administrators

@Kim-Giroux OMG! I didn't realize you are part of the EPHM! Looking forward to meeting you in person.

Seeking patient/caregiver/healthcare voices for upcoming CIHI report
CIHI Report Participation.pdf for more information.

The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) is looking for patients, caregivers and health care professionals to provide quotes about your experiences with the Canadian healthcare system.Your quote will be considered for inclusion for an upcoming report on the state of the health system, focusing on electronic health information and digital health. This report is a part of a larger ongoing series measuring improvements in four shared health priority areas of our health system.

The report will be published on the CIHI website.

To provide a quote, you will:

• list itemParticipate in a virtual or phone interview (maximum 1-hour) with CIHI staff, to take place in March to April 2026.

• Receive 3 to 5 open-ended questions ahead of your interview to allow time to prepare your responses.

Alternatively, we can share the questions by email, and you can provide written responses.
You will have the opportunity to review your quotes before publication. Participation is voluntary and you can choose how much information you share with us. Your name can be kept confidential if you wish.

We are looking for patients, caregivers, health providers and healthcare professionals
who can speak to their experiences (within the past 2 years) with any of these topics:
Accessing, using or sharing their health information (ex: diagnostic, vaccine or lab
results and medication history, etc...) electronically
Using digital tools (ex: the internet, apps, portals, smartwatches, devices, etc...) to
understand and manage your health or your patients’ health
Involved in digital health, Connected Care, interoperability or AI-enabled initiatives
To participate, you must also be:
Available for a maximum 1-hour virtual interview between March and April 2026
Comfortable with your story being shared publicly.
Please note that your real name and/or photograph does not need to be shared.

How can you get involved?
Get involved!

If you or someone you know is interested in participating, please email Patient
Engagement Office at patientengagement@cihi.ca by March 13th, 2026.

All, I have incorporated your stories about how you use AI in the panel talk I did last week at the FHLIP. Special thanks to @Kim-Giroux who talked with me at length. The audience was surprised and amazed that "members of the public" are actually using AI and for more than just a better search tool.

At the conference I became aware that AI is bursting into healthcare in a bunch of new and mostly beneficial ways. As patient/caregiver partners, we need to be part of the decisions being made. For that, we need to learn more. PAN is working on making sure we can do that. Thanks, again.

This came into my inbox today from Canada Healthwatch about Minister Marjorie Michel's positions coming from her various podcasts/talks:

Federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel laid out a series of positions on The Gritty Nurse podcast pointing to big changes underway inside federal–provincial health agencies.
The government is poised to accelerate drug and medical device approvals, AI-adoption, and changing models of care.
“Before becoming a leader, we have to be in the game. Right now, we are not.”
Michel criticized Canada’s regulatory culture as economically uncompetitive, describing Health Canada as overly restrictive:
“The posture of Health Canada was always protecting, protecting ... we added a lot of layers.”
She said she is personally driving deregulatory changes:
“This is why I am pushing my department… moving fast, removing the red tapes, facilitating the clinical trials ... And this is why I am on it like 24 hours a day.”

Violence in hospitals:
Asked by podcast host Amie Archibald-Varley whether the federal government would consider tying health transfers to nurse–patient staffing ratios or to provincial compliance with occupational safety standards, Michel replied:
“We had that conversation ... at my last FPT. And because we had a presentation from the nurses about harassment and violence. I think I already asked Health Canada to see how we can support them better by ... raising awareness.”
When pressed on whether provinces are failing to enforce existing occupational health laws, she said:
“I wouldn’t say that. I think it’s very complex.”

Men’s health strategy:
The Minister said she is launching a national boys’ and men’s health strategy “very soon,” and that the men’s health strategy will encompass digital harms.
“I am also including all this social media, gambling ... in my strategy, because it impacts a lot of young men.”
Though regulation of social media platforms formally falls to the Department of Canadian Heritage, a federal stance toward regulating the internet under the auspices of health would be a new development.
Rapid AI-adoption, unclear guardrails:
The Minister predicts that in a few years’ time, “we'll have a very different healthcare system.”
She said the government is very keen to prevent Canada from becoming a passive consumer of foreign tech:
“If we don't move fast and if we are not embracing it, we will be buyers but not innovators.”
The push for speed comes as international regulators are reporting dramatically increased malfunction rates for AI-enabled surgical devices compared to non-AI counterparts.
On the health workforce:
The Minister also discussed a permanent move away from physician-centred care:
“... we won't ever have enough doctors to take care of the health of Canadians. And now we have nurses that are well trained and who are doing the work and more and more, they will take their space.”
Canada Healthwatch reached the Minister’s office asking for clarification on regulatory approvals, AI oversight, and a federal stance on hospital safety. No response was received by publication time.

@Cristyana-Aloysious as always, a pleasure to hear from you. I will contact you by email to follow up.

@Kim-Giroux I will send you an email with some times to talk. Hope this works for you and many thanks.

@Don-Grant I will send you an email with some times to talk. Hope this works for you and many thanks.

@Joan-Tu thanks so much for sharing, very helpful.

@Sheri-McCready I will send you an email with some times to talk. Hope this works for you and many thanks.

@Sheri-McCready do you actually use AI currently to manage your health? Or are you hoping to learn how to?