Alvarez Richard C
President & CEO, Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), 377 Dalhousie Street, Suite 200, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1N 9N8.
eHealth Int. 2002 Sep 17;1(1):4. doi: 10.1186/1476-3591-1-4.
Canadians value their health care system above any other social program. Canada's system of health care faces significant financial and population pressures, relating to cost, access, quality, accountability, and the integration of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The health-system also faces certain unique challenges that include care delivery within a highly decentralised system of financing and accountability, and care delivery to a significant portion of the population sparsely distributed across a landmass of 10 million square kilometres, in areas of extreme climatic conditions. All of these challenges are significant catalysts in the development of technologies that aim to significantly mitigate or eliminate these selfsame challenges.The system is undergoing widespread review, nationally, and within each province and territory, where the bulk of care provision is financed and managed. The challenges are being addressed by national, regional and provincial initiatives in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.The promise of e-Health lies in the manner and degree to which it can mitigate or resolve these challenges to the health system and build on advancements in ICTs supporting the development of a health infostructure. Canada is actively developing and implementing technological solutions to deliver health information and health care services across the country. These solutions, while exciting and promising, also present new challenges, particularly in regard to acceptable standards, choice of technologies, overcoming traditional jurisdictional boundaries, up-front investment, and privacy and confidentially.Many organisations and governments are working to address these challenges. The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) will play an increasingly significant role in these initiatives, as the management of health information becomes a more crucial factor in the successful delivery of health care services in the new millennium.
加拿大人对其医疗保健系统的重视程度高于任何其他社会项目。加拿大的医疗保健系统面临着巨大的财政和人口压力，涉及成本、可及性、质量、问责制以及信息通信技术（ICT）的整合。该医疗系统还面临一些独特的挑战，包括在高度分散的融资和问责制系统内提供护理，以及为分布在1000万平方公里陆地上、处于极端气候条件地区的很大一部分人口提供护理。所有这些挑战都是旨在显著减轻或消除这些相同挑战的技术发展的重要催化剂。该系统正在全国范围内以及每个省和地区进行广泛审查，大部分医疗服务的提供在这些地方得到资助和管理。公共、私营和非营利部门的国家、地区和省级举措正在应对这些挑战。电子健康的前景在于它能够减轻或解决医疗系统面临的这些挑战的方式和程度，以及基于支持健康信息基础设施发展的ICT进步。加拿大正在积极开发和实施技术解决方案，以在全国范围内提供健康信息和医疗保健服务。这些解决方案虽然令人兴奋且前景广阔，但也带来了新的挑战，特别是在可接受标准、技术选择、克服传统管辖边界、前期投资以及隐私和保密方面。许多组织和政府正在努力应对这些挑战。随着健康信息管理在新千年成功提供医疗保健服务中成为一个更为关键的因素，加拿大健康信息研究所（CIHI）将在这些举措中发挥越来越重要的作用。
