Why must Canadians pay for their healthcare reports funded by tax-payer money?

BY PAUL JUNOR

There has been a lot of public outcries regarding the Ontario government’s decisions to utilize private clinics to provide much needed services to Ontarians. One of the private companies that have been in the news is Pocket Health which according to its website: www.pockethealth.com  makes it easy to access your medical images, share them with your doctor and get involved in your own care.

The website: https://www/josephbrasnthospital.ca states that Pocket Health is a better way to instantly receive and share sensitive medical imaging information – anywhere in the world. These medical records are sent digitally from the hospital to Pocket Health which ensure that they are secure for a flat fee of $5.00. It charges a nominal monthly membership fee for monthly or yearly access as is required by the patients.

These are some of the reasons listed why Pocket Health is recommended:

Active patients get better results

Research shows that patients who are more engaged in their care experience better long-term health outcomes.

Being better informed helps you be more active

Access your images and reports from any device the moment they are ready, so you can be prepared to have better conversations with your healthcare team.

Keep your records safe, secure and accessible

Be more prepared for medical appointments and have better conversations with your healthcare team when you know more about your health status.

A one-step shop

Permanently store and share all your important medical information from images to vaccine records to prescriptions. Never worry about your family losing or misplacing your imaging with permanent storage on Pocket Health.

Pocket Heath offers two services FLEX and UNLIMITED. The former offers it at $10.00/month while the latter is $49.00/year or $4.08/month (billed annually).

Some of the benefits of using Pocket Health according to the website are access to all available imaging records from any of the 600+ Pocket Health connected hospitals and:

• Add up to four additional profiles and manage all imaging records in one place.
• Unlimited access and sharing, even if you cancel
• Lifetime secure storage for all your records
• Securely store and share any health records, including links, records, prescriptions and vaccine reports
• Upload, store and share past imaging from CDs and USB

Antoinette Schokman-De Silva has expressed concerns about what she sees as the lack of transparency regarding how the free service for CD and X-rays are being phased out and replaced with paying for them from Pocket Health. In addition, this private company will be paid directly for scans and X-rays that have been funded by the tax-payer funded healthcare system. Antoinette is concerned about who could potentially be receiving kickbacks from Pocket Health as a result of this change. She has queries:

• Will all the employees of the Film Library of Humber River Hospital be absorbed; will anyone lose their job?
• Why is the Film Library not allowed to operate any longer?

The Film Library is located on the 2nd Floor of HRH, Wilson Avenue in North York.

In a letter to Honourable Ministers and the Toronto Star, Antoinette writes, “There was a colour notice at Scanning and X-Ray at HRH Emergency, that it is only $5 for permanent access to X-rays and scans for a patient. However, your website is asking for annual fees which are quite expensive and unnecessary. So, I am not about to complete the access! $5 per month, annually billed, plus some $50 for another service, is quite unnecessary for Canadians, who should be covered by healthcare systems!

After all those scans and X-rays plus other services were paid for by the tax-payer/government-funded?