Intelligent solutions are the shining stars for Canada’s health-care system

Canada’s health-care system has always been hailed globally as a model of excellence. But like all health-care systems, it has been become stretched thin trying to cope with an increase in patient demands, worker shortages, and system problems. To help alleviate stresses and restore it to its legacy of timely access to care, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the premiers announced an increase in health funding of $196.1-billion over 10 years, including $46.2-billion in new funding. This funding will help uphold the Canada Health Act and is to be centred on four shared health priorities: family health care; health workforce and backlogs; mental health and substance use; and modernizing the health-care system with standardized information and digital tools. To optimize this funding, and ensure it continues to build the future of the Canadian health-care system, it needs to support our front-line care providers, creating a resilient workforce and providing immediate support in crucial areas as well as building a modern system that streamlines and standardizes health-care operations. Like other industries across the country, the Canadian health-care system needs to modernize to leverage the benefits of managing and interpreting its data, in a transparent and accessible way to better support our health-care staff, patients, and communities. The use of intelligent technologies Health care is always at the forefront of innovation. However, when it comes to making the health-care system resilient, implementing modern, agile, and innovative technologies in its operations will pave the way for sustainable and effective processes that will ease the pressure on health-care employees, improve the quality of life for patients, reduce delays, and help create integrated data systems. Andy Canham is the president of SAP Canada. Photograph courtesy of Andy Canham An effective hospital operational system lays a lasting framework for integrated and connected care.Human experience management solutions empower organizations to motivate employees with personalized training, reskilling, and automated demand-based scheduling, thereby reducing the burden and burn out of employees. Modern procurement and supply chain solutions increase operational efficiency. Modern data platforms can also integrate human resources, procurement, and finance information on a single platform. These solutions provide a holistic view of health-care operations, for proactive planning and real-time decision-making. There is a lot of potential for Canada’s health-care system to transform into an intelligent enterprise. Data-driven decisions A solid health-care operation system with strong data platforms will pave the way in understanding issues in Canadian health care. There is a need to unify data within the provinces and across the country to identify pain points and solve them far in advance. Implementing advanced technologies that provide analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning will help unlock valuable insights, harmonize organized and unorganized data from various sources, and improve quality of care by getting real-time access. This also helps with the federal funding that includes a five per cent Canada Health Transfer guarantee, allowing provincial and territorial governments to commit to improving how health information is collected, shared, used, and reported to Canadians to promote greater transparency on results, and to help manage public health emergencies. A data-driven strategy will aid in getting a supported health-care workforce that provides high-quality services, access to a patient’s own electronic health information, access to timely, equitable, and quality mental health, substance use, and addictions services to support Canadians’ well-being. On a road to progress With a long-term plan in place by the provincial and federal governments, establishing a foundation that includes a robust data strategy with intelligent technologies will be the first step in establishing resilient health care in Canada. At the end of the day, it is not just about solving the immediate needs at hand but retaining and supporting the health-care system for generations to come. These bilateral agreements are intended to be flexible, and provinces and territories will have options to tailor them to address the unique needs of their populations and geography. Having a digital approach will enable health-care organizations to both enact change and improvements to health care locally while enhancing the standard of care and innovation across the country. With a data strategy in place, it will be easier to devise an action plan that will make use of these intelligent technologies, identify solutions to critical challenges, and track the progress of improvement. Andy Canham is the president of SAP Canada. The Hill Times

Intelligent solutions are the shining stars for Canada’s health-care system

With a long-term plan in place by the provincial and federal governments, establishing a foundation that includes a robust data strategy with intelligent technologies will be the first step in establishing resilient health care in Canada.

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Intelligent solutions are the shining stars for Canada’s health-care system

With a long-term plan in place by the provincial and federal governments, establishing a foundation that includes a robust data strategy with intelligent technologies will be the first step in establishing resilient health care in Canada.

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