The Cost of Administrative Burden

Canadian doctors spend 18.5 million hours per year on unnecessary administrative work — the equivalent of more than 55 million patient visits.

📋
18.5M
Hours Per Year
Wasted on unnecessary administrative tasks instead of patient care
👥
55M
Patient Visits Lost
Equivalent number of patient visits that could have been conducted
24
Days Per Doctor
Average working days spent on admin tasks per doctor annually

Breaking Down the Numbers

195
Hours per doctor annually
220,000
Patient visits lost per day
2,312
Full-time equivalent doctors
220,000
Patient visits lost daily

Time Allocation Comparison

Admin Burden
18.5M hrs
18.5M hours
Lost Patient Visits
55M visits
55M visits
Working Days Lost
2.3M days
2.3M days

What Could We Do Instead?

🏥Patient Care Impact

  • 55 million additional patient visits could be conducted
  • 220,000 more patients seen every single day
  • Equivalent to 2,312 full-time doctors

💰Economic Impact

  • Billions in healthcare system inefficiency
  • Reduced productivity across the healthcare sector
  • Opportunity cost of 18.5 million hours of skilled medical time

😔Human Impact

  • Increased physician burnout and stress
  • Reduced quality of patient-doctor interactions
  • Longer wait times for patients seeking care

Data Source: Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) report on administrative burden in Canadian healthcare. Statistics represent annual figures for unnecessary administrative work performed by Canadian doctors.