'A necessary evil:' Doctors Nova Scotia applauds paperwork changes

The last time Dr. Heather Johnson had to fill out a form for a patient, she didn't go to her computer she picked up a pen.

"It all had to be handwritten, then scanned into the patient chart, and then it had to be faxed off," she said of the outdated process.

While red tapemight not seem like a critical piece of Nova Scotia's health-care system that needs to be fixed, doctors in the province say recent changes to the amount of paperwork they have to do are making a difference.

This week, the province received the Golden Scissors Awardfrom the Canadian Federation of Independent Business,acknowledgingcuts to physician red tape.

Doctors Nova Scotia saidthe changes are worth celebrating, even if there's still a long way to go.

Johnson, president of the organization, said after long days of treating patients, most physicians spend hours every night filling out forms.

"Doctors hate paperwork," Johnson said.

"It's a necessary evil of their job, but it is one of the pieces that tires them out. So anything that decreases the amount of paperwork they have to do is a good thing."

Doctors cringe at some forms

Johnson points to a form from the employment support and income assistance program as aprime example. She said doctors refer to it as the "blue form,"because it's on blue paper.

They cringe when a patient hands one over to them.

Up until now, she said it required pages of medical information, some of whichwas not even pertinent to the program. On top of that, doctors had to fill out the same form every year for every patient that was in the program, even if their health had not changed.

"I don't know if anybody ever read the form. It was kind of like a stamp," she said.

Three years ago, Johnson saidthe then-Liberal government started working with Doctors Nova Scotia to revamp the system.

They surveyed doctors to see where changes could be made. Johnson said when the Progressive Conservative government was elected last year, doctors were happy to see that reducing paperwork was a priority.

The blue form was changed, andit finally makessense.

"Now the form has pertinent details that people need. Also, we don't need to repeat it unless something clinically changes," she said.

Johnson saidfor overworked doctors, the situation is a win-win. Now, they either have more timeto treat patients or they can establish a work-life balance.

The work is being led by the Office of Regulatory Affairs and Service Effectiveness. In a news release, the government said the office wants to cut 50,000 hours of paperwork for doctors by 2024.

"Reducing red tape for our province's physicians creates a ripple effect and helps improve our health-care system at large," Fred Crooks, the chief regulatory officer, saidin the release.

"We make it easier to work, start and manage a practice."

Ottawa, private companies need to follow suit

Johnson said doctors are always hesitant when they're handed new forms. But the overwhelming response, she said, is that the changes make sense.

"As we move towardan electronic medical record that's province wide, that everybody shares, those are the kinds of efficiencies we hope we're going to get," saidJohnson.

That doesn't mean that the problem is solved. Johnson is hoping the federal government and private companies take a look at the new, simplified forms, and adopt similar changes.

"Whatever you can do to decrease the number of forms and barriers we have to face, the more efficient we can be," she said.