ETH-1

Audience Comment / Edmonton Town Hall

Well good evening. My name is Dianne Dyer. I'm the President Elect for the College and Association for Registered Nurses here in Alberta. I first of all want to thank CMA and I certainly want to thank Maclean's for hosting this tonight. It's just a wonderful event.

When we talk about good value in healthcare this I think means that people receive the care they need when they need it from the right provider.

Our population is aging rapidly and there is a growing burden of chronic illness which is really taxing our healthcare system. There are new drug therapies, new technologies and shorter hospital stays meaning that people are receiving more care in community settings. "Do they receive the care they need when they need it?" is really the question. When we need a healthcare system we ask ourselves: "Are we getting equal value on the areas of health promotion and treatment of chronic illness?" Effective treatment by interdisciplinary primary care and primary healthcare teams in the community can help people avoid expensive care in hospitals.

In order for a team-based care model to be effective however, in terms of service delivery and cost, we need to remove the barriers and the unnecessary steps to seeing the right provider. Patients (or clients) must have access to services when they need them and access to all members of the interdisciplinary team in order to make decisions about their care and their treatment. We cannot expect the patients, the clients, to make decisions, be responsible for their health, if we don't provide them the education and the supports that they need.

Now a national pharmcare program would also contribute to chronic disease management in communities. Since medicare began it's costs have remained stable while the costs of prescription drugs have soared. Prescription drugs are a major driver of healthcare costs. Canada's per captita drug costs are higher...

Ken McQueen: Stops Dianne Dyer from continuuing: "Can we keep this short please because we've got alot of people to get through." [Editor's note: Please see Michael McBain's comment from the Toronto Panel which completes thought and also read this media release from the College & Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta]

Dianne Dyer: Sure. Ok. And then from a long-term point of view we need to remember that we promote health, injury prevention, illness prevention in the community to minimize the severity of the chronic illness and disabilities in later life. Stops the audience member from continuuing: "Can we keep this short please because we've got alot of people to get through." [Editor's note: Please see this audience member's comment from the Toronto Panel which completes thought].