Promotions
How Long Are Patients Waiting For Acute Care Services?
As not all of the data used in this report are current, it is important to note that changes made by staff in recent months have already resulted in positive outcomes and reduced wait times. Those results will show in the next reporting quarter.
Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) Wait times
Wait times for surgical procedures are an indicator of the public’s access to the health care system and a reflection of our efficient use of resources. Wait times are indicated for elective procedures.
Wait times are commonly used as indicators of the efficiency of the system. A variety of factors can impact the wait times such as the demographics of the population, treatment patterns of physicians, the number of emergency surgeries, which have higher priorities in use of resources, nurse shortages, or job action (Statistics Canada).
As urgency ratings for Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) procedures are not consistently applied across the two centres included in this table (Foothills Medical Centre and University of Alberta Hospital), results should be interpreted with caution. Agreement on the category definitions is expected to be reached by the Alberta Cardiac Tertiary Committee.
Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) surgery is a surgical procedure performed to relieve angina and reduce the risk of death from coronary artery disease. Arteries or veins from elsewhere in the patient's body are grafted to the coronary arteries to bypass atherosclerotic narrowings and improve the blood supply to the coronary circulation supplying the myocardium (heart muscle). In some cases, alternative intervention to improve blood flow to the heart muscle may be used instead of bypass surgery.
AHS targets for “Urgent, Semi-Urgent and Non-Urgent” should not be considered as identical to the Provincial Territorial Benchmarks which are 2 weeks for Urgency 1, 6 weeks for Urgency 2, and 26 weeks for Urgency 3.
The following table presents wait times for Coronary Artery Bypass Graft in the following categories: percentage meeting target, median wait time, and 90th percentile wait time.
Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) Wait times
AHS CABG* Wait Time Performance (April 1 to June 30, 2009)
Urgent Target = 1 week, Semi-Urgent Target = 2 weeks, Non-Urgent Target = 6 weeks
|
Site |
Urgency Rating |
# Patients |
% that met Target |
Number of weeks by which 50% of patients had their surgery |
Number of weeks by which 90% of patients had their surgery |
|
Foothills Medical Centre |
Urgent |
50 |
100% |
0.4 |
1.0 |
|
University of Alberta Hospital |
Urgent |
74 |
39% |
1.1 |
2.0 |
|
Foothills Medical Centre |
Semi-Urgent |
27 |
100% |
1.9 |
2.0 |
|
University of Alberta Hospital |
Semi-Urgent |
4 |
0% |
3.3 |
7.0 |
|
Foothills Medical Centre |
Non-Urgent |
61 |
34% |
8.0 |
15.7 |
|
University of Alberta Hospital |
Non-Urgent |
61 |
13% |
9.0 |
20.1 |
|
Total |
|
277 |
49% |
N/A |
N/A |
* CABG only procedures
AHS Strategic Direction Targets for CABG median wait times Urgent <= 1 week, semi-urgent <=2 weeks, Non-urgent 6-10 weeks
Primary Elective Total Hip and Knee Replacement Wait Times
Wait times for surgical procedures are an indicator of the public’s access to the health care system and a reflection of our efficient use of resources. Wait times are indicated for elective procedures.
Wait times are commonly used as indicators of the efficiency of the system. A variety of factors can impact the wait times such as the demographics of the population, treatment patterns of physicians, the number of emergency surgeries, which have higher priorities in use of resources, nurse shortages, or job action (Statistics Canada).
Knee replacement surgery has the potential to result in considerable improvement in functional status, pain relief, as well as other gains in health-related quality of life (CIHI).
The following table presents the wait times for hip and knee replacements in the following categories: percentage meeting benchmark, median wait time and 90th percentile wait time.
