Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Dr. Rachlis, I want to talk to you for a moment. I'm a fan; I've read at least one of your books. I appreciate your opinion today on innovation and best practices.
You mentioned something earlier about how we have an archaic process of care in this country. I'm wondering if you could give us some advice. What do you think is holding the Canadian system back from adopting some of these innovative best practices?
I had a conversation with a friend of mine recently who was posted down in the U.S. She said that when she had to get some health care, she went to a nurse practitioner first. She had a lesion on her nose. The nurse practitioner took a bunch of pictures of it and e-mailed it to a specialist, who, according to her, was analyzing over 100, sometimes 200, patients a day, whereas in an old model of care, maybe he could see 30 or 40.
You mentioned chiropractors. As well, even in the U.K., to prevent readmission into hospitals, they will send people out, right into people's homes, to give diabetic care. It's a lot cheaper in the long run.
We had a witness earlier who said that in Canada we pay for the most expensive form of care. I was wondering if you could give us your opinion on why we don't utilize other health professionals to their full scope of practice. What is holding the Canadian system back from using these best practices that we're hearing from around the world, and even in our own country?