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Building a Foundation for Interoperability: A Deep Dive into Canada’s Pan-Canadian Health Data Content Framework for Connected Care

As part of the work and commitments outlined in the Working Together to Improve Health Care for Canadians Plan, Canada is implementing the Shared pan-Canadian Interoperability Roadmap that creates a vision for modern and person-centric health care which is digitally connected and privacy-protected by design.

Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) and Canada Health Infoway are partnering to modernize the flow of health information and to create a connected health system. CIHI has an important role in defining and standardizing the health data that will be exchanged, which is the first building block in the roadmap. We are working with individuals and organizations across the health sector to define comprehensive, person-centric health data content to support clinical care planning and management, program planning and resource allocation, health system measurement and pan-Canadian comparability, and population and public health. The health data content and the associated architecture that CIHI is developing is called the Pan-Canadian Health Data Content Framework.

Collecting standardized data at the point of capture ensures it can be exchanged for multiple purposes across the health system continuum. It makes certain to hold the same meaning for both senders and recipients, whether they are care and service providers, patients, health delivery organizations or ministries and health authorities—therefore enabling the continuity of care, improved patient outcomes and experience, improved provider experience, and person-centric, equitable health care.

This work will enable vendors to access centralized and standardized data requirements in one place so these can be used to enable quality data that meets client and jurisdictional needs.

Deliverables of the Framework were made available for public review from March 7 to May 6, 2024. Feedback obtained during this review period will be considered for Version 1.0 of the Pan-Canadian Health Data Content Framework to be released in September 2024. Scope of subsequent versions will be based on jurisdiction priorities​.


CIHI at e-Health

Join CIHI’s Christine Mackenzie, Program Consultant, Partners and Engagement, Standards Development, Primary Health Care and Alyssa Bryan, Program Lead, Standards Development, Primary Health Care, on May 27 from 10:45 – 11:00am., as they talk about how CIHI is building the foundation for interoperability and provide a deeper dive into the Pan-Canadian Health Data Content Framework.

For more discussions on interoperability, you can also catch Ann Chapman, Director, Spending and Primary Care, CIHI, at Advancing Connected Care: An update on Pan-Canadian efforts to improve interoperability panel session with Health Canada and Canada Health Infoway on May 27 from 2:00 – 2:30pm.

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