Quebec's Auditor finds problems with medical costs, IT contracts

Quebec Auditor General Guylaine Leclerc at a news conference to table her first report on May 27, 2015 at the legislature in Quebec City. (Jacques Boissinot / The Canadian Press)

Quebec's auditor general is warning the provincial government that it is seriously underestimating the cost of paying doctors.

The latest report from Guylaine Leclerc is based on negotiated agreements between health care providers and the province covering a five-year period between 2010 and 2015.

Leclerc found that the actual cost of paying GPs and medical specialists will go over budget by more than $416 million.

The report also found the public health insurance agency (RAMQ) isn't doing enough to monitor what doctors are billing, exposing the system to errors and even fraud.

The PQ says it wants explanations from Health Minister Gaetan Barrette.

“For sure we are concerned about the $416 million of professional fees that have been charged over (budget), and we've said that with Bill 20 we will probably have more and more fees that will be charged by physicians,” said health critic Dianne Lamarre.

She also found major problems in how information technology contracts are managed.

Leclerc and her staff determined there were problems in the majority of the 27 contracts analyzed.

In particular, she points out issues related to making calls for tenders independent, and a lack of about the decision-making process.

She also says this isn't a new problem, and yet there's still a lack of control mechanisms in place to make sure the the process is transparent and fair -- and isn't subject to corruption.

"What we found is that there is risk of collusion, but our work was not to investigate on collusion. We don't have the tools to do that and it's not our mandate -- it's UPAC's mandate to do that. But there are many elements that are "propice" to collusion or at least camaraderie," said Leclerc.

The government is facing pressure from the opposition to bring in tighter controls to oversee how these contracts are awarded.