HTH RS M 729 / The Canadian Health Care System in Comparative Perspective

3 unit(s)

Prerequisite(s): Enrolment in HRM; or eHealth/Health Policy programs plus permission of instructor.

This course provides an overview of the Canadian health care system by examining its origins, institutional structures (i.e., governance, financing and service delivery), key elements (e.g., allopathic, physician and hospital centre), and reform challenges. Our analysis of the Canadian system is comparative, drawing on relevant evidence about the US, UK and Australian health systems. The course has two parts. In the first half, we review the evolution and structure of the Canadian, US, UK and Australian health systems. The second half of the course reviews a series of key health reform challenges in Canada from a comparative perspective: reform in the financing of health care, reform in the delivery of primary care, reform in the delivery of home and aged care, and reform in the coverage of pharmaceuticals.