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We work and live on the unceded and occupied territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations.
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Change in healthcare is notoriously incremental and slow. Some of this is due to healthcare being a safety-critical industry. And there are many other well documented and debated barriers, including governance, payment & funding models, Canada’s geography, to name a few.
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Creating system capacity. Improving access to care. Enhancing the patient and family experience. Empowering health service providers. Improving quality and outcomes. Enabling innovation through technology. Movement toward achieving these objectives will help address the national health system crisis in Canada. How can we make any of this happen with the many obstacles we face, that are now even more exacerbated by widespread fatigue as a result of the pandemic?
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Humanism in healthcare is the respectful and compassionate relationship between care providers and patients. Most of us have had experience as either a patient or family member (or both) with our health system. The human moments have a profound impact on how we navigate the most difficult times of our lives.
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Starting and scaling up a healthcare company takes chutzpah. No matter if your entrepreneurial dream is modest or bold, it requires courage, conviction - and importantly- a great product or service. The time spent building your solution involves creativity, patience and a willingness to test, fail, refine and try again.
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Successful change is tough without confident leadership, engagement and buy-in from those who will be responsible for delivering on these changes once they are in place. Every organization is challenged to strike a good balance between “day-to-day” or “lights-on” responsibilities, versus dedicating resources towards successfully establishing new processes or applying new technologies.
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There is growing awareness around gender-based health equity gaps, and the opportunities to address them with technology, focused clinical research, and improved access to services. In North America, healthcare purchasing decisions are dominated by women. Most health care providers are women. Still, the market for women specific health (one that is expected to be valued at over $60 billion by 2027) continues to be underserved.
Lehman Brothers. Enron. Volkswagen. These companies are often cited as the most egregious examples of governance failures. The lessons learned from these scandals have been closely studied and cascaded. There is generally a focus on boards and director education on the importance of establishing strong processes and controls to manage business risk. These improvements are essential. However, we are still inconsistent on how strategy is prioritized and evaluated.
One year ago, Canada was in the midst of wave 3. The pandemic had already devastated many parts of our health system. Individuals, health leaders and front line workers wrote of the tremendous pressures on care providers and the awful effects of burnout. We anticipated there would be additional strains as other services and transformational initiatives were halted to address the public health crisis.
An abnormal mole, unexplained changes in weight, a persistent ache. These are some examples of symptoms that many Canadians discuss with their primary care physician. If you happen to be one of the estimated 6 million people without a primary care doctor, unless a symptom becomes acute, it may be ignored.
On December 31st, a 37 year old mother tragically died in an emergency room in Nova Scotia. Allison Holthoff waited six hours to be assessed in the ED, and communication with her family was infrequent. Quite appropriately, a review of the incident is underway to help identify what happened and what can be learned. Individuals who work in these high stress, urgent environments are among the most dedicated in the health system. I am certain those involved in this case are grieving this outcome.
Ontario has formally announced the expansion of surgeries performed in private facilities. I have enjoyed reading the dialogue about this topic over the past few days. All agree that reform is required to address waitlists. Most (at least publicly) believe that any changes must not exacerbate the inequities to access to care.
The Federal government appears to be closer to landing a deal with the provinces and territories on additional funding for healthcare.
Over the past several months, the news about the health care and tech sectors has been predominantly rough. Most would agree that there are major headwinds in healthcare, including a crisis in health human resources.
Health matters to everyone. In Canada, healthcare accounts for over a third of provincial, territorial and local government spending. So how do we decide where to invest all of these resources? We all want to be healthy and well. Still, our health priorities at any given time depend on our individual circumstances.
We have big opportunities and challenges in healthcare. And we need tech and innovation more than ever to help tackle them. But how can we make a meaningful impact and have a different conversation in 5 years?
The announcement that the Atlantic provinces has created an inter-provincial physician register is more good news for Canadian Healthcare. Expected to launch May 1, the Atlantic Physician Register will allow physicians to work interprovincially by facilitating the ability of doctors to treat patients in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and PEI.
Most Canadians hold strong opinions as it relates to our healthcare system. There is no shortage of entrepreneurs in the Canadian tech ecosystem who demonstrate a deep passion for transforming healthcare. What happens in healthcare has real consequences, sometimes life and death. So it is no surprise that there is culturally a low tolerance for taking risks and making mistakes.