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shared by Irene Jansen on 07 Feb 12 - No Cached

B.C. health authorities were hit with nearly $7-million in penalties by the provincial government last year for failing to meet waiting-time targets for hip, knee and cataract surgery.
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The money, in the form of withheld payments, went to general revenue
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“It’s a significant amount of money, and it’s been quite successful at getting people to pay attention to wait lists,” said Les Vertesi, head of B.C.’s Health Services Purchasing Organization, the patient-focused funding arm of the government, which has taken over responsibility for meting out non-performance sanctions.
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For health authorities to avoid a financial penalty, 90 per cent of their hip patients must be treated within 26 weeks, 90 per cent of knee patients within 26 weeks, and 90 per cent of cataract patients within 16 weeks.
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there is a drawback to the way the penalties are applied, Dr. Vertesi said
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They are all or nothing, he said, meaning a health authority that falls only a few patients short of the targets is liable to be subject to the full holdback.
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“It’s not that there shouldn’t be any consequences, but they are a very blunt tool. If you’re not careful and use them in the wrong way, you may get results you don’t want.” Published on Monday, Feb. 06, 2012 10:46PM EST
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