Jim Taylor’s Weblog

The most significant news items sometimes get little or no coverage in the news media. I\’m thinking specifically of an announcement that – as far as I can tell from googling Internet news – got picked up by only one journalist in Canada.
        Bill Tieleman of Vancouver reported this week that the B.C. government had decided not to privatize B.C. Nurseline after all.
        A year before, the B.C. government had announced plans for a $135 million deal to privatize the popular nursing teleservice. “Teleservice” – that\’s a buzzword for informed medical advice by telephone.
        Imagine this scenario. You live alone, half an hour by mountain roads from the nearest regional hospital. In the middle of the night, ten thousand jackhammers start chipping pieces off the inside of your skull.
        You\’re in no condition to drive yourself to the emergency department – and you\’d have to wait five hours to get treated anyway.
        You can\’t read the screen when you surf the Internet for information.
        You can\’t call your doctor. For self-preservation, he or she has an unlisted telephone number.
        For those people and those situations, B.C. Nurseline was created. Residents of the province can talk to a registered nurse, 24 hours a day, seven days a week – or to a professional pharmacist during night hours. There\’s a toll-free number in BC: 1-866-215-4700. (Deaf and hearing impaired persons can call 1-866-889-4700. Translation services are available in over 130 languages.)
        The Nurseline website says, “The nurse will ask for your Personal Health Number on your B.C. CareCard; you will not be denied service if you do not provide it.”

Privatization fiascos
        The B.C. government intended to turn this service over to a U.S.-owned firm, Clinidata.
        The government had previously contracted administration of the provincial Medical Services and Pharmacare Plans to another U.S.-owned company, Maximus, for $325 million, starting April 1 a year ago. Maximus was repeatedly fined for failing to meet its contracted performance standards, although both the company and the government say it has now overcome those deficiencies.
        On the surface, at least, Clinidata seemed like a logical choice. It operates four Ontario telehealth centres – “telehealth” is another of those buzzwords — based in Toronto, London, Sudbury, and North Bay, and two Atlantic call centers in Moncton and Bathurst, New Brunswick. It claims to serve over 14 million people and handle more than 1.8 million calls annually.
        But, like Maximus, Clinidata\’s performance fell short of its goals. The Ottawa Citizen obtained documents through access to information legislation. During some periods, according to the Citizen, the average waiting time for callbacks from a nurse reached 28 minutes. Some callers, including mothers frantic with sick children, were left hanging much longer.
        "Callers to the 1-866 number are supposed to be transferred from the system\’s automated attendant to a live person within 20 seconds," the newspaper said.
        At peak periods, the Citizen reported, Clinidata “met that goal for just 40 per cent of callers. Some callers waited as long as five minutes before being told by a \’patient assistant representative\’ [another buzz phrase, meaning non-medical staff trained to handle calls] that a registered nurse would phone them back later."