Cutting need for sick notes would free up time for patient care, Manitoba task force says

Posted on October 7, 2024 by Peggy

Eliminating sick notes where medical advice is not required means more patients will see doctors sooner, says a Manitoba task force.

Kier Johnson is the co-chair of the Joint Task Force to Reduce Administrative Burdens for Physicians and part of the leadership team at Doctors Manitoba. He says task force research shows there are over 600,000 or more sick note requests made to doctors annually, which results in an estimated $8 million in billing costs per year.

“There’s such a physician shortage. People can’t get in to see their doctors when they still have symptoms,” said Johnson.

According to the report, during about one third of visits for a sick note, the patient has “no medical need” to see the doctor beyond getting a note.

“When you add that up, that’s over 230,000 visits a year just to get a sick note,” Johnson said.

There are times when employers do need a doctor’s perspective, such as a note to help a worker with accommodations in the workplace due to a disability or injury, but Johnson says simply policing employee attendance with sick notes is ineffective and not an appropriate role for a physician.

“Ultimately this is not a medical issue. It’s an HR issue. So that’s really something that employers should be able to sort out,” Johnson said.

Sick notes have doctors ‘caught in a loop’

In 2022 the Canadian Institute for Health Information released a report stating Manitoba has the third-lowest ratio in the country of doctors to residents. Three-quarters of doctors who said they were planning on leaving Manitoba identified systemic issues for their frustration with the province, including excessive paperwork.

Sick notes and excessive paperwork are creating doctor distress and burnout, causing doctors to quit, which is contributing to the doctor shortage, says Johnson.

“We’re kind of caught in this spiral where we have a shortage of doctors and that means they don’t really have any slack time in their day to do extra inefficient paperwork. And when they’re doing it, it’s leading to distress because they can’t see patients,” said Johnson.

Sick notes and insurance forms are at the top of the list as a way to support doctors in the province and keep doctors from burning out, now, says Johnson.

“To break out of that loop, we really need to see some meaningful progress on reducing that administrative burden,” said Johnson.

LISTEN | Doctors Manitoba says asking your doctor for a sick note is a waste of your time … and theirs:

Up To Speed9:00Doctors Manitoba says asking your doctor for a sick note is a waste of your time….and theirs

Keir Johnson is the director of strategy, advocacy and communications for Doctors Manitoba. He’s also the co-chair of the Joint Task Force to Reduce Administrative Burdens on Physicians. Keir tells host Faith Fundal what the task force found out when their looked into the effectiveness of sick notes

Last spring, the NDP government pledged $310 million from its budget toward its goal of hiring 1,000 health-care workers. In September the province said it staffed 873 new positions, including adding 304 nurses, 290 health-care aides and 116 physicians to Manitoba’s public health-care system between April and August.

The final report from the task force was given to Manitoba’s health minister and Doctors Manitoba on Friday. The task force was brought together in February 2023, and is co-chaired by Doctors Manitoba and representatives from the provincial government.

Other recommendations presented by the Joint Task Force to Reduce Administrative Burdens for Physicians included:

Reducing paperwork.
Streamlining and harmonizing processes and the creation of standardized forms across medical providers.
Eliminating paramedical requests like massage or psychologist prescriptions for insurance providers.
Pushing for the implementation of an electronic records system in Manitoba.