TORONTO – How much does your doctor claim to the province after you visit his office for a checkup?
A new report shows that doctors billed provincial governments more than $20 billion in medical services for their patients in the 2010-2011 year.
That $20 billion bought us 245.3 million medical services from coast to coast, according to a new Canadian Institute for Health Information report released Tuesday.
Spending on physicians is the third-largest source of health care spending, behind hospitals and drugs, the report notes.
Read more about the report here.
The average bill for a visit to the doctor had a $54 price tag, while specialists’ charged $74.
Read more: By the numbers: Hospital wait times
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Take a look at the breakdown, by the numbers:
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$54 – the average bill for a visit to the doctor for a variety of services, from checkups to surgical procedures. It’s 5.3 per cent more expensive than the year before.
$40 – that’s the average family physician’s bill for a visit.
$74 – how much a specialist charges on average. There was a 6.8 per cent increase compared to the year before.
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$20 billion – the bill the country racked up from a year’s worth of doctors’ services.
$307,000 – how much, on average, a doctor receives in payments for his services, his salary, every day tasks and his client list. This increased by 3.1 per cent compared to last year, but it’s the smallest increase in five years. This is the average gross income and not necessarily the take-home pay.
245.3 million – that’s how many medical services we bought with the $20 billion price tag. It excludes anesthesia, x-rays and any other imaging and laboratory services.
The average bill doctors charged their provinces varies:
$236,000 – on the lower end of the scale, doctors in PEI charged this much
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$250,000 – this is how much doctors charged in Nova Scotia
$340,000 – this is how much doctors charged in Ontario
$350,000 – this is the average amount doctors in Alberta charged for their services
27.4 per cent – all income, on average across provinces, claimed towards salary, client lists, and maintaining their business
10.6 per cent – the percentage in 1999-2000, which shows that either client lists have grown due to multiplying population or business expenses and salaries have increased.
carmen.chai(at)globalnews.ca
