Surgery, specialist backlog on P.E.I. could ease with new centralized referral process

Islanders hoping to get timely access to surgery and specialists will receive referrals more quickly if a new Health P.E.I. plan is successful.

The health authority says work is underway to create an online platform allowing health-care providers to view existing referrals or wait times for a specific specialist when referring a patient — an option that isn't available now.

Dylana Arsenault, the executive director of hospital services and patient flow, said that with no numbers to guide them, clinicians may end up referring patients to well-established surgeons on P.E.I. who have longer wait lists than other doctors with the same area of expertise.

For procedures such as cataract surgery, the health agency said some people have waited more than 400 days.

To reduce these wait times, Health P.E.I. plans on centralizing the referral process so that physicians can transfer patients to alternative specialists with the capacity to take them in sooner.

The change "allows them to have just that extra piece when deciding who is the right care provider that they'd like to refer their patients," she said.

The project is still in its early stages, she said, including consultations with health-care providers.

Health P.E.I. recently hired a provincial director of surgical services, whose job is to reassess the current system and support the transition to a more efficient approach.

With funding to be secured and software to be bought, Arsenault expects it to be between 12 to 18 months before a new centralized referral system is in place.

She said P.E.I. is a small province, making it easier for Health P.E.I. to find solutions.

In the meantime, she said, anyone concerned with wait times for a procedure can always ask for a new referral to a different practitioner.