The New Brunswick government has taken a new approach to measuring how many people have a primary care provider.
The Department of Health announced Thursday that medicare data is now being used to get a more accurate picture.
In the past, patient attachment and timely access to primary care was estimated using a combination of public opinion polling, information from regional health authorities and data from NB Health Link.
The new approach is expected to provide more consistent information to track progress and identify where more work is needed.
“This is an important step forward in how we understand patient attachment in New Brunswick,” Health Minister John Dornan said in a statement.
“For too long, we have relied on different sources of information to understand how many New Brunswickers have a primary care provider without a true picture.”
Dornan added the data will continue to improve as physicians and other health-care providers update their patient information and reporting.
Since April 1, the government has been working with the New Brunswick Medical Society, Nurse Practitioners of New Brunswick, Horizon Health Network and Vitalité Health Network to collect and validate the information.
The new data shows that as of Sept. 18, 619,354 New Brunswickers were attached to a primary care provider.
The government has set a goal of getting attachment to 85 per cent – or 749,795 New Brunswickers – by the end of 2028.
“This is about making sure we have the information we need to understand where we are today and where we need to go,” Premier Susan Holt said.
The province also committed to providing monthly updates on patient attachment numbers and launching a public-facing patient attachment dashboard by the end of the year.
The data provided a clearer picture of patient attachment across New Brunswick’s seven health zones.
Attachment is as follows as of August:
- Zone 1 – Moncton: 193,948 (70.9 per cent)
- Zone 2 – Saint John: 146,623 (74.5 per cent)
- Zone 3 – Fredericton: 127,928 (63.3 per cent)
- Zone 4 – Madawaska/North-West: 34,052 (64.8 per cent)
- Zone 5 – Campbellton/North-East: 16,537 / (62.2 per cent)
- Zone 6 – Bathurst/Acadian Peninsula: 66,069 (79 per cent)
- Zone 7 – Miramichi: 32,233 (70.8 per cent)
