Digital health has massive potential in health care but has been slow to evolve in comparison to other information-intensive industries, which have more readily taken advantage of new technology. One of the key barriers has been the complex relationship between the perceived return on investment for the investor and the resulting value to patients and caregivers. This paper will examine this challenge through the clinician experience, using empirical case examples from Canada to illustrate opportunities for change. While many factors may influence digital health adoption, this paper specifically aims to explore the shifts in the balance of the perceived value of implementing digital health tools, vs. the efforts required to adopt them.
Impact / Outcome
Implementing and optimizing new technologies in Canada's health system has been a challenge for over two decades. This paper has shown that one key element of this challenge has been the mismatch between the efforts and investments required, and the perceived or realized value for stakeholders. This misalignment can be overcome with coordinated change management efforts involving the collaboration of multiple stakeholder groups, such as clinician groups, governments and citizens/patients. Admittedly, the rapid adoption of virtual care has been imperfect. Some clinicians have described it as “making it up as we go along.”. While this may be hyperbole, the transition to a virtual-first mindset in the Canadian health care landscape will require longer-term consideration in order to create sustainable, meaningful change that leads to high quality, safe virtual care in the future.
Funding sources
Public
Key Metrics
Implement digital health tools
Operating model
Public-private partnershipYear published
01 January 2021 
Frontiers