Technology could put a hospital in your home, says NS Health CEO

Health leaders from across the country are gathering at a conference in Halifax.

The future of health care may be in your smartphone or even on your wrist.

That was the message from Nova Scotia Health interim president and CEO Karen Oldfield at the eHealth26 convention in Halifax.

Health leaders and innovators from across the country and around the globe gathered in Halifax to see how digital health, data sharing and artificial intelligence are transforming health care.

Health experts shared ideas on how health data can be used and shared more widely to improve patients care and the health-care system.

“In order to improve the health-care system and the overall health of Canadians, is all based on data,” said Shannon O’Connor, manager of data standards for the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

“You really need that fundamental data to better understand the issues and to start to identify the solutions that can help us tackle them.”

Data is already changing the way health care is delivered and experts like O’Connor say the next step is making it more accessible for doctors and putting that information directly in the hands of patients.

Oldfield agrees and wants the YourHealthNS app to expand to give patients all their health data.

“We really do want YourHealthNS to be the one-stop shop,” said Oldfield. “There are many elements of that that will continue to roll out and people will be more empowered and they can do everything they’re going to need to do on their app.”

The province is currently rolling out the One Person, One Record (OPOR) digital health records management system that’s moving from paper health record system to digital.

It’s a massive digital transformation, said Oldfield, and part of a $365-million contract with Oracle Health Canada to design, develop, implement and support the OPOR system.

Oldfield sees a health-care system that will look different by utilizing digital technology that one day could replace hospitals.

“You’re going to have virtual hospitals, hospitals at home, is another way to do it,” said Oldfield. “Where you will be monitored, but it will be done virtually, digitally and through wearables on your person.”

There are always concerns around sharing so much data. Experts say privacy protection has to remain a priority, but argue it shouldn’t stand in the way of the technology’s potential to improve care.

“AI has huge opportunity for us to be able to actually help deliver better health care,” said Kate Ebrill, interoperability lead with the Australia E-Health Research Centre, who was in Halifax to speak at the conference.

To deliver improved health care, better and more widespread data is needed, which Ebrill calls the foundation for making health improvements.

“So just like in Australia and Canada, we need to make sure that that data represents all the people within our countries, from our really diverse populations, from our First Nations people to people who come and move to our countries,” said Ebrill.

For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page