Envisioning digital health ecosystem transformation in Canada «a conceptual foundation en Neuf Etapes.»

Canada’s journey towards digital health transformation is in a phase that precedes widespread catalytic change, trailing peer nations. In this perspective piece, we discuss the nine steps that are key to catalyzing digital health transformation. We highlight the importance of foundational investments for health systems redesign. These investments in interoperability, unified digital core and ID, scalable health data systems, will enable precision-focused clinical care and prevention-focused public health with Smart Care Everywhere models. Our conceptual foundation highlights the importance of an agile health system with a unified digital core, capable of integrating multiple AI-enhanced digital tools, and managing the data deluge of multimodal data. We hereby advocate for a Smart, Scalable, Digitized, “Care Everywhere” model that can expand health care access to all of its populations: the served and the underserved. An essential component of the foundation is the creation of agile health systems and business models that prevent provider burnout while promoting collaborative, connected care that reaches served and under-served populations, with caring, compassion, enabling an improved engagement and connection. We also call for an investment in the continuous training of healthcare professionals, data professionals, and for an ethical, efficient implementation of AI/digital solutions everywhere from hospitals to community care settings. We also highlight the necessity of data governance policies to safeguard patient autonomy, promote data ownership, to ensure health data privacy, security, and confidentiality. This nine-step approach offers a framework for a unified, connected, patient-centred health ecosystem operationalized/made efficient with digital/AI solutions for patient communities, enabled by connectivity, caring, and compassion. Together, these nine steps serve as a conceptual foundation to enable a sustainable health system that advances access, equity, and efficiency in caring in health care nationwide.