Longwoods Healthcare Services Radio

Do Politics and Healthcare Intersect in 2026? with Jason Sutherland

In this episode, the discussion examines whether Prime Minister Mark Carney's 2025 pledge to “build a stronger Canadian health care system” can be trusted—exploring provincial budget limits, public appetite for targeted healthcare spending, and the trade-offs between building hospitals, hiring doctors, and strengthening community care to unclog emergency departments.

The episode outlines the signals to watch (large federal–provincial funding deals versus stricter Canada Health Act enforcement), argues for nuanced, value-driven investments rather than headline splurges, and urges listeners to research party promises and vote with healthcare in mind. This recording uses AI voice technology and is not Jason M. Sutherland.

How to get published in Healthcare Policy

Healthcare Policy / Politiques de Santé is a peer‑reviewed academic journal published by Longwoods Publishing in Canada. Focusing on healthcare policy research and policy translation, with an emphasis on issues relevant to health systems, governance, financing, and service delivery, particularly in Canada but with international relevance as well.

 

Join Jason Sutherland, Editor-in-Chief for Healthcare Policy as he discusses the requirements and wants and needs to have your manuscript published. 

 

Connected Care in Action Episode 5 Testing What’s Possible Projectathons and the Future of Interoperability

Canada’s progress toward a fully connected health system is measured not just in policies and plans but in how systems actually work together. Projectathons are where that vision is put to the test – structured, non-competitive events that bring together vendors, jurisdictions, and clinical leaders to validate whether digital health solutions can exchange information securely and consistently across the country.

A prime example of a Projectathon tested standard is the Pan-Canadian Patient Summary (PS-CA) specification, which defines a common way to capture and share essential health information, medications, allergies, immunizations, and more, so it can travel with patients throughout their care journey. By testing against PS-CA, vendors and jurisdictions prove their systems can create and consume a standardized summary directly within clinical workflows, ensuring that vital health information is available whenever and wherever it is needed.

This session will explore how Projectathons accelerate standards adoption, identify issues early, and give governments, vendors, and providers confidence that solutions are ready for care settings. We’ll reflect on lessons learned from Canadian and international events and preview what’s next, including the upcoming Canadian Projectathon.

It’s a fitting finale: a look back at progress and a look forward to how innovation is tested, refined, and accelerated in the real world.

Featured Speakers:

• Allana Cameron, Product Director for the Patient Summary, Canada Health Infoway,
• Daniel Berezeanu, Product Manager, IHE Catalyst,
• Brandon Blanck, President and CEO, Healthquest and
• Moderator: Edwin White Chacon, Manager, Enablement Services, Canada Health Infoway

Connected Care in Action Episode 4 Accelerating Together How Public-Private Collaboration Drives System Change

A connected health system cannot be built within technological silos or fragmented partnerships. It requires sustained collaboration across government, industry, clinical leaders, patients and communities, and many more, who share a vision for more modern, efficient, and collaborative care.

This session will explore how strategic public-private partnerships are accelerating Canada’s digital health transformation, while also helping to address long-standing challenges such as data fragmentation, clinician burden, and scaling digital pilots into sustainable system-wide solutions. At the heart of the discussion is Canada Health Infoway’s Vendor Innovation Program (VIP), a national initiative that supports vendors in developing solutions that are standards-based, clinically grounded, and ready to scale.

Featured Speakers:

• Ashley Miller, Chief Medical Information Officer, Nova Scotia Health & IWK Health,
• Mike Forseth, Chief Executive Officer, Ava,
• Darek Szadkowski, Vice President of Strategy, Programs, and Partnerships, Canada Health Infoway and
• Moderator: Edwin White Chacon, Manager, Enablement Services, Canada Health Infoway 

 

Connected Care in Action Episode 3 Built to Scale Rethinking Interoperability for Smarter, Connected Care

Innovation can’t scale without strong, connected foundations. As Canada’s health system becomes more digitally enabled, it needs infrastructure that supports secure, seamless, and real-time information sharing. That is where interoperability comes in. But achieving it means more than just linking systems. It requires thoughtful design that reflects how care is actually delivered.

This session explores how Canada is redefining interoperability as a strategic enabler of better care. It supports clinicians in their workflows, improves the patient experience, and drives system-wide performance.

At the centre is HALO (Health Application Lightweight Protocol), a foundational approach to building modular, vendor-neutral systems that integrate directly into clinical practice. HALO is more than a technical tool; it represents a new way of designing digital infrastructure around the realities of care.

We will share early insights from HALO pilots in British Columbia and Ontario, where this approach is being tested to reduce administrative burden, improve timely access to information, and enable more connected, coordinated care.

Bringing together clinical, technical, and implementation perspectives, this session will show how interoperability, when built with usability and trust in mind, can accelerate progress toward modern, team-based, patient-centered care.

