At this point I would answer your question in three ways as per our ability to look at this. In the data limitations we now have we can simply look at the question of volumes. Were more procedures done in the different areas? When you look at those numbers you can see reflected the different priorities in the different areas. You can also look at the different starting points on the rates of procedures. For example, on a population basis, some provinces have much higher rates of cataract surgery or hip replacement surgery going into the accord, so one might expect that looking at rates would be helpful so you can see how one province now compares to others in that way.
Finally, the thing we would like to have is to be able to look at the actual waiting times. Does it take six months? Does it take three months? Does it take three weeks to get a given type of procedure in one part of the country versus the other?
What we can see from the tables we have put together now is that we are closer to that point, no question. You can see the definitions do converge, but it's still not the case that we can say definitively that the same procedure will take two months in Nova Scotia and four months or two weeks in British Columbia. We can see if the reported wait is four weeks in one spot and two weeks in another, if they are including emergency cases or they are not, if they are starting the clock and stopping it in the same period of time. If there are differences, you can at least have some ability to assess where those different definitions might lead you, but at this point there is still a lack of comparison in that third component as we look across the country.
