Blog: Infoway Connects

Posted on October 27, 2014 by Shelagh Maloney

According to the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI), between 9,000 and 24,000 Canadians die each year from preventable adverse events in hospitals. This number is surprising — but even more so when you consider that more deaths result each year from patient safety incidents than from breast cancer, motor vehicle accidents and HIV combined.

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Kelly Kuru

You’d be hard pressed to find a high school or university student that hasn’t spent countless hours preparing for their mid-term or final exam using a finely honed system of rote memorization through repetition. Fast forward 15 years and as a mother of a busy toddler, I find myself constantly repeating the same three words that I hope will one day sink in … “No!” … “Please!” … “Careful!” The usual outcome with this approach is that it’s in one ear and out the other.

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Valerie Leung

The intent of medication reconciliation (MedRec) is to ensure effective communication about patients’ medications at healthcare transition points. And although it is a patient safety practice required by Accreditation Canada, implementing MedRec across the continuum of care continues to be a challenging task. However, electronic MedRec (eMedRec) solutions can simplify the task — and now there’s a toolkit that can ease your transition from paper to electronic medication reconciliation.

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Shelagh Maloney

Over the course of the summer, I had the opportunity to meet with a number of jurisdictions and national health organizations to discuss Better Health Together, Infoway’s public education campaign. The campaign was launched in September of last year to raise the level of awareness among Canadians about the benefits of digital health.

Posted on September 9, 2014 by Jennifer Zelmer

Greg Price was a young man who died in 2012 after spending much of the previous year navigating a disconnected health care system. The Alberta Health Quality Council reviewed Greg’s case and made several recommendations, including how digital health could have helped improve communications among teams in his circle of care and empowered Greg with the information he needed to navigate his health care journey.

Posted on September 5, 2014 by Jennifer Zelmer

Camryn is an energetic child who loves to play air hockey, collect stickers, colour and play outside. But she also has a number of health issues which mean frequent trips to five different clinics at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. In the past, her care team had to wade through thick paper files in search of test results. However, since the implementation of an electronic medical record (EMR), Camryn’s care team can more easily find the information they are looking for and quickly share it with their colleagues. Here is Camryn’s story.

Posted on August 28, 2014 by Maureen Charlebois

This year’s Advancing Care Peer Leader Symposium was a reminder to us about why collaboration at all levels of health care is so important. Conversations between health leaders, from across the country and beyond, continue to be an essential step in delivering more efficient and effective health care for patients and clinicians through the use of digital health tools. Opening with a compelling patient experience, it laid the foundation of this year’s theme: Optimizing the Use and Value of Digital Health.

Posted on August 26, 2014 by Jennifer Zelmer

Eight in ten Canadians want online access to their personal health information. Four per cent have it.

Posted on August 20, 2014 by Jennifer Zelmer

Having just started tweeting, I was excited to join Infoway’s recent Public Health Social Media Challenge Expert Q&A Session. Teams from our Public Health Social Media Challenge were given the opportunity to pose questions to our panel of experts. They asked some challenging questions and received some great advice.

Posted on August 8, 2014 by Maureen Charlebois

In May 2014, Canada Health Infoway (Infoway) in partnership with the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) released the results of the first ever quantitative survey which measured nurses in direct practice access, use and perception of using digital health tools in their practice.

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Fraser Ratchford

I recently had the pleasure of hosting our second Expert Forum. For one hour, teams participating in our ImagineNation Public Health Social Media Challenge presented their social media initiatives to receive feedback from a group of experts. The Public Health Social Media Challenge is designed to inspire public health organizations in Canada to use social media in creative and innovative ways to reach out to and connect with their audience.

Posted on July 2, 2014 by Bobby Gheorghiu

Although Canada’s health care system faces many challenges ahead, there is also tremendous innovation happening that is transforming the way health care is delivered. Through the use of technology, for example, health care can be brought closer to the patient — it can be accessed at the touch of a tablet or specialized device, such as a blood pressure cuff or wireless scale, through which health care providers monitor changes in a patient’s condition and coach them on how to manage their health — and before it deteriorates, requiring a trip to the emergency room.

Posted on June 24, 2014 by Anne Snowdon

There are a number of legitimate concerns that have been raised around the rapid explosion of health apps. A key barrier to the widespread adoption of health apps continues to be worries around privacy, security, and liability issues related to accessing, storage and ownership of health data. Health information is considered highly sensitive and private, and there are valid questions regarding liability should inappropriate access to information take place, or if health information is inadvertently released due to technical issues. There is also ambiguity around the regulation of health apps themselves, particularly when they offer medical information or health-based services.

Posted on June 24, 2014 by Fraser Ratchford

Digital health is making a significant impact to Canadians and is resulting in better delivery, quality and access to care. e-Booking is one of the tools that is adding convenience and increasing productivity to the health care system. It allows patients to book their own medical appointments online at any time and without the assistance of office staff. Patients receive online confirmation and alerts about their appointments, allowing the office staff to focus on higher-value tasks.

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Julie Latreille

I had the pleasure of being the guest speaking at a recent webinar hosted by the Consumer Health and Innovation team at Canada Health Infoway. The webinar focused on how teams, who are part of the e-Connect Impact Challenge, can develop a successful quality plan.

Posted on June 17, 2014 by Anne Snowdon

Last summer, researchers at the International Centre for Health Innovation (the Centre) performed an analysis of the most popular health apps to define the purpose of each app and to examine the value these apps may offer consumers outside of the traditional health system.¹ The “Top 100” most popular apps were generated for both Android and iPhone operating systems for two categories, health and fitness and medical, which then underwent content analysis to find major themes.

Posted on June 12, 2014 by Simon Hagens

Do computers in the exam room impact patient-provider interaction? This is a topic of much debate, but less concrete evidence. To add to the conversation, we analysed data from a survey conducted by Harris Decima to measure public attitudes and understanding of health information and communication technology (ICT). The survey was in field in February and March 2014 and collected perspectives from 1,512 Canadian adults.

Posted on June 10, 2014 by Anne Snowdon

This February, my colleagues and I at the International Centre for Health Innovation at the Ivey Business School at Western University released the report “It’s All About Me: The Personalization of Health Systems.” The report describes the emerging consumer-driven demand for a more personalized health system, and the steps health systems must take to meet this fundamental shift. Unprecedented access to health information and revolutionary medical discoveries are working together to generate this grassroots demand for personalized healthcare, and it is fascinating to me to see the role mobile health applications (health apps) are playing in this shift.

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Fraser Ratchford

Canada Health Infoway’s website features dozens of stories and videos about the progress that’s being made with digital health solutions across Canada. The breathe app is our most recent video. An ImagineNation Outcomes Challenge participant, the breathe app is recognized as a unique tool that is helping asthma patients monitor and manage their condition. Created by the Ontario Lung Association with support from Infoway, the app is helping bring care closer to home. Check it out.