A report from Manitoba’s Auditor General into the province’s management of MRI services found an imbalance of wait times across the province and that some patients were given priority for the scans for non-medical reasons.

The report by Auditor General Norm Ricard said that as of June 2016, there were 21,323 people waiting for an MRI, and the average wait time was 23 weeks.

Ricard’s report said some patients were given higher priority for MRI scans based on non-medical reasons. It said this included Workers’ Compensation Board clients at one Winnipeg Regional Health Authority facility because of a service agreement, patients covered by private insurers, such as professional athletes and some patients with “influence.”

“To better ensure equity in access, we recommended that the scheduling of all MRI requests be based on medical need,” Ricard said.

The Auditor General’s report also said there is a wait time imbalance across the province. The average wait time in Winnipeg facilities as of 2016 ranged from 24 to 27 weeks, while the average wait time was 17 weeks at Boundary Trails Health Centre near Winkler, Man. and 12 weeks at the Brandon Regional Health Centre.

The audit concluded more could be done to balance these wait times by expanding the use of central intake and making sure patients know they can have their scans done at facilities outside the region.

The report also noted that facilities do not track MRI wait time by assigned priority level. For out-patient files, the audit found only 42 per cent of urgent scans, 24 per cent of semi-urgent scans and 12 per cent of routine scans were scheduled within targeted wait time.

Most of the emergency scans within the sample were conducted within the targeted time.

The report also said few processes are in place to stop and detect inappropriate MRI requests, even though evidence indicates 10 to 20 per cent of medical imaging exams are unnecessary.

“It is important that such requests be identified and denied because they increase MRI volumes and corresponding wait times,” said Ricard.