Many years ago when I was based in Washington, I had an outpatient test at a local hospital on my right kidney. The final bill for the visit was $2,562.09 in Canadian dollars.

I know the amount to the last penny because I received a flood of itemized statements from the hospital and doctors in the days after my short visit.

The bills were extremely detailed, right down to $1 for a sniff of oxygen. My doctor charged $584 and Drs. Grover, Christie and Merritt, whoever they were, billed me $90 for a service I had no memory of receiving.

I wrote a column at the time about my experience to show Canadians accustomed to our medicare system how health care in the U.S. is big business.

I was reminded of that experience while reading the Star’s current project looking into Ontario’s top-billing doctors and how Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) dollars are spent in the province’s $12-billion physician billing system.

The series has raised serious questions about how some top-billing doctors receive so much money. It also came as news broke earlier this week of a Toronto doctor surrendering his license over improper billing, including billing OHIP for a father and his six children, when only the dad saw the doctor.

Read more:

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Why, I wonder, if I could see all of the itemized doctor and hospital services I received years ago in Washington, can’t I now see the same itemized billings to OHIP by doctors here.

Strange that I can’t, given that today my dentist in Toronto provides me with an itemized invoice every time I see him, even before I leave his office.

That’s a question that David Musyj, president and CEO of Windsor Regional Hospital, one of the largest hospitals in Ontario outside of Toronto, has been asking for years.

Musyj told me in an email last week he believes every Ontario resident should receive an annual statement, or have online access to it, of OHIP billings charged to our own OHIP account. “That would cover at least two issues,” he said, “For each of us to appreciate the ‘cost of services’ and also to be, in effect, individual auditors of those services.

“Production of individual physician OHIP billings might start the discussion, but clearly if individuals saw what was ‘charged’ to their OHIP accounts a more detailed discussion might ensue” of whether we are personally receiving “value for money” and help us gain a better appreciation of how much of the province’s health budget we consume, Musyj added.

In the past, bureaucrats in the Ontario health ministry have looked at similar suggestions, but apparently found them lacking, according to a health expert with knowledge of the system.

Besides the sheer cost of sending annual statements to every patient, the ministry has found that usually when patients have claimed a service billed by a doctor was not rendered, in fact the patient had either forgotten or misinterpreted the service.

Also, health experts suggest such a system would shift much of the onus for bringing doctors to account onto patients. That could add needlessly to stress already on patients, many who likely don’t want to be thinking about the costs or whether a procedure or test was appropriate.

Unfortunately, Health Minister Christine Elliott doesn’t seem too interested in Musyj’s idea.

A spokesperson for Elliott said this week that “while it’s an interesting idea, Minister Elliott’s current priorities for ensuring greater OHIP transparency and accountability are the proposals outlined” in the April provincial budget.

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That budget makes only vague promises to ensure OHIP only pays for appropriate, delivered services and “making it clearer to taxpayers what OHIP is paying for and to whom.”

“That said, the minister always welcomes and encourages leaders in the health-care system to come forward with additional ideas about how we can build on these proposals to further improve how OHIP is managed,” her spokesperson added.

While Musyj’s proposal may have some drawbacks, it’s at least worth exploring more closely. If Elliott truly does welcome “additional ideas,” she should contact him directly. I can forward his contact information if she’s interested.