Respiratory Therapist Role & The Canadian Healthcare System

jc645587
Oct 2, 2022
4 min read

Updated: Dec 6, 2022

The Canadian Healthcare System

Medicare is a term that refers to Canada's publicly funded health care system. Instead of having a single national plan, we have 13 provincial and territorial health care insurance plans (Health Canada, 2005). Under this system, all Canadian residents have reasonable access to medically necessary hospital and physician services without paying out-of-pocket (Health Canada, 2005). Roles and responsibilities for health care services are shared between provincial and territorial governments and the federal government (Health Canada, 2005). The provincial and territorial governments are responsible for the management, organization and delivery of health care services for their residents (Health Canada, 2005).

Canada Health Act

Provincial and territorial health care insurance plans must meet the standards described in the Canada Health Act. This is necessary to get their full payment under the Canada Health Transfer (Health Canada, 2005).

These standards include:

public administration
comprehensiveness
universality
portability
accessibility

Public administration

The provincial and territorial plans must be administered and operated on a non profit basis by a public authority (Health Canada, 2005).

Comprehensiveness

The provincial and territorial plans must insure all medically necessary services provided by:

hospitals
physicians
dentists, when the service must be performed in a hospital

Medically necessary services are not defined in the Canada Health Act. The provincial and territorial health care insurance plans consult with their respective physician colleges or groups (Health Canada, 2005). Together, they decide which services are medically necessary for health care insurance purposes. If a service is considered medically necessary, the full cost must be covered by the public health care insurance plan (Health Canada, 2005).

Universality

The provincial and territorial plans must cover all residents.

Portability

The provincial and territorial plans must cover all residents when they travel within Canada. Limited coverage is also required for travel outside the country (Health Canada, 2005). When a resident moves to another province, they can continue to use their original health care insurance card for 3 months. This gives them enough time to register for the new plan and receive their new health insurance card (Health Canada, 2005).

Accessibility

The provincial and territorial plans must provide all residents reasonable access to medically necessary services. Access must be based on medical need and not the ability to pay (Health Canada, 2005).

When it comes to Canadians accessing health care most turn to primary care as the initial resource. As we know in today's health care state, in Prince Edward Island (PEI) anyways, there is a major shortage of family physicians especially in rural areas. This along with an aging population makes it very hard for patients to see their primary care provider when needed and overloads the acute care system of emergency rooms in hospitals. I think the provincial and federal governments need to look at specific professions and widen the scopes of practice or have professionals working to their full scopes. An example of this would be to have more respiratory therapists in primary care clinics and home care seeing patients at home or when they are in need instead of these patients coming to the emergency room for a simple antibiotic prescription or puffer refill.

Image: What is a Respiratory Therapist? - CRTO

My Role:

Like other provinces in Canada, respiratory therapy just became a regulated profession in PEI last July. The College of Allied Health Professionals of Prince Edward Island (CAHPPEI, the College) is a not-for-profit organization with the legislated mandate to regulate the practice of medical laboratory technology (MLT), medical radiation technology (MRT) and respiratory therapy (RT) professions for the province of PEI, in the public interest (College of Allied Health Professions, 2022).

Image: Home - CSRT

The professional mandate put forward by the college includes:

The College is responsible for ensuring the mandate as set out in the Regulated Health Professions Act, Regulations and College Bylaws are fulfilled.

The mandate of the College is to:

Service and protect the public interest in all we do;
Regulate the practice of Medical Laboratory Technology, Medical Radiation Technology and Respiratory Therapy in the province;
Set educational and entry to practice professional standards;
Set continuing education standards;
Enforce ethical conduct, standards of practice, and continuing education; and
Investigate complaints against health professionals working in MLT, MRT, and RT professions (College of Allied Health Professions, 2022).

Within the college members are required to adhere to the laws, ethics and standards of the profession. I have attached a link to the standards of practice for PEI RTs.

CAHPPEI Standards of Practice - Respiratory Therapists

To become a member in good standing with the college one must: pay a yearly fee, obtain liability insurance, have passed the license exam, criminal record check, have enough working hours in a year, may be audited and participates in continuing education and competency program policies.

RTs must have one of the following within the four years immediately preceding the date of the application or general registration renewal:

Completion of the educational requirements;
Active practice of respiratory therapy without any restrictions for at least 1,500 hours; or
Completion of a refresher program in respiratory therapy approved by the registrar (College of Allied Health Professions, 2022).

Having a provincial college is one more step to having all RT professionals held accountable for their actions. The college is also largely for the public- as it can accept complaints from the public towards professionals who are not adhering to the mandates/standards of practice. Working in PEI, I still need to obtain my liability insurance through the Canadian Society for Respiratory Therapists (CSRT). The CSRT is a federal society that enhances the publics knowledge about RTs across Canada.