Doctors in the United States spend almost four times more onhealth insurance administrative costs than their neighbors upnorth, according to new data.

Researchers from Cornell University and the University ofToronto found per-physician costs in the Unites States averaged$82,975 each year, while Ontario-based doctors averaged $22,205.The difference is primarily attributed to Canada's single-payerhealth care system, which researchers say is simpler.

Canadian physicians follow a single set of rules while U.S.doctors grapple with different sets of regulations, procedures andforms mandated by each health insurance plan or payer. ThoughAmerican doctors spend only about one hour more each weekpersonally interacting with health plans than Canadian doctors do,it's a different burden here. Nurses and other medical staff in theUnited  States spend 20.6 hours per physician per week onadministrative duties; their Canadian counterparts spend only 2.5hours.

“The magnitude of that difference is what is interesting,” saysSean Nicholson, Cornell professor of policy analysis and managementin the College of Human Ecology. “It's the nurse time and theclerical time, rather than physician time, that's different. That'sdriving the increased costs.”

The researchers recommend U.S. policymakers and health insurersstandardize transactions and conduct them electronically to savetime and money. That could result in a savings of $27 billion everyyear.

“That's what we hope will come out of this—that informeddecisions can be made by private and public health care insurersabout what really works and what is not worth the money,” Nicholsonsays.

The study appeared in the August issue of Health Affairs.