I think the research on that question is rather like the research Dr. Badley looked at. In looking at all the papers that make a lot of very big assumptions, there isn't a lot of evidence associated with them.
I think the research that needs to be done is the kind of research we're doing together with Fraser Health in British Columbia and the Institute for Health Systems Sustainability, where we're in the process of looking at, first of all, how much money actually flows into that region for health, no matter how it's going in—whether it's for hospitals or for physician payment, whether it's for drug payments that turn up, all of that—so we know what the quantum of the money is. We know another study will look at what the population health characteristics are. Then we imagine the overlays like in those books on the body that little kids look at.
We know what the characteristics of a well-functioning health system are, that is, integrated—all of the words that Stephen Lewis used in describing it. Then the question is asked, how far are we from that? Given the amount of money we have, could we pay for that here in Fraser Health? What would the barriers be to getting the money flowing in that direction? As Dr. Fry said, our money comes in very specific ways in the health system, and that sometimes can be a barrier to doing the things we know need to be done.
That kind of study, where you're looking at a real place with calculations of real money flowing through the system, and putting that overlay of what a really good system looks like and then saying, how far are we away from it and how will we get there, I think, is the kind of study that's going to help us answer that question.