In 2023, four million Canadians lacked access to a regular provider or place of primary care, and Canadians are waiting longer for surgical procedures than they were before the pandemic.
Part of this challenge is workforce supply. While the number of health workers per 1,000 Canadians has held steady over the last decade, nearly a third of family physicians now provide other services like emergency medicine and psychiatry, reducing the number of primary care providers. As an added pressure, Canada’s aging population is accelerating the demand for care workers.
Canada has poured significant investment into solving this problem: for example, Budget 2024 describes $25 billion in agreements with provinces and territories to invest in stronger universal public health care, mainly through two types of intervention: growing Canada’s pool of healthcare professionals and investing in digital health infrastructure such as electronic health records, e-referral services, and virtual care tools.
Digital health technology can help bridge access gaps and facilitate timely, high-quality care. With the proportion of health workers in rural and remote areas in decline, physicians are increasingly using telehealth to reach patients. Digital health tools like electronic health records and e-referrals promote continuity of care, make health data accessible to patients, aid preventative care, enable population-level analysis, and reduce patient wait times.
However, in its recent research on digital health in Alberta, the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC) found that many healthcare providers do not feel their degrees have prepared them to use digital health tools and do not feel there is an easy way to integrate this training into their busy professional lives. The research also found under-utilization of tools like Alberta Health Services’ EHR Connect Care. For example, only 38% of senior-level students in Alberta’s nursing programs reported receiving training on electronic health records.
ICTC’s recent report, “From Concept to Care: Health Technology Talent in Alberta,” highlights crucial areas for digital health skills development, including health information management, data analysis, and foundational digital skills. When paired with a strong digital health system design, skills training will improve more than just healthcare workers’ ability to use digital tools; it will also support Canadian health authorities in using health technology to its full potential.
Faun Rice is Manager of Research and Evaluation at the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC) and co-author of the recent report, “From Concept to Care: Health Technology Talent in Alberta.”
