Blog: Infoway Connects

Posted on October 27, 2020 by Dr. Peter Selby

As the COVID-19 pandemic upends Canadians’ daily lives, a surge in opioid-related overdoses continues across Canada. Nearly 15,400 Canadians died from an opioid-related overdose between January 2016 and December 2019. While 2020 data continues to be analyzed, Ontario’s coroner reported a 25 per cent increase in the number of opioid-related deaths so far this year.

Posted on October 20, 2020 by Ann-Marie Westgate

Fall is often a time when we think about new starts and new beginnings. Like many parents, I have a stepson starting university. As a security professional, I worry about an online world that has become even more “virtualized” as a result of COVID-19. Not only are classes online, but bank accounts, student loans, social events and the bookstore exist only in this virtual space. Students connect with other students, their professors, academic advisors, teaching assistants and others using their smartphones, computers and other devices.

Posted on October 14, 2020 by Andrea MacLean

World Standards Day (October 14) recognizes the collaborative efforts of experts across the globe to develop the standards underpinning our work in digital health. This year, the fragility of our human, health and environmental systems feels particularly exposed. And so, it feels entirely fitting to me that the theme of World Standards Day 2020 is “Protecting the Planet with Standards.” Standards don’t just enable data to flow more freely; they have important environmental benefits as well.

Posted on October 6, 2020 by Joel Francis

Whether you’re a physician sending diagnostic imaging across the country or a patient checking lab results on a smartphone, it’s essential that different health information systems and devices can talk to each other. This mutually intelligible flow of information between systems is interoperability, and it is essential to effective digital health, especially in Canada, where different provinces and territories look after their own systems.

Posted on September 22, 2020 by Waldo Beauséjour

Nurses comprise the largest proportion of Canada’s health care providers. The most recent data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI)’s Nursing in Canada, 2019 survey reveals that the regulated nursing workforce grew by 1.9 per cent from 2018: faster than the general Canadian population growth. This increase is welcome news, since nurses play a prominent role in patient care. A larger nursing workforce will support better access to health care for Canadians, especially during this unprecedented health crisis.

Posted on September 15, 2020 by Joel Francis

If there is a universal truth about health care, it’s this: there are a lot of forms. However, not all of them are created equal. Often, the data captured is static — it can’t be independently shared or queried.

Posted on September 8, 2020 by Myriam Brel

A new school year can be exciting — and stressful. Academic anxieties, bullying, romances and peer pressure add up to considerable weight on young shoulders. Heading back to the classroom during a pandemic only heightens that stress, for kids and parents alike.

Posted on September 1, 2020 by Dr. Rashaad Bhyat

Physical distancing, social circles, contact tracing, R0 numbers…over the past few months, we’ve adapted quickly to a wide range of new terms and concepts in order to stay healthy. For many Canadians, this information is largely new, the COVID-19 pandemic thus highlighting the importance of health literacy.

Posted on August 25, 2020 by Anne Baldwin 

Archimedes said it best: the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. For physician Dr. Jeffrey Steed, this is all too true when it comes to prescribing. Based in Coaldale, AB, his clinic was looking for more efficient ways to get prescriptions to pharmacies.

Posted on August 18, 2020 by Nancy Gupta

Growing up is hard to do, especially online. Adolescence has always brought challenges, but the COVID-19 pandemic has added substantial stress to the lives of youth and young adults across Canada. Physical distancing, uncertainty around schooling and employment and concerns around the virus itself have contributed to rising mental health concerns among young Canadians.

Posted on August 10, 2020 by Katie Bryski and Dana Riley

A virus may not discriminate on its own, but systemic inequities mean that COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted racialized groups. Data from the United States and the United Kingdom show higher rates of negative health outcomes and deaths related to COVID-19 among Black populations, due in part to the compounding effects of anti-Black racism and its subsequent impact on the social determinants of health.

Posted on July 27 by Dr. Rashaad Bhyat

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, I’ve been struck by the rapidity of events. This has been a fast-moving virus, but the response to it has been just as swift. In digital health, strong collaboration and leadership have helped to accomplish the policy work of years in just a few weeks.

Posted on July 21, 2020 by Michael Green

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We are pleased to publish our 2019-2020 Annual Report – Connecting Canadians Through Health Care Innovation. I hope you will take some time to review it to learn about the collective progress we’ve made across the country to improve Canadians’ access to their personal health information and to digital health tools and services.

Posted on July 14, 2020 by Bobby Gheorghiu, Waldo Beauséjour and Nicole Simms

What happens when a pandemic meets a heat wave? It’s a question that many jurisdictions are asking themselves this summer, weighing the need for emergency cooling centres against the continued need for physical distancing. This intersection between COVID-19 and climate change shows in microcosm the interconnections between health systems and natural systems.

Posted on July 8, 2020 by Nancy Gupta and Sukirtha Tharmalingam

When disease is suspected, how long does it take a patient to go from biopsy to diagnosis and treatment plan? It depends where you live. Across Canada, it can take anywhere from days, weeks, or months.

Posted on June 30, 2020 by Katie Bryski and Ellie Yu

It’s a brave new world in health care. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Canadians have turned increasingly to virtual care. According to Infoway’s ongoing tracking survey, virtual visits accounted for almost half of health care visits in May 2020. But what does this shift to virtual care mean for patients and how patients engage with the health care system?

Posted on June 23 by Darek Szadkowski

We all know the old adage that “the customer is always right.” The philosophy of customer centricity takes the idea further: it means working in a way that focuses first on providing a positive customer experience. To realize this philosophy, PrescribeIT^® has established the Product Excellence team, responsible for end-to-end product and workflow excellence to ensure market adoption and sustainability, while also ensuring and improving patient safety.

Posted on June 16, 2020 by Nancy Gupta and Simon Hagens

How are you holding up? No, really, how are you feeling? Specifically, in terms of your mental health?

Posted on June 8, 2020 by Katie Bryski

It’s unsettling, going unseen. Several years ago, I sat in an exam room with Kleenex scrunched in my fist. The clinician had just suggested a common procedure — except it wouldn’t be routine for me. Quite the opposite. As she did her best to offer assurance, I felt the realization slowly build. You don’t understand why I’m upset.