23/
So to answer my friend’s question, should we be leaving this province? 



**Shrugs**.

22/
And this is in the province which has active eConsult & eReferral programs.

I wonder how many incidents of personal health information breaches continue to happen here? I have not seen that data….

21/
“In 2024, health information custodians reported 11,970 breaches of personal health information, compared to 10,770 in 2023, representing an increase of seven per cent across the sector. Misdirected faxes account for 5,047 of these, according to the most recent annual report from the IPC.”

Fax machines are Ontario’s top cause of patient privacy breaches, new data reveals. Why is health care still stuck on them? Ford government’s effort to “axe the fax” hasn’t reduced the number of breaches of medical confidentiality, according to the privacy commissioner.

20/
Why do I keep saying inefficient referral practices lead to patient harm?
Here’s an article from The Toronto Star last week
www.thestar.com/news/canada/...

19/
In the last 2 weeks a letter went out from the MOH to health authority leadership they have placed another “temporary hold on any new technology investments”

18/

If what I am hearing about the outcome of this review remains true, it will demonstrate another failure in apolitical digital health innovation & illogical redundancy that is wasteful to the tax payer.

17/

- Ignored letters of support from FNHA, SFU Medical School, Doctors of BC, BC Family Doctors and more in the process advocating for restorting the program.

16/

- Minimal engagement with the Doctors of BC in this process

- Premier and his office have been meddling in this process since prior to the pause, I didn’t realize he was a digital health expert now.

15/
- Ignored procurement process that was undertaken by the same government party , overseen by a Provincial Fairness Officer. Why should this inspire confidence in this government’s ability for oversight (ie in the HPOA).

14/
In that time, the Premier:

- appointed a temporary CEO to PHSA with a history of questionable leadership, who openly disdains physicians.

13/

To demonstrate how ineffective this government is in this area.

The DRO program had been officially live for ~6-7 months, and the review of such program has now taken double of that.

12/

Last year at the quality forum a leader at PHSA and I were meant to present on the Health Gateway and Digital Referrals & Orders (DRO) program. This was cancelled literally a day before, due to governemnt’s decision to pause the program

11/

Health Authority Review - Digital Health Failures

This week was meant to be the annual quality forum hosted by Health Quality BC.
It was cancelled unfortunately, but to me provides a stark reminder of the the idiocy of this past year.

10/
Here is a summary of V2.0 of the proposal from 2023.

static1.squarespace.com/static/5b9b2...

9/
For background, psychologist advocates and leaders have been working with goverments for over 5 years trying to implement a psychologists in primary care program.

An evidence based program, standard in other jurisdictions, which saves the government money.

8/
For background, psychologist advocates and leaders have been working with goverments for over 5 years trying to implement a psychologists in primary care program.

An evidence based program, standard in other jurisdictions, which saves the government money.

BC Green Caucus statement on the decision not to renew CARGA BC Green Caucus will not renew CARGA, citing the BC NDP's failure to meet 2025 commitments and a breakdown of trust.

7/
Why don’t I have more confidence in the current government?

Let’s examine some recent failures.

BC Greens not renewing CARGA:
bcgreens.ca/caucus-state...

A large part of this is the failure of the government to expand on public appointments of psychologists.

6/
Of course they only like to present one side of the coin, who is counting the physicians retiring, changing roles, or leaving?

It isn’t difficult to recruit, it is far harder to retain. Government over-reach, high burden of administrative tasks, and antiquated systems that promote patient harm.

5/
Scapegoating physicians in this process seems illogical and ill-advised.

This government loves to tout successes of recruiting physicians.
See all the ministry releases every time someone agrees to work here.
Example: news.gov.bc.ca/releases/202...

4/
3. Loss of appeal rights - wtf? What kind of society are they trying to promote here?
4. Disclosure of minor disciplinary actions. I am a strong believer that the public should have awareness of process and people that jeopardize them. That already exists.

3/ While we of course applaud efforts to improve indigenous cultural safety, address discrimination and increasing systemic efficiencies, there are concerning processes happening concurrently.

1. Lack of Physician Consultation
2. Elimination of elected college board members

2/ The HPOA refers to the Health Professions and Occupations Act, which repeals the current Health Professions Act, and comes into effect April 1, 2026. It creates a new oversight structure and “modernizes legislature”.

The Doctors of BC has a one pager here:
www.doctorsofbc.ca/sites/defaul...

1/ Yesterday, a friend who’s is a consulting specialist texted asking me “what’s the deal with this new HPOA, should we be leaving the province?”

Normally I would laugh at such a finite solution in the latest of government adventures of overreach, but there are valid concerns.

Strong possibility.

Wait, did he apologize to Councillor Orr? 🙄

Advancing patient safety: Digital Referrals and Orders program The Digital Referrals and Orders (DRO) program is a provincial platform that allows care teams to electronically exchange, track, and manage referrals, medical order requisitions, and consultations mo...

Advancing #PatientSafety - Learn more about the Digital Referrals and Orders program. www.doctorsofbc.ca/technology-d...

Next endeavour.

Look forward to working with @bcfamilydocs.bsky.social over the next few years. 🙏🏽

AB is seeing its worst measles outbreak since 1979 – last week reaching 879 cases & rising.

Measles is highly contagious but preventable.

The vaccine is 97% effective. Protect yourself and your community.

THIS IS HUGE! An HIV PrEP drug in the form of a twice-yearly subcutaneous injection has JUST been APPROVED by the FDA. Lenacapavir was 99.9% EFFECTIVE at PREVENTING HIV in clinical trials. Let’s talk about that! 🧪🧵⬇️

How Spain manages 100% primary care access Spanish family doctors have vacation, sick leave and a pension. Part one of a three-part series.

Thanks to the Medical Post for publishing my 3-part series on what 🇨🇦 Canada can learn from 🇪🇸 Spain, a country where everyone has access to primary care.

✅ geographic-based centres
✅ team-based approach
✅ embedded in community
✅ patient-held records

canadianhealthcarenetwork.ca/how-spain-ma...