The first Prince Edward Island Report On Common Health Indicators was released today by Health and Social Services Minister Jamie Ballem. Similar reports were released by health ministries across the country as a follow-up to commitments made through the 2000 First Ministers Agreement On Health to improve accountability to the public by regularly reporting on health and health system performance.

Minister Ballem advised that PEI's performance is rated in the report based on 58 common health indicators of health status, health outcomes and service quality. "Generally, PEI fares well in the report. We are similar to the Canadian average in many areas such as life expectancy, prevalence of diabetes, and teen smoking rates. We do better than the national average in several areas, for example in our low rates of vaccine preventable disease, high rates of patient satisfaction with services, and lower death rates from heart attack," said the minister. "The report also highlights several areas where we need to improve such as potential years of life lost from lung, colorectal and breast cancer, access to care for minor health problems during evenings and weekends, and high rates of hospitalization for conditions that could be treated in the community."

The minister said that indicators provide a meaningful snapshot of where the health system is now. Over time, they help to provide trends which can be used to inform the public and decision-makers on health outcomes and system performance. The report will be published again in 2004.

Minister Ballem advised that in the past, information was reported on how jurisdictions compared in terms of hospital beds, health professionals, and health expenditures. "This report is much more comprehensive in that all jurisdictions are reporting based on agreed upon indicators which reflect health outcomes and how the performance of the health system affects the health status of the population," said the minister. "It should help the public better understand whether their tax dollars are getting value for money, and how our quality and access to health care compares to that of other Canadians."

Copies of the full report or highlights document can be obtained by contacting the Department of Health and Social Services, or by visiting the provincial government website at www.gov.pe.ca/hss.