Sutherland R. The effect of for-profit laboratories on the accountability, integration, and cost of Canadian health care services.
OPEN MEDICINE : A PEER-REVIEWED, INDEPENDENT, OPEN-ACCESS JOURNAL 2012;
6:e166-70. [PMID:
23687532 PMCID:
PMC3654513]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2012] [Revised: 06/15/2012] [Accepted: 06/15/2012] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Canadian public health care systems pay for-profit corporations to provide essential medical laboratory services. This practice is a useful window on the effects of using for-profit corporations to provide publicly funded services. Because private corporations are substantially protected by law from the public disclosure of "confidential business information," increased for-profit delivery has led to decreased transparency, thus impeding informed debate on how laboratory services are delivered. Using for-profit laboratories increases the cost of diagnostic testing and hinders the integration of health care services more generally. Two useful steps toward ending the for-profit provision of laboratory services would be to stop fee-for-service funding and to integrate all laboratory work within public administrative structures.
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