WHAT’S NEXT

A new funding agreement crosses one thing off Ontario’s health-care to-do list, but there’s plenty left:

Making a deal with doctors

The province reached a tentative agreement on fees and working conditions with the Ontario Medical Association last year, which the OMA’s 42,000 members rejected.

Then they mutinied against their elected leaders and forced them out.

A newly elected, more militant executive is nearly ready to start bargaining again but relations between the government and doctors have been toxic for years.

Refining scopes of practice

To save money, the province wants to make sure that people only get as much health care as they need, increasing the powers of pharmacists, nurses and nurse-practitioners, midwives and other professionals who aren’t paid as much as doctors. Doctors understandably don’t want to be left with only the hardest cases but moving routine ones out of their hands could save a lot of money.

Improving digital records

Making it easier to manage appointments and see medical records online would improve care but it’s a struggle to balance that with protecting privacy.

Preparing for the aged

Demand for health services keeps increasing as more people live longer with chronic health conditions like diabetes and heart disease. This is a huge challenge for the health system, which is already the biggest item in the provincial budget by far.

Expensive drugs

Pharmaceuticals are working miracles for formerly fatal conditions, including cancer, but often at a cost of hundreds of dollars a day. Sick people expect life-saving care to be covered, but for most people drug insurance is only available through private plans. A reckoning is coming.