Bio: Claudia Sanmartin, Ph.D., is a senior research analyst in the Health Information and Research Group at Statistics Canada, where she plays an active role in conducting research and developing new data sources to meet emerging information needs in the area of health, health care, and health system performance. She is also an adjunct research professor in the Department of Community Health Science at the University of Calgary, where she is also a member of the Western Canada Waiting List Project. Her current research interests include access to health care services with a specific focus on waiting times and non-need determinants of access to care such as socio-economic status; development of benchmarks for waiting times; and non-need determinants of care and the identification of potential inequities. Dr. Sanmartin holds a doctorate in health services research from the University of British Columbia and a master's degree in health administration from the University of Toronto.
Project: Income Inequalities in Waiting Times for Health Care Services: A Multi-Country Analysis
Description: Sanmartin first explored the relationship between socioeconomic factors and waiting times for specialist consultations and non-emergency surgery in Canada. To do so, she used data from Canada's Health Services Access Survey. She then conducted an additional analysis of the 2007 Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey of Adults to assess the relationship between income and primary care waiting times in seven countries, including Canada and the U.S.