Latest News Articles

Every day in Ontario, thousands of patients receive procedures, tests and assessments in nonhospital medical clinics. “Non-hospital medical clinics” is a broad term that captures a wide array of settings independent of hospitals, where patients undergo procedures, testing and clinical assessments. Non-hospital medical clinics encompass family physician offices, specialists’ clinics that provide specialized services, some of which may be invasive, and facilities that provide day surgery. These facilities deliver ambulatory or out-patient care, meaning that an over-night hospital stay is not required. This is one of the largest volume patient activities in Canadian health care.1 The growing volume of services delivered outside of hospitals has been driven by a number of factors, including innovations in technology and care delivery models. The movement of low risk procedures from hospital to the community was expressed as a goal in the Action Plan for Health Care, 2 and providing coordinated and integrated care in the community closer to home was emphasized as a goal in the recently released Patients First: Action Plan for Health Care. 3