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The Alberta Health Quality Council is investigating how some medical referrals were not processed properly, potentially affecting 14,000 patients over the past five years across the province.
Referrals were made to specialists outside of Alberta Health Services, such as physiotherapists and dieticians.
The health authority’s CEO, Athana Mentzelopoulos, says it makes an average of 100,000 referrals a year, but in some cases it cannot confirm whether patients received referral services.
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She says the problem was highlighted at the end of September, and a preliminary estimate suggests 31 patients could have experienced a possible negative result due to the delay.
The provincial government requested the investigation, and the quality council will find out how the blockage happened and how it can be prevented in the future.
The health authority says it has started notifying patients who may have been affected by the disruption, and the cases could date back to 2019.
& copy 2024 The Canadian Press
(Except translation, this story has not been edited by achinews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
source link https://globalnews.ca/news/10795819/alberta-health-service-delayed-referrals/
