Digital Health Week: How We’re Advocating for You

The adoption of digital health solutions in health care settings has rapidly increased in recent years, playing a crucial part in supporting patient care today. Digital health solutions, such as EMRs, virtual care, and AI, have created an ever-evolving landscape for physicians, allied health professionals, and patients.

This week marks Digital Health Week, an annual celebration of digital health that highlights the importance of a modernized health care system that is connected, accessible, sustainable, and equitable.

Digital Health by the Numbers in Canada 

• A 2024 survey of 1,145 doctors from Canada Health Infoway and the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) showed that 95% of physicians currently use an EMR/EHR, a significant increase compared to 82% in 2017. 

• The same 2024 Infoway/CMA survey showed that 72% of physicians order lab tests electronically, with three out of five using electronic clinical decision support tools. 

• According to data reported by Statistics Canada in January 2024, more than half of Canadians (51%) aged 15 and older reported accessing electronic health information in the past 12 months.

Representing Physicians’ Interests through Policy 

As part of our Strategic Plan, Doctors of BC is committed to supporting doctors to be leaders in health system transformation and ensuring physicians’ interests are represented when it comes to making decisions about digital health. Our dedicated Digital Health Strategy & Privacy and Policy teams have been working for years to ensure we have policy positions that allow us to strategically and effectively advocate for solutions that reflect your priority needs and concerns.

In 2020, Doctors of BC released a policy position calling for the establishment of appropriate and collaborative governance to ensure oversight, monitoring, and accountability, regarding the use of EMR data by external organizations for secondary purposes. This policy led to the establishment of a Secondary Use Data Governance Committee that ensures doctors have a seat at provincial decision-making tables concerning secondary use of their EMR data when they are participating in the Digital Referrals and Orders program. 

In 2021, we updated a policy statement outlining the increased importance of virtual care in supporting patients, and called for supporting doctors with the resources, infrastructure, and training necessary to use virtual care in their unique practice settings. 

And in 2023, we updated our broad digital health policy position, Improving Digital Health Solutions in BC, which advocates for meaningful physician engagement throughout each solutions’ life cycle. It also supports information continuity and clinical workflows through interoperability, and integration with existing solutions. This foundational policy allowed Doctors of BC to advocate for a collaborative governance approach to work with the Ministry of Health on developing a provincial EMR Strategy. This ensures electronic health priorities align with physicians’ needs and interests.

What’s Next in Digital Health Policy for Doctors of BC? 

Currently, Doctors of BC is working to develop a policy position that will guide our advocacy work on AI and support members in navigating this dynamic and evolving space. To support this work, we are seeking member feedback to inform our advocacy position and help us better understand physicians’ perspectives on AI. We encourage you to share your thoughts by November 26, 2024. 

As AI continues to play a pivotal role in the digital health conversation, there are both benefits to explore and important risks to address. By thoughtfully considering these factors, we can ensure the responsible and equitable use of AI tools in health care.

Want to learn more about Doctors of BC’s policy work? Visit our searchable Policy Database.