Thousands of Canadians make more than 100 doctor visits a year as report raises concerns about health-care abuse

Thousands of Canadians are seeing family doctors more than 100 times a year, prompting calls for provinces to crack down on potential abuse by both patients and physicians as millions remain unable to access primary care.A new report from SecondStreet.org found significant numbers of patients across Canada are making extraordinarily frequent visits to general practitioners, raising questions about whether scarce health-care resources are being used effectively.The report comes as approximately six million Canadians remain without a family doctor and many struggle to obtain timely appointments for serious medical concerns.Using Freedom of Information requests filed with all 10 provinces, researchers obtained data on the highest users of family doctor services in 2024, along with the number of patients who had more than 50 and more than 100 appointments in a single year.Quebec recorded some of the highest individual usage rates in the country, with its top 10 patients making between 295 and 362 visits in a single year. Ontario's top 10 users logged between 218 and 347 visits.Alberta reported the largest number of patients with exceptionally high usage. Government data showed 25,767 Albertans had more than 50 appointments with a general practitioner in 2024, while 9,331 had more than 100 visits..Researchers cautioned that comparisons between provinces are difficult because governments use different definitions for what constitutes a doctor visit or appointment.SecondStreet president Colin Craig said the findings raise important questions about how primary care resources are being allocated.The report suggests several explanations for unusually high appointment volumes, including patients with legitimate chronic health conditions requiring extensive care, patients overusing the system, physicians improperly billing governments and potential fraud involving health cards.Patient confidentiality rules prevent researchers from examining individual cases.The report points to a recent Ontario auditor's report that documented examples of physicians billing for more than 24 hours of services in a single day.According to the auditor, one physician billed more than 24 hours of services on 98 separate days between May 2021 and April 2022, including one day where 114 hours of services were billed. The province later identified nearly $1.4 million in overpayments connected to the case.Another physician billed more than 24 hours of services on 15 days within a six-month period.The report also cited anecdotal evidence from health-care workers who described patients visiting physicians weekly without clear medical reasons.Researchers argue that excessive use by some patients may contribute to limited access for others despite Canada having relatively high numbers of family doctors per capita compared with many developed countries.To address the issue, the report recommends stronger auditing of physician billing practices, increased use of data analytics to identify unusual billing patterns and greater transparency around the costs of medical services.One proposal would allow patients to see the cost of their appointments and treatments through online health portals, potentially encouraging more responsible use of the system.The report concludes that governments should examine both supply-side and demand-side factors contributing to excessive use of family doctor services.“If abuse is identified and addressed, then the system will have more resources to help patients with legitimate health problems,” the report states.

Thousands of Canadians make more than 100 doctor visits a year as report raises concerns about health-care abuse

Related Stories

Senate report calls for limits on rail and port strikes

SPLIT AllEGIANCE: 10 most common non-Canadian ethnicities in World Cup

Patient airlifted after ambulance collides with tractor near Beiseker

Canadian food insecurity climbs to 24% as cost-of-living pressures persist