Canadians Want Change in Health Care. Traditional Chinese Medicine Can Be Part of the Solution.

A new national survey conducted by Santis Health and Nanos Research has delivered a clear message: Canadians believe our health care system needs to evolve. https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/nine-in-ten-canadians-call-for-widespread-health-system-change-in-new-nanos-research-survey-805811441.html

The findings are striking!

• Ninety-one percent of Canadians agree that it is important for the health care system to change now. 
• Seventy percent report feeling worried or frustrated about the current state of care, and long wait times were identified as the single biggest concern across much of the country, including British Columbia.

Canadians are not simply asking for more spending. They are asking for better access, innovative solutions, more collaborative care, and greater use of qualified health professionals throughout the health system.

For British Columbia, this presents an important opportunity to utilize an existing healthcare workforce that is already helping thousands of people every day: Registered Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Doctors (Dr.TCM), Practitioners (R.TCM.P.), Herbalists (R.TCM.H.), and Acupuncturists (R.Ac.).

Helping British Columbians Access the Care They Want

Many British Columbians are already seeking TCM and acupuncture for pain management, injury recovery, stress-related conditions, anxiety, depression, digestive concerns, sleep issues, hormone health, healthy aging, a wide variety of conditions with no recognized cause or solution (according to conventional medicine), and overall wellness.

What often draws people to TCM is its emphasis on personalized care. Patients receive not only treatment but also individualized guidance on lifestyle, nutrition, movement, stress management, and self-care practices that can support long-term health and resilience.

As the survey demonstrates, Canadians are increasingly open to new care models and receiving care from qualified health professionals beyond physicians alone. TCM professionals are well-positioned to be part of a broader healthcare system that provides patients with more options while improving access to care.

A Stronger Focus on Prevention

One of the greatest challenges facing our healthcare system is that much of it is designed to respond to illness after it develops.

Traditional Chinese Medicine offers an approach that emphasizes prevention and early intervention. Through ongoing assessment, treatment, and patient education, practitioners help individuals address health concerns before they become more serious, complex, and costly.

When people are empowered with practical strategies to improve sleep, manage stress, maintain mobility, support healthy aging, and strengthen overall wellness, they may require fewer healthcare resources in the future.

A healthier population benefits everyone (well, except maybe for the pharmaceutical industry).

A Profession Ready to Help

Registered Traditional Chinese Medicine professionals are already providing care to thousands of British Columbians every day.

Patients seek TCM care for many reasons, including:

• Pain management
• Injury recovery and rehabilitation
• Stress management and mental wellness
• Sleep concerns
• Digestive health
• Hormonal health
• Healthy aging
• Preventative wellness care
• Personalized lifestyle and self-care guidance

TCM practitioners often spend significant time with patients, providing individualized treatment plans and practical advice that empowers people to take a more active role in their health. This focus on prevention, wellness, and patient education aligns closely with what many Canadians say they want from a modern health care system.

Reducing Pressure on an Overburdened System

When people are able to access appropriate care earlier, health issues can often be managed before they become more complex, expensive, debilitating, or even life ending.

By allowing TCM practitioners to contribute more fully within the health care system, British Columbia, these regulated health professionals could help:

• Reduce wait times for patients seeking care
• Support faster recovery from injuries and chronic conditions
• Reduce reliance on specialist referrals where appropriate
• Help decrease demand for costly diagnostic procedures and interventions
• Reduce dependence on long-term pharmaceutical treatments and addictive painkillers for some patients
• Potentially help avoid certain surgeries through earlier conservative care
• Expand access to preventative health services
• Improve patient satisfaction and quality of life

Regulated TCM professionals can help patients access the right care at the right time.

Reducing Wait Times Through Better Use of Healthcare Professionals

The survey revealed that Canadians are increasingly supportive of expanded roles for qualified healthcare providers and innovative ways to change our current system. While they want to protect our public healthcare system and access to it, they are also open to involve at least some private care.

This aligns with a simple reality: improving access does not always require creating entirely new services. Sometimes it means better utilizing the healthcare professionals we already have.

British Columbia has a highly trained and regulated TCM profession that could play a larger role in helping patients manage pain, improve wellness, support recovery, and receive preventive care.

