Qt 202241722 (21an CANCER CARE ONTARIO: AN INNOVATION STRATEGY FOR MANAGING WAIT TIMES Kevin Bernard, Alexander Smith. and Hannah Standing Rasmussen wrote this case under the supervision of Professor Anne Snowdon solely to provide material for class discussron. The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain names and other idemifydng information to protect condentiality. this publication may not be transmitted, photocopied. digitized or othenivise reproduced in any form or by any means without the permission of the copyright holder. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authon'zation by any reproduction rights organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials. contact lvey Publishing, tvey Business School. Western University, London, Ontario, Canada, N66 0N1; (t) 519.661.3208: (e) cases@ivey.ca; wmiveycasesccm. 002m ht 2013. Richard lvey School of Busrness Foundation Version: 201407-10 In 2001, waiting lists for prostate and breast cancer treatments in Ontario had grown to an unacceptable wait time oftwo months or more. These extended wait times had become a political restorm. as media attention proled countless stories of patients waiting for care or seeking care elsewhere. Examples of ".1 scathing media headlines included the following: \"500 cancer patients told: Get treatment elsewhere . \"Long queues for cancer therapy";2 and \"Treatment delays can be deadly for some cancer patients"! (see Exhibit 1). As a result, reducing waiting lists for cancer therapy in particular. monitoring and managing wait time performance for radiation therapy 7 had become a top priority for the Ontario Ministry of Health and LongTerm Care (the Ministry), which then directed Cancer Care Ontario (CCO). the organization responsible for overseeing cancer care in Ontario, to develop an appropriate strategy.4 In an effort to address this issue, CCO had invested in additional education capacity for radiation therapists. medical physicists and radiation oncologists. It had also attempted to introduce efciencies to improve patient throughput. However. none of these strategies had been effective to the extent needed. and wait times continued to grow. The province, unable to quickly increase capacity to keep up with the demands for treatment. had resorted to sending patients to any hospital in the province with available treatment capacity. At some points. every Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) in the province was at full -33.; a: D I- o g a c @ (3 (9" 1| 9 A a Mm marge