Medicine in the Canadian Health System
Module Overview
Having learned in the first three modules about the value we get from medicines, the lifecycle of medicines and how the Canadian medicines marketplace works, this module examines the role of medicines in the Canadian healthcare system.
This module looks at the true cost they pose to the public health system, compared to general public perception. It also examines how perceptions about the cost of medicines are influenced by the manner in which drug spending data are presented, the lack of public awareness, knowledge and publicity about the costs of other elements of the health system as well as how the nature of and stories from the US pharmaceuticals marketplace influence opinions in Canada.
Overall, this module will demonstrate how medicines are treated, examined and written about in a different way than all other aspects of healthcare and how that lens over-emphasizes their cost and burden on the health system while often minimizing the many and varied benefits. The module concludes with discussing how the disproportionate focus on the cost of medicines impacts patients – including long delays in being able to access innovative treatments via public or private insurance.
The sections in this module are:
- The role and perception of medicines in our health system
- The cost of medicines in overall healthcare
- Costs of other “treatments” in Canadian healthcare
- The US vs Canada – not to be confused
- What Canadians hear and know
- The “special” treatment of pharmaceutical innovation
Module Objectives
The objective of this module is to demonstrate the reality of current pharmaceutical prices and costs in the overall healthcare context, highlight the value received by patients and the health system from medications that treat and prevent illnesses while also ensuring our health system encourages valuable ongoing research and investments so that patients can benefit from future discoveries of new medications.
Following completion of this module you will be able to:
- Explain the role of drug costs in the context of overall healthcare costs in Canada
- Demonstrate the small proportion of public health budgets spent on drugs
- Put drug costs into context with costs of some other health procedures
- Explain the major and crucial differences in drug prices in the United States and Canada
- Discuss the impact of the Canadian system on delays in patients having access to innovative medicines