Beat the System

Insider tips from health care experts:

1. If you’re waiting to see a specialist, check if there’s a new one in town — younger doctors or those who have recently arrived in a community often have a shorter waiting list than those who have practiced there for years and are well-known
2. As the old adage says, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Call the specialist’s office directly, explain the situation, check for cancellations, and see if there’s any way that you can get your child in sooner
3. Ask your doctor if she would be willing to intervene for you. Office nurses are usually the ones who make the referral to a specialist, but a personal call from a family doctor carries much more weight.
4. Use your connections. If you have a friend who knows a dermatologist, and that’s what you need, don’t be afraid to ask them for a favour — circumventing the formal system can speed things up immensely.
5. If you’re seeing a general practitioner, see if he will refer your child to the specialist and a pediatrician simultaneously. Wait times to see a pediatrician are generally much shorter, and she may have more tools in her kit to treat your child

Sizing up Health Care

Number of doctors, per 1,000

Canada: 2.3

OECD average: 3.1

Source: Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

How do you keep your child busy while waiting at the doctor’s office?

“When I take the kids I never let them play with the toys. I think they are covered with germs from other sick children. One of my kids got the stomach flu just hours after a checkup at the doctor’s office and I think they got it from the toys. I carry a small pen and paper in my purse and we play “Pictionary’ or a word game while we wait. We also, dare I say, talk to each other.”

Carol Davidson, mom of Cedar, 10, Bailey, 7, and Reed, 5, Richmond Hill, Ont.