Examining the efficiency and effectiveness of ontario's health workforce regulatory system

ABSTRACT

The regulation and oversight of the health professionals responsible for providing care to patients in Ontario is an important mechanism to ensure patients receive the highest-quality care possible (e.g., by setting the standards that professionals need to meet in their practice) while mitigating, to the extent that is possible, the risks of harm that may be associated with the provision of healthcare services (e.g., by ensuring health professionals are fit to practice, and that those who are licensed to practice have the competencies to provide the services patients need safely). There are currently 261 regulatory colleges in Ontario that provide oversight for the 292 health professions that are regulated in the province, which collectively include over 300,000 healthcare professionals Additionally, there are several organizations providing oversight and guiding the practice of the many health workers who are not currently regulated, such as personal-support workers (PSWs) ­ of which there are many ­ as well as assistants of many kinds (e.g., dental, medical laboratory, physiotherapy and osteopath), athletic therapists, hearing-instrument practitioners, lactation consultants, marriage and family therapists, medical geneticists, paramedics, pedorthists, phlebotomists, and personalservice workers of many kinds (e.g., ear piercers, tattoo artists).