The role of health data in enabling connected healthcare

BY DR. RASHAAD BHYAT

There has been a lot of discussion about the challenges facing our healthcare system –on the front pages of newspapers, in overwhelmed emergency rooms, and in the halls of government offices. And in February, the federal government and Premiers reached an agreement on healthcare funding. As a primary care physician, I was especially pleased to see a focus on health data included within the federal government proposal that the Premiers accepted, as I know the powerful role digital tools can play in supporting patient care by enabling more comprehensive access to health data.

I recently saw a patient for a follow-up appointment, and we were missing two specialist consultation records that I have no way of access- ing except through a fax request, which pulls my staff away from more meaningful tasks. If I’m lucky, I’ll have the records within a few weeks.

Unfortunately, I’m not alone in these struggles. Research commissioned by Canada Health Infoway found that 82 percent of clinicians report not always having a summary of patient care received outside their practice setting, with 92 percent wasting time searching for patient information from other care settings.

In approximately eight years, Canada will experience a rapid increase in the number of people older than 85. These are our most vulnerable citizens, with many comorbidities and highly complex care needs. My colleagues and I already spend more time than we have on charting, specialist referrals, forms, coordinating preventive care, and other time- intensive tasks. With a more connected healthcare system, we can get ahead of some needless administrative inefficiencies, and ensure that more time can be spent on providing care to patients.

This is where the work I do as clinician leader at Canada Health Infoway comes into play. We are excited to partner with the federal government, provinces and territories, the private sector, and the health workforce to co-author the next chapter of health system modernization. Improved interoperability – the ability of health technology sys- tems to “speak the same language” based on the use of common standards – is a key piece of this.

In a more connected healthcare system, clinicians and patients benefit through better and more integrated care delivery across care settings, more effective communication across care teams, improved service delivery, and more efficient workflows.

Secure collection, sharing and use of health information will enable system improvements through the application of advanced analytics. A digitally connected health system will also save time for, and reduce the stress of, our healthcare providers, who continue to bear the brunt of delivering care on the front lines.

Dr. Rashaad Bhyat is a Toronto physician and Clinician Leader at Canada Health Infoway.