Federal Health Minister Tony Clement said hospital wait times will be a major topic of discussion when he meets next week with his provincial counterparts.
"This meeting is about sharing some best practices when it comes to wait time reductions," Clement said during an interview Sunday on CTV's Question Period.
"In fact, over the last couple of years, a number of provinces have made some meaningful reductions in wait times."
Clement said improvements already being seen in this country's health services include better access to cancer care in Ontario and to cardiac care in most provinces.
"There's been a number of other different projects," he added. "Alberta had a great project when it came to hip and knee replacements, where they in fact reduced the wait times in some Calgary area hospitals by 90 per cent.
"So let's share these successes and find out what is actually working and how we can actually improve those successes throughout the whole health care system in the country."
Clement, however, would not elaborate on a report from two weeks ago saying he suggested Ottawa would provide more money for computer systems that provinces have been demanding to help manage wait times.
"Only (Finance Minister) Jim Flaherty knows for sure," said Clement when pressed on the issue.
"There's a lot of things that are obviously being discussed when it comes to the next budget of the federal government," he said.
"What I can tell you is that the federal government has invested $1.2 billion directly into technology over the last few years through something called the , where we help deliver some change and electronic health records and other health technology with the provinces."
There has been talk since the last federal budget about additional money for the provinces to buy the technology they need to compare health-care data across jurisdictions, store patient records, create electronic registries and provide diagnostic tools to remote communities.
Many in the medical community say better patient records would help manage wait times as well as reduce patient error.
One of the Conservatives' five key priorities is to establish a "Patient Wait Times Guarantee."
Clement said despite the environment appearing to overshadow the issue of health care lately, "I still think health care is pretty important to most Canadians when they look at government services."
"So I don't feel like the Maytag repairman just yet in terms of not being valued, but at the same time, it gives us an opportunity to keep focusing on what Canadians care about when it comes to health care and making some real improvements."
