By Karna Gupta, President and CEO, ITAC

With Canada’s healthcare system under increasing pressure to meet the demands of a growing, aging population, digital tools hold tremendous potential to deliver faster, more-informed diagnoses and better outcomes. Getting these tools certified and into the hands of Canada’s clinicians and their patients quickly, and with a high degree of efficacy, is critical. If successful, the promise is immense: lower cost, better care, greater throughput for innovation, and success for companies with scalable solutions.

The launch of a joint review of the certification of the digital health solution landscape by ITAC and Canada Health Infoway addresses a need we are hearing from the marketplace and will ensure that a broad range of players are represented. The review will be managed by a multi-stakeholder steering committee, which will consider the privacy, security, interoperability, and safety dimensions of product testing and certification.

Over the past five years, Infoway has certified, or initiated the certification process for, more than 25 products that will move Canada into the forefront of adoption of EMR, EHR and digital consumer health solutions.

Our joint review will ensure certification continues to represent all stakeholders, stay aligned with national and international standards, and supports innovation and investment, along with the export of health software products and services.