Overview
At TEC 2023, we would like to shape the future of digital health, transforming it to become a benefit for the patient and provider alike.
Digital health is an umbrella term encompassing everything from virtual health, rural/remote decision support, remote patient monitoring, and much more. With the rapid adoption of digital health through the pandemic, compounded with the attrition of family medicine, patients and providers have experienced some of the negative unintended consequences of these changes.
To begin such an ambitious aim, with the partnership of Healthcare Excellence Canada, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Canada Health Infoway, Canadian Medical Association, Health Canada, Canadian Institutes for Health Information, Rural Coordination Centre of BC, First Nations Health Authority and CMPA, we are bringing together the chief stakeholders to drive this change.
The Edge of Care
Featuring “THE EDGE OF CARE” an award-winning documentary (2023 Creative Muse Award & Hermes Award) follows the story of community leaders, elders, artists, knowledge keepers, and physicians as they work together to deliver equitable health care to the most remote and rural communities in British Columbia.
With thoughtfulness, intention and kindness, these characters are re-building trust: braiding together thoughtful, culturally safe, on the ground health care with cutting edge technology. Using videoconferencing and a willingness to meet people where they are, “Real Time Virtual Support” is connecting patients in Canada’s most remote places with the health care they need.
The people in this film opened up their homes, their clinics and their hearts to us. We honour their stories in this visceral documentary film, set deep in British Columbia’s vast wilderness.
ABOUT RTVS Real Time Virtual Support (RTVS) is an on-demand, peer to peer health care support network which allows rural and remote physicians, midwives, nurses and other health care workers to connect with immediate, on-call support at the click of a button. Specialists in Emergency Medicine, Pediatrics, Maternity & Newborn Care (and more) are available 24/7 at participating communities across British Columbia. To find out more: go to https://rccbc.ca/initiatives/rtvs/
Watch The Edge of Care on Youtube
Output of TEC 2023
The chief output of TEC 2023 is a set of papers designed to shape policy by being informed by key stakeholders (in attendance at TEC 2023) and outlines what essential digital health looks like.
Chief among these papers of interest would be:
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Where is the evidence that digital health is effective in serving our patients, especially for the underserved and vulnerable populations?
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What are key issues from patients, caregivers, health policy makers and health professionals needed to address: e.g. patient data, privacy, information sharing on a need-to-know basis to support patients’ visits to different health facilities and health professionals?
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What are areas that digital health need to improve to raise its quality and equity of access?
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What is the place for private digital health in the Canadian health system of service delivery?
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How can we learn from today’s digital health?
For more information, please visit: https://www.tecconference.health/tec-2023-conference/sessions