How interoperability in health care can save lives

Press Release

February 18, 2026

We’re already a quarter of the way through the 21st century, but only 29% of physicians can share patient information with another health care facility. Less than half of people living in Canada can access their own health information.

Meanwhile, care occurs everywhere, not just with one local provider. Almost 10% of hospitalizations in Canada require significant travel. In 2018, Ontario alone received more than 730,000 claims for health services outside the province.

When health records don’t follow patients, it leads to unnecessary or duplicative tests, longer wait times and medication errors. It’s patients who end up falling through the cracks.

On February 4, 2026, the federal government made a critical move to address the information gap in health care by reviving the Connected Care for Canadians Act Opens in a new window.

This legislation, a reflection of years of advocacy by the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) and others, will make it easier for physicians and patients to access and share health information.

It’s just the first step towards “connected care,” however. The real test is nation-wide implementation and adoption of systems that adhere to national interoperability standards, from large-scale hospitals to community-based clinical practices.

That is why the Digital Health Interoperability Task Force (DHITF), sponsored by the CMA, the College of Family Physicians of Canada, Canada Health Infoway and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, has developed recommendations Opens in a new window for the regulation and implementation of connected care in Canada.

As noted in a submission to the federal government, change is urgently needed: “Every day of delay costs lives, money and trust.”

How hard is it to share health information now?

Health care professionals rely on a plethora of digital health systems to hold, transfer and access health information. Many cannot communicate with each other. While you can withdraw cash from any ATM, anywhere around the world, a clinician in the ER is generally unable to access patient information from a clinic across the street.

Barriers to sharing data can also be by design. Data blocking practices include excessive extraction fees; providing clinics with incompatible and unreadable or incomplete data dumps when they try switching to new better performing systems or refuse access to data for third party products aimed at creating a more efficient medical practice.

“Interoperability can no longer be left to goodwill, it must be mandated,” the authors of the submission write, “It is no longer a choice, it is a national imperative.”

How can the federal government make health data more accessible?

If passed in its current iteration, the Connected Care Act Opens in a new window will require all health technology (IT) companies in Canada to adopt common standards to make it easier to securely transfer information between physicians, patients and health systems. Those who don’t comply will be fined. The Task Force also recommends eliminating all data blocking practices and creating a public complaints process.

What do doctors need?

While EMRs claimed they would save physicians’ time, a recent survey of physicians Opens in a new window across Canada reported that 75% said clinical documentation in electronic medical records was a major contributor to their administrative burden.

Physicians working in their own clinics are left to their own devices when it comes to technology. They are at once the buyer, user and IT support, yet generally do not have the time or technical knowledge for these roles and, unlike those working in institutions, they bear the full cost of those systems.

As CMA President Dr. Margot Burnell says, “Most physicians aren’t IT specialists, or procurement experts. We want to spend our time on clinical work.”

To support community practices and small clinics, the Task Force recommends targeted direct-to-community funding to help them implement and maintain interoperable systems, pre-validated technology registries to simplify verification processes and vendor-supported training programs to boost participation while reducing administrative, time and financial demands on individual physicians.

To set up future clinicians for success, the Task Force is also calling for health data and health technology education to be integrated into medical schools’ curricula nationwide.

Who will be responsible for data interoperability?

The Connected Care Act assigns primary responsibility for connecting health information systems to the companies that make them — not physicians.

It is, however, critical that clinicians be involved in the development of these systems, to make sure that they take into consideration how clinicians work and do not add to their administrative burden as EMRs have and do today.

Who will own patient information?

When people receive care, information is created. Clinicians record this information and it is then stored in systems developed by health IT companies. Patients have important rights to access and control their own information.

This is the first step in patient autonomy: patients need their information to be able to make informed decisions about their health.

The Task Force is therefore recommending clear consent and trust frameworks. Tools to ensure patients understand how their information will be used and shared and the ability to actively provide, withhold or withdraw consent. Technology that collects the patient’s consent, and monitors and manages access based on appropriate privacy rules without intervention from clinicians.

It’s important for patients from underserved populations to access their own health information. These groups may face discrimination, language barriers or other challenges when getting care. Easy access to personal health information can help people feel more informed and confident.

For Indigenous communities, data has a deep cultural and historical importance, and it is essential to respect Indigenous data sovereignty. Indigenous communities should be engaged in decisions about how their data is collected and used. Principles such as OCAP (Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession) can help guide this work.

What’s next?

Building a strong foundation for sharing health information now will help improve care for everyone, give patients more control, reduce administrative burden for physicians, accelerate innovation and grow research in health care. A reliable and responsible well connected health system today can also support safe and trustworthy AI in the future.

The sooner we legislate how health information systems work together, the sooner we can avoid provinces and clinicians being stuck using tools that cannot share data. The information in our health systems is valuable, and it should be accessible to support the health of Canadians. Canada Health Infoway has estimated that better health data and systems could save the country up to $2.4 billion every year Opens in a new window.

“We’re kind of replicating the same solution 11 times, or however many times, and it probably costs us billions to just reinvent the same thing again and again,” says Dr. Mike Forseth, a family physician from Calgary.

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