Better access to outpatient magnetic resonance imaging in Ontario – But for whom?

about long waits for health care services, 1,2 federal and provincial governments in Canada have made the reduction of wait times for key health services – including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning – a priority. 3 Under Ontario's Wait Times Strategy, launched on 17 November 2004, the provincial government has invested approximately $118 million in capital and operational funding for MRI services through to the end of March 2008 (Steven Johansen, Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care; personal communication , 2008). Twelve MRI scanners in new locations have been purchased, and seven aging MRI machines at existing sites have been replaced. In addition, the efficiency of existing scanner use has been improved through the funding of additional MRI hours, such that the current availability of MRI has been extended from a baseline of 8 hours on weekdays to 16 or even 24 hours per day, up to 7 days a week. Previous work has shown that, despite Canada's system of universal health insurance, some health services (including MRI scanning) have higher rates of use among higher income groups than among Canadians with low incomes, and that these differences are unlikely to be explained by differences in medical need alone. 6-9 In this paper we explore whether the recent increase in access to MRI scanning in Ontario has led to a widening of this income-correlated disparity.