Canada has struggled to make digital health a reality. We identified 6 key issues that appear to impede progress: 1) an inability to coordinate the actions of a rapidly evolving set of stakeholders, 2) patients who lack the ability and resources to play a meaningful role in health system decision-making, 3) world-class innovation that doesn't reach the market, 4) an inability to kick-start interoperability projects that can catalyze system transformation, 5) an inability to procure early-stage innovative technologies at scale, and 6) an inability to share data seamlessly across organizational silos for patient coordination and care, health system management and research. We propose a set of policies and practices that can help Canada assess, monitor and provide feedback to stakeholders and citizens on how well they are progressing toward seamless digital health.
Keywords: Digital health; innovation; interoperability; observatory; patient empowerment; policy; procurement.