Technology and Innovation

These parliamentary studies are low-profile but have implications for access to medicines

Two studies by Parliamentary Standing Committees each have potentially serious implications for medical innovation, pandemic preparedness and access to medicines.

The quiet commercialization of primary care records

An emerging model is quietly turning Canadian patient medical records, and patients themselves, into lucrative commercial assets – often without patients' explicit knowledge or consent.

Our research ethics boards aren’t the problem – the system wasn’t built to protect participants

The bodies responsible for the ethical review of research and ensuring that it safeguards the individuals in it – operate with no national standards, no oversight and no accreditation at all.

Beyond the default patient: Diversity in virtual simulation-based health-care education

Virtual simulation platforms often fail to meaningfully reflect patient diversity, which may be shaped by underlying biases and have implications for clinical outcomes.

Technology is deepening economic abuse: Canada’s health system can’t afford to ignore it

Addressing economic and digital safety is no longer optional for health policy. It is a core component of patient wellbeing.

Fractured foundations: Reimagining primary care in Canada

Canada’s primary care system is not bending. It is breaking. And what breaks at the foundation eventually collapses across the whole structure.

Professional self-regulation can still work if we run it in the public interest

Self-regulation can work if we stop running quality assurance like licensing compliance and start running it like professional development in the public interest.

You asked an AI bot about your symptoms. Now what?

More and more people are turning to Artificial Intelligence to ask about health. The challenge is how to use it without getting hurt.

The software we deserve: Vibe coding the future of health technology

Vibe coding represents a potentially transformative approach to health informatics. By lowering barriers to entry we could address longstanding gaps in EMR systems.

Pharmacists are essential in bridging the gap between AI and patient-centered care

In a world pushing toward data-driven systems and algorithms, pharmacists can safeguard the human element of care by acting as a nexus between health and technology.

Meeting patients where they are: Why medical training must include social media literacy

Some medical schools are beginning to explore digital health communication, but comprehensive social media literacy training remains the exception rather than standard practice.

Fail-first drug rules defy logic, deny timely access for people with rare diseases

Despite the recent approval of targeted biologics that can significantly improve quality of life, Canadians living with Myasthenia Gravis continue to face unjust policy barriers.

AI and the mental health crisis: Can chatbots fill the gap?

Canadians are increasingly turning to AI chatbots, like ChatGPT, for mental health support. But is this type of technology truly up to the task?

Rethinking our stewardship of patient health data in the age of AI

Patients deserve to benefit from the power of their data, but they also deserve to know, to choose, and to trust.

Patients before paperwork: Leveraging AI as a tool in primary care

AI and NLP applications are promising adjunctive tools that will help reduce administrative burden and burnout and enhance delivery of patient-centered care for all Canadians.

Immersive Virtual Reality is a valuable addition to medical training with the right planning

IVR, a type of simulation that uses virtual spaces and characters rather than physical and human resources, could be the future of medical training.

Licence to kill: The pandemic on our roads

Many vehicular deaths are preventable. Traffic violence happens frequently but we don’t take these incidents seriously, judicially, socially nor traffic engineering-wise.

Community oversight essential to improving primary care in Ontario

It’s time to roll up our sleeves and choose to build a primary care system that can truly stand as the foundation for Ontario’s health and social systems.

LifeLabs strike highlights risks of foreign ownership in Canadian health care

The months-long strike at British Columbia’s LifeLabs has raised questions about foreign ownership of medical services and Canadians’ health data.

In the face of growing uncertainty, Canada needs to double down on innovation

As our nation navigates economic and social uncertainties, safeguarding and enhancing our health-care system will be crucial to ensuring a healthier future for all Canadians.