The Canadian Federation of Independent Business released its report Monday morning titled Losing doctors to desk work. The CFIB estimates physicians lose 20 million hours each year to red tape, or unnecessary paperwork. They also suggest that eliminating the unnecessary paperwork and administrative tasks doctors deal with annually free up the equivalent of 9,000 full time physicians.

The CFIB says for individual doctors that means reclaiming up to 199 hours a year, more than a full month of working time.

The report finds that physicians in Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Ontario report the highest number of hours spent on administrative work per week (10.7 hours on average). This suggests that stronger policy interventions or acceleration of current initiatives may be needed to meaningfully reduce administrative workload in these provinces.

Family physicians were found to be more burdened by the administrative load than other specialists. The CFIB points out that is especially concerning given Canada’s ongoing shortage of family physicians.