By enabling practitioners to work to their full capabilities within a modern healthcare system, patients can access care more quickly while reducing pressure on physicians, specialists, emergency departments, and other overstretched healthcare services.

What Government Can Do

If British Columbia wants to improve healthcare access, reduce wait times, and better meet the needs of patients, several practical policy changes could help unlock the full potential of the TCM profession.

1. Modernize the TCM Scope of Practice

Healthcare continues to evolve, and professional scopes of practice should evolve alongside it.

BC's TCM profession has seen little meaningful modernization compared to several other regulated health professions.

Modernizing and expanding the TCM scope of practice would allow practitioners to better serve patients, improve system efficiency, and support more integrated models of care. ATCMA has long been advocating for Point Injection Therapy (PIT) and high-velocity low-amplitude joint movement to be included in our scope of practice. We are also looking at other ways we can better support our healthcare system and the British Columbia public.

2. Give Professional Associations a Greater Voice in Policy Development

Professional healthcare associations bring valuable frontline knowledge and practical expertise.

Associations such as ATCMA work directly with practitioners every day and can provide important insight into healthcare delivery, workforce utilization, public access, and system improvement. Their practical experience provides valuable insights that can help governments design policies that are both effective and workable.

Government could create more formal pathways for healthcare associations to participate in policy development and system planning.

3. Require Meaningful Collaboration Between Regulatory Colleges and Professional Associations

Regulatory colleges and professional associations serve different but complementary functions.

Colleges protect the public through regulation, while associations support their professions. They also educate and inform their healthcare professionals and patients while advocating for healthcare system improvements.

Creating expectations for meaningful, transparent, and demonstrable collaboration would help ensure that patient needs, professional expertise, and system priorities are all considered when important decisions are made for better, safer, more accessible care for our BC communities.

4. Modernize MSP Supplementary Benefits Coverage

Current MSP Supplementary Benefits coverage has not kept pace with today's healthcare realities. It has remained just $23 for a maximum of 10 sessions across all covered services (acupuncture, RMT massage, chiropractic, naturopathic, physio, etc.) per year since 2002. That’s 24 years! Costs have increased a LOT over those last two decades.

Expanding and modernizing coverage for acupuncture and TCM services would improve access for vulnerable populations, reduce financial barriers to care, and help patients receive treatment earlier—before conditions worsen and require more expensive interventions.

Investing in preventive and supportive care can help reduce downstream healthcare costs while improving patient outcomes.

5. Create More Integrated and Collaborative Care Models

British Columbia should actively support the inclusion of TCM practitioners and acupuncturists within interdisciplinary and community-based healthcare teams.

Canadians have clearly expressed support for team-based care. Patients benefit when healthcare professionals work together, communicate effectively, and provide coordinated care that addresses both immediate health concerns and long-term wellness.

Integrated care models can improve access, enhance patient experience, and make better use of available healthcare resources.

Building a More Accessible and Sustainable Health Care System

The message from Canadians is clear: the status quo is not working.

People want better access, shorter wait times, more preventative care, and a health system that makes use of all qualified health professionals. Traditional Chinese Medicine and acupuncture can help achieve those goals.

British Columbia already has a regulated profession with the expertise, infrastructure, and patient demand to contribute more meaningfully to the health care system. By modernizing policy, expanding access, and embracing collaborative care, the province can take practical steps toward delivering the kind of health care that British Columbians want—and deserve.

The future of health care will require innovation, collaboration, and a willingness to use every available resource. TCM is ready to be part of that future.

What the Rest of Us Can Do

These are just some of the things that ATCMA is advocating for with our government. 

If you are a TCM professional, help us do our work for you! 

• Become an ATCMA member to support our work. Click here to join now!
• Tell your TCM colleagues to join as well.
• Reach out to us to join one of our committees. Click here to contact us.
• Consider becoming a future ATCMA board member.
• Stay connected with us to learn what issues are coming up for our profession and what ATCMA is doing about it. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or contact us to find out how to follow us on WeChat.
• Check out our advocacy blogs on our website: https://atcma.org/blog/?category=Advocacy

If you are a member of the public who uses or wants to use TCM to help you with your health, you can help too!

• If you have a TCM professional that you see, ask them if they are a member of ATCMA and encourage them to join so our work can help you have better access to the services you need.
• Tell your MLA that TCM services are important to you for your health, and ask them to read this blog.