The United States spends more on technology than Canada. In a 2004 study of medical imaging in Canada, it appeared that Canada had 4.6 MRI scanners per million population, compared to 19.5 per million in the United States. Canada’s 10.3 CT scanners per million was also behind the U.S., which had 29.5 per million. The study did not attempt to assess whether the difference in the number of MRI and CT scanners affected medical outcomes or was the result of overcapacity, but did note that MRI scanners are used more heavily in Canada than in the United States or the United Kingdom. Some have suggested that this disparity in the availability of technology leads to longer waiting times. In 1984, waiting times of up to 22 months for MRI scans were supposedly in Saskatchewan. However, according to more recent official statistics (2007), all emergency patients receive MRIs within 24 hours, those classified as urgent receive them in under 3 weeks and the maximum elective wait time is 19 weeks in Regina and 26 weeks in Saskatoon, the province’s two largest metropolitan areas.
According to the Health Council of Canada’s 2010 report “Decisions, Decisions: Family doctors as gatekeepers to prescription drugs and diagnostic imaging in Canada”, the Canadian federal government invested $3 billion over 5 years (2000-2005) in relation to diagnostic imaging and agreed to invest a further $2 billion to reduce wait times. These investments led to an increase in the number of scanners across Canada as well as the number of exams being performed. The number of CT scanners increased from 198 to 465 and MRI scanners increased from 19 to 266 (more than tenfold) between 1990 and 2009. Similarly, the number of CT exams increased by 58% and MRI exams increased by 100% between 2003 and 2009. In comparison to other OECD countries, including the US, Canada’s rates of MRI and CT exams falls somewhere in the middle. However, the Canadian Association of Radiologists claims that as many as 30% of diagnostic imaging scans are inappropriate and contribute no useful information.
