“Many hands make light work” – Continuing the momentum on Canada’s Digital Health Transformation 

Sponsored Session

In 2025 most Canadian physicians are working within data silos, due to challenges with digital health system interoperability (connectedness of care).   

Physicians face many barriers accessing health information required to provide optimal patient care, resulting in patient safety risks, and a heavy digital administrative burden. A 2024 CMA-Infoway national physician survey noted that 35% of respondents spend more than 2 hours per day beyond what they should, to find information needed to provide care for patients. 

The CMA, CFPC, RCPSC and Canada Health Infoway set up a task force of clinical leaders from across Canada to identify barriers and solutions to physician involvement in interoperable digital health activities. The task force produced a report that outlined key challenges, and five policy recommendations for advancing connected care (interoperability). 

But what actions can Provinces, Territories, and the Federal government take, working with partners, to advance the recommendation to include front-line clinicians in deploying digital health solutions, and avoid downloading administrative burden and costs of interoperability initiatives onto them? What role can policy and supports play in reducing the digital administrative burden, improving workflow, and enhancing physicians’ trust in their rapidly digitizing work environments? 

This session will: 

• Briefly review the recommendations of the Task Force.
• Profile new and emerging national and provincial/territorial activities intended to act upon the Task Force recommendations, including Physician Enablement activities like the national AI Scribe Investment Program and other AI applications, the HALO project (a national EMR app-launcher standard simplifying access to external eServices), 
• Preview new efforts now underway to drive national collaboration through a refresh of our approach to enabling pan-canadian connected care. 
• Engage participants on the path forward, by asking: how can physicians be best supported to participate in a digitally connected healthcare system, particularly in primary care? 

Presented by:

• Rashaad Bhyat, MD, Senior Clinical Leader, Centre for Clinical Innovation in Digital Health, Connectd Care Team, Canada Health Infoway 

Presenter Bios:

Rashaad Bhyat, MD

---