Having spent some time in the United States for my education and having worked in a few different settings there I can tell you that there are some rather apparent differences in the way health care is delivered. If you have ever driven through the states you will have seen billboards advertising a variety of health care including emergency rooms. I remember seeing a sign that had a digital readout advertising the wait time at an emergency room. My Mother-in-law was a nurse and at one point my wife and I visited her in Texas where she was working. When I walked into the hospital lobby I felt like I was in a high end hotel like the Ritz Carlton. The décor and amenities were mind-boggling. I wanted a place to get a work out in while I was there and was able to use the Hospital gym that rivaled any health club I had been to. While this is obviously not the case in every hospital it does point out a stark difference in how health care is delivered. Health care in the U.S. is a business and the services of that business are marketed to increase the revenues of that business. These businesses strive to set themselves apart from each other in hopes of having potential patients utilize their services.
Canadian health care is a very different scenario. In Ontario we don’t really make choices in health care. We find a Doctor if we can and all referrals to specialists and hospitals are made by that Doctor and we comply. Now that’s not to say we don’t have great health care because the reality is that we have some amazing health care and hospitals, it is simply to say that we don’t shop for our health care. We rightfully understand that if we don’t like our current physician for any reason well that’s likely not going to be something we can change given the process involved. In the U.S. if you don’t like your Doctor or want another opinion you simply make that change.
The practice of audiology and hearing care that is non physician based is very different than health care covered through our universal healthcare system, however we are so conditioned by Universal health care that we often conflate the two and really think of one as having the same limitations as the other. The reality is that because you have started with or been going to a particular clinic or dispensary for hearing assessment or for the provision and care of hearing aids there is nothing that binds you to that clinic or dispensary.
I often seen people that come to me with pre-existing WSIB (workers comp) cases thinking that they can't change the clinic they have been going to even if they are dissatisfied or unhappy with the care they have been receiving. The reality is that everyone has the ability to use that coverage as they choose. I often hear my patients tell me of family members or friends that have hearing aids they struggle with but don’t think or know that they have the option of going somewhere else for their care.
A common practice in audiology and hearing aid dispensing clinics is to sell the practice when moving to retirement or on to something else. Much of the clinic value is really the patients, so it is really the patients that come with the clinic that are being sold. This always makes me cringe as I look at this from the perspective of the patient. No one owns the patient. The patient chooses where they want to go and have the free will and ability do so. This is not the same thing as the medical system that we are used to.
The point becomes that as a consumer of health care in this context even here in Canada you have choices that you can and should exercise in getting the best care that you can relative to your hearing. You deserve to be confident and satisfied with the care you are receiving. You should feel like your expectations are exceeded rather than simply met or perhaps not even that. No one owns you or your file or your care.
