Digital access needed for health information

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This article was published 15/06/2023 (861 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

I WAS puzzled when relatives who live in Saskatchewan told me they can access the results of their lab and X-ray tests online without having to make an appointment to see their doctor. We can’t do that in Manitoba!

Canadians have a right to access their personal health information, much of which is now stored digitally. Four provinces — British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and, most recently, New Brunswick — provide patients with online access to personal health information, including lab and diagnostic imaging reports, without going through their physician or other health-care providers.

The appetite for patient access to digital health information goes beyond these four provinces.

In fact, 80 per cent of Canadians surveyed in 2022 wanted direct digital access to their personal health information, according to a poll conducted by Leger for Canada Health Infoway.

Canada Health Infoway is an independent, not-for-profit, organization funded by Health Canada that works to accelerate the adoption of digital health solutions to better connect health-care systems, health-care workers and patients.

The poll included more than 12,000 respondents representing all provinces and territories.

The same poll showed the benefits of digital access: 89 per cent of respondents felt better informed about their health, 84 per cent felt they could better manage their health and, most importantly in an era of never-ending health-care crises, 41 per cent avoided a trip to the ER as a result of having digital access to their personal health information.

Is Manitoba planning to create an online portal to give patients access to their personal health information?

The province has taken baby steps in providing patients with online access to their personal health information. For example, during the COVID pandemic, Manitobans could access their vaccination status as well as COVID test results.

Shared Health’s 2019 Clinical and Preventive Services Plan was to include giving “all Manitobans access to lab results via a new secure patient service portal, eliminating the need to travel to doctors and specialists to retrieve those results,” the Government of Manitoba announced in a press release on Nov. 29, 2019.

But “work on creating a comprehensive portal was delayed by the pandemic, as the health system prioritized more immediate concerns. Planning for the portal has since resumed and is progressing,” according to a Shared Health spokesperson.

No timelines for rolling out the portal were provided.

In Manitoba, diagnostic lab services are provided by both the public and private sector. Dynacare, a private diagnostic lab contracted by Manitoba Health, has more than 20 locations in Manitoba.

For a nominal fee of $9.99 a year, individuals can sign up online for “Dynacare Plus,” which allows digital access to lab results if you had your bloodwork drawn at a Dynacare location. There’s a catch: this service isn’t available for lab tests collected at Manitoba Dynacare sites.

But if Manitobans have blood tests done in Ontario, say just across the border in Kenora, they can access their test results online if they have subscribed to Dynacare Plus.

I signed up for Dynacare Plus to confirm that someone with a Manitoba address can subscribe.

Ontario residents do not have online access to lab results collected at public labs either, but they do have online access to their Dynacare tests results by enrolling in Dynacare Plus.

Despite the fact most Canadians want digital access to their health information and health services, including 92 per cent of Manitobans surveyed, only 36 per cent of Canadians have accessed their personal health information in provinces where digital access is allowed. The information includes lab and diagnostic test results, immunization history, prescription medication information and other health records such as specialist consultation notes.

In 2022, Manitoba — at 17 per cent — had the second lowest percentage of residents who have “ever accessed personal health information electronically,” according to Canada Health Infoway; the Atlantic region was the lowest at 13 per cent. Saskatchewan had the highest percentage at 56 per cent.

All provincial governments are looking for solutions to the current health-care crisis.

Moving forward on creating a patient personal health-care information portal will not only empower patients but has been proven to reduce demand on health-care services.

It’s time for Manitoba to catch up with the provinces already providing this service.

Dr. Sandor Demeter is a Winnipeg physician, an associate professor in the department of community health sciences at the University of Manitoba and a graduate of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health Global Journalism program at the University of Toronto.