Primary Elective Hip Replacements (April 1 to June 30, 2009)
Benchmark = 26 weeks
|
Site |
# Done |
% That Met Benchmark |
Number of weeks by which 50% of patients had their surgery |
Number of weeks by which 90% of patients had their surgery |
|
Foothills Medical Centre |
26 |
88% |
14.7 |
36.4 |
|
Health Resource Centre |
138 |
93% |
8.2 |
22.3 |
|
Misericordia Community Hospital |
59 |
68% |
19.6 |
41.6 |
|
Peter Lougheed Centre |
46 |
87% |
14.1 |
34.2 |
|
Royal Alexandra Hospital |
162 |
69% |
17.4 |
43.5 |
|
Red Deer Regional Hospital |
59 |
95% |
13.7 |
23.9 |
|
Rockyview General Hospital |
63 |
90% |
14.4 |
26.3 |
|
University of Alberta Hospital |
44 |
93% |
8.6 |
23.1 |
|
Total |
597 |
83% |
13.1 |
33.2 |
AHS Strategic Direction Target: 90% of patients within 26-30 weeks
Primary Elective Knee Replacements (April 1 to June 30, 2009)
Benchmark = 26 weeks
|
Site |
# Done |
% That Met Benchmark |
Number of weeks by which 50% of patients had their surgery |
Number of weeks by which 90% of patients had their surgery |
|
Foothills Medical Centre |
27 |
81% |
15.9 |
39.2 |
|
Health Resource Centre |
113 |
96% |
9.9 |
22.1 |
|
Misericordia Community Hospital |
114 |
41% |
30.2 |
86.7 |
|
Peter Lougheed Centre |
111 |
77% |
15.7 |
37.9 |
|
Royal Alexandra Hospital |
245 |
58% |
24.3 |
54.7 |
|
Red Deer Regional Hospital |
62 |
89% |
15.9 |
27.0 |
|
Rockyview General Hospital |
146 |
80% |
15.7 |
32.1 |
|
University of Alberta Hospital |
46 |
89% |
12.7 |
26.3 |
|
Total |
864 |
72% |
18.0 |
48.0 |
AHS Strategic Direction Target: 90% of patients within 26-45 weeks
Timeliness of Care in Tertiary Oncology Facilities
Wait times are an important measure of how quickly people are getting access to cancer care. They indicate Alberta Health Services ability to meet the needs of cancer patients.
Wait times are commonly used as indicators of the efficiency of the system. A variety of factors can impact the wait times such as the demographics of the population, treatment patterns of physicians, the number of emergency surgeries, which have higher priorities in use of resources, timing of first treatment, tumour site, and decisions to postpone treatment for medical or personal reasons.
The following table represents timeliness of care in tertiary oncology facilities. Timeliness of care to First Consult is presented in the categories: percentage meeting target, median wait time and 90th percentile wait time. (April 1 to June 30, 2009)
TIME PERIOD 1: REFERRAL TO FIRST CONSULT - The number of weeks between the date that a referral was received from a physician outside a cancer facility (eg, family physician or surgeon) to the date that the first consult with an oncologist occurred.
Target = 4 weeks
|
Facility |
Type of First Consult |
Number of patients who had their first consult |
% That Met Target |
Number of weeks by which 50% of patients had their first consult |
Number of weeks by which 90% of patients had their first consult |
|
Cross Cancer Institute |
Medical Oncologist [1] |
613 |
70% |
3.0 |
6.1 |
|
Cross Cancer Institute |
Radiation Oncologist |
614 |
70% |
2.7 |
9.9 |
|
Tom Baker Cancer Centre [2] |
Medical Oncologist |
905 |
82% |
2.0 |
6.1 |
|
Tom Baker Cancer Centre |
Radiation Oncologist |
466 |
75% |
2.9 |
6.9 |
|
Total |
Medical Oncologist |
1,518 |
77% |
2.2 |
6.1 |
|
Total |
Radiation Oncologist |
1,080 |
72% |
2.7 |
9.1 |
- Medical Oncologist – includes Medical Oncologists and Surgical/Gyne oncologists
- TBCC includes the Holy Cross Site
The Performance Report may not display correctly in all browsers. If you are having difficulty viewing the report online, it is also available in pdf format.
Performance Report
This report presents a range of indicators which have been collected to demonstrate the overall performance of the provincial health system, as managed by AHS.
How Busy Are We?
How Are We Doing?
