News Summary

The Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI) is calling for Canadian governments to revamp procurement and data management strategies to support domestic healthtech companies and alleviate the healthcare system’s pressures. In their report, ‘Care at Scale: Public Buying, Data and Better Health Care for Canadians,’ co-authored by Laurent Carbonneau and Claire Wilson, CCI outlines recommendations such as adopting Buy Canadian policies, international standards for data sharing, and creating a national market for digital health procurement. The report highlights the inefficiencies in the current lowest-bidder procurement system and suggests a value-based approach that considers total cost, interoperability, and domestic ownership. The proposed changes aim to foster stronger productivity and integration within the healthcare system, aligning with the Defence Industrial Strategy to prioritize homegrown solutions. CCI also emphasizes the need for better data sharing mechanisms while ensuring patient privacy, recommending the adoption of standards like the HL7 FHIR for secure electronic health record exchanges. The report, supported by input from companies like AlayaCare and WELL Health Technologies, argues for enabling competition through accessible, de-personalized health datasets. This initiative is intended to fortify Canada’s digital healthcare capabilities and reduce reliance on foreign data sources.