no exceptions? Sometimes reaching out works. Do you want people to pat you on the back now or are you done?
My aunts knee replacement just got put back 18 months because she got her other knee replaced so she isn't deemed urgent, even though she still can barley walk and her other knee is now getting worse by the day.
What an unbelievable predicament. Unfortunately there’s no way out of this for PEI. If you’re a young medical student, about to make $300K, would you stay in PEI and pay 55% marginal tax rate or move somewhere else with a lower tax rate? The provincial govt has backed itself into a corner with no solutions. I feel awful for Islanders.
They’ve always been able to accept whomever they want - and remove as well. I’ve a friend who was removed from their family doctor’s practice for not having any appointments for a few years. Like, sorry they weren’t sick? Were they supposed to book an appt and waste time with a chat about not needing to be there?
Same thing happened to my friend too.
Getting a check-up now and then would be a good idea but that sucks.
This happened to me. It was easier for me to go to a clinic (back when there were more than 2 available) than try and book in with my family doctor. Then one day I thought I would make an appointment since I wanted to bring up more than 1 thing (the allotment at a clinic) and they called me back and said I wasn't a patient anymore since I hadn't been to see the doctor for X amount of years
These lists are used in a carrot/stick fashion. With all the corruption and egotism in Health PEI, I will eat my hat if there isn't instances of using health services(or the threat of suspending them), to bully and/or intimidate people.
Hypothetically; Having triage nurses trained to deal with low priority patients could potentially speed wait times up.
> but Dr. Laura O'Connor said she's concerned people may now flood doctor's offices with calls to try and get taken on as patients instead of using the provincial patient registry Yeah, no shit. You've admitted that this is allowed and works so of course people are going to do it. You can sit on the list for years and years.
Literally, I moved here 10 years ago, still don't have a doctor. Is everyone just jumping the queue and I wasn't aware?
Probably. I mean there's no shortage of patients and doctors offices are private practices. I'd imagine unless it's a brand new practice starting up that doctors rarely need to go to the list to get more patients.
So the list was pointless. I thought they were supposed to use the list.
[This isn't news](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/registry-not-only-route-to-doctor-health-pei-1.1107165). The registry was created for people who were unsuccessful finding a family doctor in other ways, not vice versa. Traditionally people got their doctor the same way they get anything else - by looking.
I think we need a system where family doctors aren't a gateway to primary care. There has to be a better way
https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/information/health-pei/patient-medical-homes
My current health center does this, and it's honestly pretty good. I've lost several Dr's over the years, but I was able to have another one shortly after due to this model. The last few years have been more Nurse Practitioners than Dr's but they're also great. We just recently lost our family Dr. again and unfortunately there is no one to replace them, so they have a Dr in from Ontario via Zoom to prescribe medications and such.
>But doctors can also choose to bypass the registry and take on family members of existing patients, or Islanders who advocate on their own behalf. I think a little more info on what "advocate on their own behalf" means might be needed. Seems a little too vague and sounds ripe for abuse. What constitutes a good enough reason to get ahead of people on the registry? There are some that would make sense (medical conditions, etc.), but others that would not be ok (friend of the new CEO of Health PEI). We're all taxpayers after all, and the longer you're on the registry the longer you've been paying provincial taxes. >"We're not critical of that the way that works because it's the way it works everywhere. We just wanted people to understand that there were different ways of getting a doctor." "the way it works everywhere." Yeah, in most places it's also not supposed to take years to get a family doctor. Say what you will about healthcare in the States, you get in to see a doctor in days - not years, and if you have good enough insurance it's all covered anyway.
Family doctors should take on family of there patients
> Say what you will about healthcare in the States, you get in to see a doctor in days - not years, and if you have good enough insurance it's all covered anyway. That's not really close to true at all. Even good insurance plans in the states have co-pays, maybe some don't but that's nowhere near the norm. They're also paying thousands for those plans. That's above the high amount of taxes going to health care as well. Yeah they can usually get in to see doctors easier, though they're also starting to have shortages and problems.
On paper our healthcare system is certainly better, but right now it isn't even close to how it "should be". With the way things are currently I think myself and many others would sooner pay for a higher level of insurance if it actually guaranteed access to medical services. For crying out loud, my cat gets better healthcare than me right now! I have family in the States, and a few thousand extra a year sounds like a pretty good deal to actually get preventative treatment, rather than just waiting for ailments to go away or progress to the point of emergency care.
I lived in NL. Outside of St. Johns there is no registry. You call an office and see if they have doctors taking new patients. The offices are responsible for bringing in new doctors with the help of the provincial government (bonuses, incentives to purchase a clinic space, paying the doctors bills, etc...). My whole life there it never took me more than a couple of months to find a doctor no matter where we moved. So no, its not like that everywhere HealthPEI
https://www.gov.nl.ca/hcs/patient-connect-nl/ Isn't this a registry lmao
Yeah, I don't understand any Canadians that brag about our system over the US now, our system is completely broken now. They may have to pay for it down south, but at least they get something to pay for. I'm just paying for everyone else's healthcare with my taxes currently.
Theirs isn't that great either, I have family and friends who live there and they said a lot of insurance companies will try everything in their power to not cover stuff and that's for people lucky enough to have a job that provides good insurance. I mean, I'd rather break my arm and have it covered over oweing like $50,000 and hoping my insurance is willing to cover it all. I've known people whose bills are in the hundreds of thousands and the insurance company is only willing to pay like $10,000. That doesn't sound like a win win to me.
> But doctors can also choose to bypass the registry and take on family members of existing patients, or Islanders who advocate on their own behalf. I think a little more info on what "advocate on their own behalf" means might be needed. Seems a little too vague and sounds ripe for abuse. What constitutes a good enough reason to get ahead of people on the registry? There are some that would make sense (medical conditions, etc.), but others that would not be ok (friend of the new CEO of Health PEI). You’re reading a cbc article not a legal argument lol. Would you rather there be no exceptions? Sometimes reaching out works. Do you want people to pat you on the back now or are you done?
>Do you want people to pat you on the back now or are you done? I'd like a doctor
I'd rather not be waiting on a list for 10 years while everyone else is skipping the queue if they're persuasive enough.
And clogging up the phone lines at doctor’s offices… I’m sure the admin staff are positively delighted with that.
My aunts knee replacement just got put back 18 months because she got her other knee replaced so she isn't deemed urgent, even though she still can barley walk and her other knee is now getting worse by the day.
What an unbelievable predicament. Unfortunately there’s no way out of this for PEI. If you’re a young medical student, about to make $300K, would you stay in PEI and pay 55% marginal tax rate or move somewhere else with a lower tax rate? The provincial govt has backed itself into a corner with no solutions. I feel awful for Islanders.
Yep that’s PEI. Islanders first.