Dr. Alex Jadad has his finger on the pulse of the hurdles to overcome in implementing an national Electronic Health Record.

Jadad has outlined the 4 key issues (CRAP).

Confidentiality of health information comes up, but banks are showing that information can be handled confidentially online and that it's not a deterrent.
Reduction in the quality of care is another one - people say technology is dehumanizing, but they don't have a relationship with a doctor who can only spend five minutes with a patient.
Absence of evidence about technology's ability to improve care - it takes years to
do clinical trials to get that evidence, and by the time they're done, the technology's obsolete.
Protection is the last issue: how to handle the legal issues if something goes wrong.

Removing my tongue from my cheek, it is very good to see this sort of messaging coming from the office of no less than a director at the University Health Network of Toronto.

I have two thoughts to add -

• What lessons can Canada Health Infoway (CHI) from the implementation challenges, cost overruns and results of Canada's Gun Registry?
  
• We need to harness the strength of Canada's employers by appealing to their interest in improving their employees health.

More than Employee Relationship building
In the US it is very simple, Employers want to keep employees healthy because healthy employees cost less in terms of expensive medical treatment (physicians, hospitals, etc.)

In Canada - it is not so simple. A result of our socialized medicine structure, the government (our taxes), pays for this large chunk of healthcare costs. We need to dig a little deeper, but we can find health related cost centers for employers. As a society & as an economy we have to uncover the costs of employee health for employers. Providing employers with tangible ROI in health and wellness programs, builds the case for the business decision to invest.


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