Are Canadians Taking Unnecessary Risks with Their Health?
By Rahim Shah, SVP Client Services
February 13, 2019
Over a 3-day period, MD Analytics surveyed 1,000 Canadians that are responsible for making health-related decisions. It was found that respondents are often choosing not to see a physician when health-related scenarios arise, citing self-diagnosis or lack of convenience as their key reasons. Respondents are also likely to visit a walk-in clinic instead of their family physician, with convenience again mentioned as the key reason. Findings also suggest that 1 in 8 Canadians do not have a family physician.
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Canadians don’t visit a physician for 40% of their health concerns. Two key reasons for this are: they self-diagnose their condition as not serious enough and they lack of access to a physician. Reasons given for ‘lack of access’ are: no time to go, physician had no availability and too far away. When they do visit a physician, 63% of the time it’s their family physician and 19% of the time, it’s a walk-in clinic.
13% of respondents don’t have a family physician; 36% have tried, but no physician is accepting new patients; in 26% of cases the previous family physician retired or passed away. Patients are open to technological advancements to make their physician experience more positive.
Past Survey Data
