Main description:

Despite notable variation in health care policy from province to province, most scholarship published on the health care system in Canada uses a broad national perspective. Focusing on the health care systems of individual Canadian provinces and territories, our new series, Health System Profiles, examines the social, political, economic, and epidemiological context of health care policy in each Canadian province.

Turning a critical eye to the health care system in Nova Scotia, author Katherine Fierlbeck outlines the organizational and regulatory frameworks structuring provincial health care, while providing a detailed assessment of Nova Scotia's health financing, physical infrastructure, service provision, and the efficacy of technological resources used in data tracking and health quality assessments. Structured for ease of comparison, Nova Scotia: A Health System Profile will, along with other volumes in the series, help scholars draw analytic evidence-based policy conclusions about the health system of Nova Scotia and other Canadian provinces and territories.

Contents:

List of Figures, Tables, and Boxes

Series Editor's Foreword

Preface and Acknowledgments

List of Acronym

1 Introduction and Overview

1.1 Geography and sociodemography
1.2 Political context
1.3 Economic context
1.4 Health status of the population
1.5 Summary

2 Organization and Regulation

2.1 Overview and history
2.2 Organization of the provincial health system

2.2.1 The Nova Scotia Health Authority
2.2.2 Contractors (private not-for-profit)
2.2.3 Contractors (private for-profit)

2.3 Health system planning
2.4 Coverage and benefits

2.4.1 Eligibility for publicly insured benefits
2.4.2 Benefits (universal)
2.4.3 Targeted benefits for nonmedical services
2.5 Regulation
2.5.1 Providers
2.5.2 Facilities
2.5.3 Prescription drugs
2.5.4 Patient health information

2.6 Patients
2.7 Summary

3 Health Spending and Financing

3.1 Health expenditure and trends
3.2 Public revenue
3.3 Public financing flows
3.4 Summary

4 Physical Infrastructure

4.1 Hospitals and other treatment facilities
4.2 Long-term care facilities
4.3 Diagnostic facilities

4.3.1 Laboratory services
4.3.2 Diagnostic imaging

4.4 Public health facilities
4.5 Information and communications technology infrastructure

4.5.1 Core electronic information systems
4.5.2 Specialized electronic information systems

4.6 Research and evaluation infrastructure
4.7 Summary

5 Health Human Resources

5.1 Main workforce challenges
5.2 Physicians
5.3 Nurses
5.4 Other health care professionals

5.4.1 Paramedics
5.4.2 Pharmacists
5.4.3 Midwives
5.4.4 Medical laboratory technologists
5.4.5 Clinical assistants
5.4.6 Home care workers

5.5 HHR planning in Nova Scotia
5.6 Summary

6 Service and Program Provision

6.1 Public health
6.2 Primary care
6.3 Acute care
6.4 Long-term care
6.5 Prescription drugs
6.6 Workers' Compensation Board programs
6.7 Mental health care
6.8 Dental health care
6.9 Targeted services

6.9.1 First Nations
6.9.2 African Nova Scotians
6.9.3 Acadian Nova Scotians

6.10 Palliative care
6.11 Assisted reproduction
6.12 Summary

7 Recent Health Reforms

7.1 The consolidation of district health authorities and the creation of the Nova Scotia Health Authority
7.2 The reorganization of the Department of Health and Wellness
7.3 Summary

8 Assessment of the Health System

8.1 The province's strategic goals

8.1.1 Resource stewardship
8.1.2 Health of the population
8.1.3 Appropriate, good-quality care
8.1.4 Health system workforce

8.2 Equity in financing the health care system
8.3 Equity of access
8.4 Outcomes

8.4.1 Comparative outcomes
8.4.2 Chronological outcomes
8.4.3 Measuring and evaluating outcomes
8.4.4 User experience and satisfaction

8.5 Efficiency
8.6 Transparency and accountability
8.7 Summary

9 Conclusion

Appendix: Laws on Health and Health Care in Nova Scotia

References

Index