Featured Speakers

This session features leaders and builders advancing next-generation interoperability frameworks:

• Dr. Ed Brown, Advisor, Canada Health Infoway 
• Amanda Gray, Senior Executive Director, Enterprise Architecture, Strategic Platforms & Solutions, Provincial Health Services Authority, British Columbia
• Moe Fawal, Director, Product Management and Delivery - Virtual Care, Ontario Health

Connected Care in Action Episode 2 From the Ground Up Community-Driven Innovation in Underserved Settings

Digital health innovation often emerges from research labs and policy tables, but some of the most impactful solutions begin at the community level, in response to real-world needs. Across Canada, clinicians, Indigenous leaders, health organizations, and local changemakers are designing and deploying digital tools that are improving care in rural, remote, and underserved settings. These efforts reflect a growing global movement toward more equitable, locally driven models of care.

This session explores how community-driven innovation is advancing Connected Care and why equity, cultural relevance, and local leadership are essential for long-term success. We’ll spotlight real-world stories from across the country, including initiatives supported by Canada Health Infoway’s Connected Care Innovation Grant, delivered through the Centre for Clinical Innovation in Digital Health (CIDH). From EMS systems to Indigenous health centres, these projects demonstrate what’s possible when innovation is co-designed with communities, not just for them.

Featured Speakers

This session brings together leaders and innovators working at the intersection of equity, access, and technology:

• Dr. Rashaad Bhyat, Senior Clinical Leader, Canada Health Infoway
• Dr. Dan Pepe, Family Physician, Digital Health Innovator, and 2024/25 CIDH Grant Recipient, Self-Service Primary Care
• Dr. Ivar Mendez, Professor Emeritus of Neurosurgery, Director of the Saskatchewan Virtual Health Hub and Director of the Virtual Care and Remote Presence Robotics Program at the University of Saskatchewan
• Dr. Salim Samanani, CEO and Medical Director, OKAKI; Adjunct Professor, School of Public Health, University of Alberta

Connected Care in Action Episode 1 At the Front Line How AI Is Giving Clinicians Time Back

Explore how AI-powered scribe tools are easing clinicians’ documentation burden, improving care workflows, and giving time back to patients through responsible, real-world integration.

Speakers

• Dr. Rashaad Bhyat, Senior Clinical Leader, Canada Health Infoway  
• Dr. Eileen Lynn McCallum, Primary Care Physician, Enhance Health Medical in Edmonton 
• Dr. Jaron Easterbrook, Co-chair of the Information Sharing Task Group, Doctors of BC 
• Moderator: Edwin White Chacon, Manager, Enablement Services, Canada Health Infoway 

Why Some Types of Cancer are Harder to Treat Than Others: New Frontiers in Oncology

Over the past thirty years, groundbreaking innovations have saved and transformed thousands of lives of Canadians with cancer. Immunotherapies and precision medicines in particular have made huge strides for many cancer types, including lung, prostate and melanoma, sometimes turning a diagnosis people dread into something that requires less invasive treatments. However, some cancer types are far more difficult to treat: they are particularly aggressive and very hard to eradicate, including rare lung tumours, glioblastoma, as well as pancreatic, liver and gynecological cancers. Other countries have dedicated research programs for hard-to-treat cancers, while the world’s top medical centres are developing new diagnostics and medicines, often using tried-and-true therapeutics combined with new treatments. What can Canadian researchers, clinicians, cancer agencies and patient leaders do differently to shift the survival curves and help cancer patients live longer and with a better quality of life? 

 

Featuring:

Robert Bick, Co-Lead, Health Policy Consultant, CanCertainty

Anita Angelini, Vice Chair, Brain Cancer Canada

Dr. Rodney Ouellette, Sr. Researcher, Founder, Atlantic Cancer Research Institute

Dr. Barbara-Ann Millar, Radiation Oncologist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre

Moderator: Fred Horne, Policy Consultant

Brain Cancer Canada and Novocure are pleased to participate in this Longwoods Leadership Discussion

Why Canada Should Look to Australia for Health-System Fixes

Canadian provinces are struggling with affordability, access and equity as populations age and demand rises. This episode compares Canada’s provincial systems with Australia’s states, highlighting Australia’s stronger performance on equity and health outcomes and examining how private insurance operates alongside public medicare.

The authors call for low‑cost, high‑impact collaboration: federal‑led comparative analyses, data sharing, personnel exchanges and joint research to identify adaptable policies and practices that improve primary care access, reduce fragmentation and address inequities in both countries.

Healthcare Policy, Volume 20, Issue 4, August 2025

Authors: 

Michael Pervan, Chief Executive Officer, Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority, Sydney, Australia

Jason M. Sutherland, Phd, Editor-in-Chief, Director, Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

This podcast was created using an AI generated voice. 

Innovations in Primary Care: The Power of Virtual Triage

The Renfrew County Virtual Triage and Assessment Centre (RC VTAC) is an innovative, collaborative healthcare program launched in 2020 to provide timely, rural-focused care, connecting patients with virtual or in-person support from family doctors and paramedics, reducing ED visits, and managing non-urgent needs, acting as a crucial link for residents without regular primary care.

 

Featuring:

Robert McKay, Practice Leader, Healthcare Delivery, IQVIA

Dr. Jonathan Fitzsimon, Family Physician, Medical Lead, Renfrew County Virtual Triage and Assessment Centres