(October 9, 2016)<\/p>\n
By: Allison Jones, THE CANADIAN PRESS<\/p>\n
Ontario is asking the banker who recommended privatizing Hydro One to turn his attention to the province\u2019s digital health system. Health Minister Eric Hoskins announced in a statement Friday that he had asked former TD Bank CEO Ed Clark, who headed up an advisory council that helped plan to sell a majority stake in the utility, to examine the system as the mandate of eHealth Ontario expires at the end of 2017.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst, I would ask you to provide the government with a value assessment of Ontario\u2019s digital health assets and all related intellectual property and infrastructure,\u201d Hoskins wrote. \u201cSecondly, please provide us with recommendations related to how to maximize the value of these assets for Ontarians by improving how care is delivered, the patient experience in interacting with the health care system and, indirectly, through the economic value that is created for Ontario\u2019s economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The government has been using the same language of maximizing the value of assets when talking about the partial sell\u00adoff of Hydro One, but when asked if eHealth would be privatized, a spokesman for Hoskins said \u201cabsolutely not.\u201d \u201cThe purpose of this review is to provide the government with a clear understanding of the agency\u2019s full asset value so that we might better understand the way it might be leveraged going forward to help guide Ontario\u2019s future digital health strategy,\u201d wrote spokesman Shae Greenfield. \u201cAs I previously said, this future does not include the possibility of a sale, or the commercial use of people\u2019s health information. eHealth\u2019s current mandate is set to expire in 2017, and there is now an opportunity to engage experts in the field and determine what body\/bodies are best positioned to maintain and leverage digital health assets to move toward a more patient\u00adcentred health care system supported by technology and innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n
NDP health critic France Gelinas was skeptical. \u201cI have heard those words before\u037e Premier Wynne uses those words when she means privatization,\u201d Gelinas said. \u201cIt looks like the Liberals are trying to find a PR\u00adfriendly way of saying they want to privatize more of our health\u00adcare system. Ontarians expect their health\u00adcare system to look out for patients, not hand confidential health records to private, for\u00adprofit companies.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Ontario Health Coalition also said it is \u201cdeeply concerned\u201d that the valuation would look toward forprofit privatization. And it expressed disappointment at the timing of Hoskins\u2019 statement. \u201cAnnouncements of this sort should not be made by issuing an electronic media statement on a Friday afternoon leading into a long weekend,\u201d it said. \u201cChoosing to reveal these plans with such a process leads to the appearance that the government is trying to avoid public scrutiny.\u201d<\/p>\n
PC health critic Jeff Yurek said the timing of the announcement suggests the government is trying to hide something. \u201cBy making an announcement that would impact a health care system already in the midst of massive turmoil, this government is simply creating more uncertainty,\u201d Yurek said. \u201cOntario\u2019s patients deserve answers from this government.\u201d<\/p>\n
Protection of personal health information is paramount in this review, Hoskins wrote, telling Clark to seek advice from the information and privacy commissioner. \u201cEnormous energy, resources and intellectual effort have been dedicated to ensuring the integrity and privacy of people\u2019s personal health information,\u201d Hoskins wrote. \u201cThe purpose of this work is to better understand the value of our digital assets to help guide, in combination with the advice of other experts, Ontario\u2019s future digital health strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since eHealth was established in 2008, nearly all Ontario residents have electronic health records, including e\u00adrecords used by family doctors and almost all hospital\u00adbased diagnostic imaging is digital, with key lab results available through a provincial information system, Hoskins wrote. In 2009, then health minister David Caplan was forced to resign when eHealth Ontario was the focus of a major spending scandal after auditor general Jim McCarter found that hundreds of millions of dollars had been wasted due to a heavy reliance on outside consultants and poor strategic planning. The provincial agency was given a $1\u00adbillion budget to develop electronic health records, but a lot of the money went for untendered contracts given to highly paid consultants who then billed taxpayers for additional expenses.<\/p>\n