Steinbach MLA and Health, Seniors and Active Living Minister Kelvin Goertzen, announced that the Manitoba government is releasing significant portions of the KPMG Health System Sustainability and Innovation Review (HSIR) including sections containing recommendations implemented and underway as part of the initial stages of the province’s health system transformation.

“The HSIR made a number of recommendations on ways to make the structure of the health system and the delivery of health-care services more efficient, effective and sustainable over the long term,” said Goertzen. “While our government is taking the time to consider all of the recommendations, some early decisions have been made around the acceptance and implementation of several key initiatives. Today’s document release is in line with our previous commitment to releasing relevant portions as those decisions are made.”

The Manitoba government hired KPMG to conduct a Health System Sustainability and Innovation Review in 2016. The report was completed in two phases. Phase One provided high-level recommendations for consideration, while Phase Two contained more detailed work plans for the implementation of specific recommendations.

Recommendations accepted and in various stages of implementation include:

  • strategic system realignment and the creation of a shared service organization;
  • shifting from traditional block funding to a model that incorporates population- and quality-based service delivery, which is increasingly measured for performance over time;
  • integrating supply-chain management across the province;
  • reconfiguring health-care delivery models to improve effectiveness of core service delivery;
  • standardizing and improving co-ordination of organizational design and structure of the province’s health sector workforce;
  • implementing evidence-based protocols for diabetic test strips;
  • increasing integration of health-care services across primary, community and sub-acute care to reduce acute, inpatient lengths-of-stay in hospitals;
  • standardizing and reducing variation in staffing models to optimize staffing mixes;
  • changing Manitoba Pharmacare dispensing fee structures;
  • reducing insured chiropractic coverage to better align with other Canadian jurisdictions; and
  • making strategic investments in ICT solutions for health care.

“We are taking the time to review the large body of reports, including the 2013 EMS System Review, the Peachey report and the soon-to-be-released Wait Times Task Force Report, that have been completed in recent years,” said Goertzen. “These combined recommendations, and the work of clinical experts engaged in the development of a clinical and preventive services plan through Shared Health, will inform our decisions as we work to improve Manitoba’s health system.”

The minister noted the Health System Sustainability and Innovation Review will be released in May 2018.

“It is important to acknowledge the KPMG HSIR reports for both phases include recommendations that will not be accepted or implemented by our government,” said Goertzen. “Releasing the full reports at this time could cause uncertainty about which proposals will or will not be implemented, making the work underway more difficult.”