It was a small session, but was jam-packed with thought-provoking discussion, with everything from futuristic toilets that will be able to send data on your stool samples directly to your doctor, to smart dust (maybe as an allergen desensitizer? who knows?)….

But seriously, Bill Pascal of the Canadian Medical Association and Mark Dermer of the Canadian Health Infoway provided a great tag-team summary of the economic landscape (both global and Canadian), as well as a view of political and technological challenges in Canadian e-Health. Not surprisingly, security and privacy were considered to be key issues that must be built in (with privacy being highlighted as the major concern - they aren’t trying to stop foreign espionage, just misuse of personal health information).

To my pleasant surprise, a lot more is being done to modernize healthcare systems in Canada than I was aware of. The Canadian Health Infoway is a federal not-for-profit corporation formed to build Canada’s primary, next-generation IT infrastructure project, and designed to enable Electronic Health Records (EHR) for most types of healthcare providers in Canada.

It is good to see that security is a primary design requirement from the start, but I am also concerned that there are so many other objectives for this IT project that security may end up being compromised.

Sadly, Australia, New Zealand and the UK are worlds ahead of Canada by deployment and adoption. However, the Infoway is trying to build a system that integrates functional needs across jurisdictions; not a small task. Infoway is coordinating 14 jurisdictional mandates, and is seen as a global leader in some areas, despite the lack of visible success to date. So, while it is a long process, it is important that they seem to be taking the time to do it right.

Based on what was presented, it appears that we are now at a critical point where support is needed for funding and resources to make it a success. Surprisingly, they are actually having a hard time getting qualified IT resources to work on the project.

Another encouraging aspect of this initiative is that these champions are well aware of the need to consider the human issues, especially in making the distinction between functionality that can’t replace humans (such as patient notifications for malignant test results) and functionality that should replace humans, for security reasons (such as doctors’ office administrators who inherently add a risk of error and privacy compromise).

In short, it is good to know we in Canada have a dark horse that, if done right and supported, could bring us out of what seem like the dark ages when waiting in a hospital emergency rooms, or for major diagnostic test results. This stuff can also help in major ways to achieve timely and efficient treatment and innovative care delivery. I am glad to see Bill and Mark as champions in this cause. I’d just like more of us to hear about it. We have the technology, so let’s follow through on this great initiative, and make sure all its objectives, including security, are met.

As Mark Dermer concluded, politicians are generally bullied for listening to doctors’ recommendations (always assumed to be self-serving), so they are limited in what they can achive directly through lobbying. Therefore, we should be actively engaged in making sure the government sees the proper implementation of this type of system as a priority.