5 steps to building the healthcare experience Canadians deserve

Canada’s healthcare system stands at a pivotal moment. While universal coverage and a strong focus on primary care help place Canada fifth worldwide in life expectancy at birth¹, we unfortunately rank last in timeliness of care and second to last in access to care when compared to our international peers². Fragmented data, long wait times, and a reactive approach to illness are hindering our ability to deliver the high-quality, accessible, and cost-effective care Canadians deserve. 

The Canada Health Act was built for hospital beds in the 1980s. To serve Canadians in 2030, it needs an update. I believe we are on the cusp of a profound transformation, one that will usher in a digital-first care ecosystem, setting a new global standard for health. 

As a Canadian serial entrepreneur with a proven track record of building globally scalable digital platforms, I’ve seen firsthand how technology can fundamentally reshape industries. The difference: This type of transformation in healthcare could improve quality and save millions of lives. My vision for Canada’s future is not merely an aspiration, it’s a blueprint for action, built on foundational shifts and empowered by innovative solutions.

Step 1: Unlock the Power of Health Data

The journey begins with the foundational work of updating our data infrastructure. Imagine a healthcare system where your health information isn’t locked away in silos across different providers and organizations. This fragmentation is a major roadblock to seamless care and a holistic view of your health journey. 

In Canada, we need to move beyond fragmented records to a connected, digital-first ecosystem. Without a shared data foundation, we miss opportunities for earlier intervention, personalized care, and a holistic view of the member journey. The Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) in the US, for example, is a public-private partnership designed to create a universal floor for secure, nationwide interoperability of electronic health information. The goal is to empower individuals and healthcare professionals by making health data readily available and usable, ultimately leading to more timely, informed care and a reduction in administrative burdens.

The Connected Care for Canadians Act, with its emphasis on making health data accessible and portable, is a critical step in the right direction, echoing the principles I advocated for in my “Build Canada” memo. This foundational shift is non-negotiable. Without it, everything else we strive for remains out of reach.

Step 2: Widen the Definition of Care to Increase Capacity, Reach and Drive Prevention

Once we have a unified and accessible data infrastructure, we can begin to truly widen the definition of care beyond the hospital’s four walls. Healthcare today is often seen through the narrow lens of doctors and hospitals. But the reality is far broader. Pharmacists, nurses, therapists and even intelligent software play increasingly vital roles in our well-being.  Moreover, in a time when we have the highest incidence of chronic disease we’ve ever seen in Canada, we need to be able to drive prevention, interventions, and provide care on a more frequent and timely basis.  

Time matters, and we just don’t have enough doctors or hospitals, nor do we have infinite budgets.  Measuring wait times, while attractive for many reasons, is the wrong time measurement, or at least not sufficient.  We need access to higher frequency care, and shortening the time between moments of care. While doctors should be a part of the equation, we will not achieve our goals without expanding the scope of practice for pharmacists and other healthcare professionals, or embracing digital health tools and AI.

Consider someone with (undiagnosed) diabetes.  There are thousands of Canadians walking our streets who are pre-diabetic, or diabetic, they just don’t know.  And they are just as likely not to know as they are to find out from seeing their primary care physician.  Pharmacists can do these assessments, diagnose, and prescribe medications.  This is why provincial legislation like pharmacist-led minor ailment programs are so important to increase the access and frequency of care, and lower the cost of care at the same time.  Provinces like Alberta have been forward thinking on this topic for some time.  Every province must consider this.

Now imagine someone managing their diabetes. With an AI-driven member portal built on interoperable data, they could get recommendations on how to manage their condition to avoid glucose spikes and hospital visits, receive personalized care reminders to check blood sugar and A1C levels, book appointments with their local pharmacy, or primary and specialty care providers, fill necessary prescriptions on time, and access real-time AI-powered or human chat services from the comfort of their home, shifting care from reactive to proactive. 

By embracing this expanded definition, we can leverage the full spectrum of expertise available, making our healthcare system more robust and responsive. This integrated approach is essential to providing the care that Canadians need, in a more convenient and timely fashion.

Step 3: Make Virtual Access the Norm

This one is simple.

In an increasingly digital world, virtual access to care should be a right, not a luxury. 

Every Canadian deserves the ability to connect with healthcare professionals from the comfort of their home, within minutes. The digital-native population expects convenient, personalized, and engaging healthcare experiences that mirror the seamless interactions they have in other aspects of their lives. No Canadian under the age of 21 understands why this isn’t already the case.  

Think about how people managed their finances just a few decades ago. It involved physical trips to the bank, waiting in lines, and conducting transactions during limited business hours. Today, online banking is the norm, not the exception, and it perfectly illustrates the “digital-first” approach healthcare needs to take.

If healthcare is truly a right for Canadians, then accessing healthcare digitally and seeking care via digital means should also be a right.  That goes beyond primary care to chronic condition management, prevention, and getting advice.  This is especially true for remote and indigenous communities.  

We need to meet these expectations by making virtual care a cornerstone of our system, ensuring everyone has timely access to the support they need.

Step 4: Embrace AI to Deliver Personalized Care at Scale

If you have steps 1-3 locked down, things get interesting. 

This leads us to the crucial need to deliver personalized care. We need to move beyond a reactive, illness-focused model towards a proactive approach that emphasizes wellness, prevention, and early intervention.    Personalization, and engagement with technology is key to driving personalization.

This is where embracing AI becomes paramount.  Imagine a world where you no longer receive generic “colonoscopy letters” (which few people open or act on) but rather personalized recommendations, pushed to your mobile, based on your unique health profile and risk factors. AI offers Canada’s overburdened system the opportunity to reach and support more Canadians faster, more efficiently, and with greater precision.  This will cost less, drive greater efficacy and improved health outcomes.

Some early indicators of this include AI-powered diagnostic tools demonstrating accuracy rates exceeding 95% in early disease detection and Canadian hospitals using  generative AI and seeing reductions in patient wait times by up to 40%³. 

At League, we’re using AI capabilities and machine learning to power personalized healthcare experiences and deliver record engagement.  Last year we delivered 100 million healthcare recommendations powered by AI, and people acted on 60 million of those recommendations – no paper mail required.  This will only increase and improve as we touch over 100 million people around the planet, and we build more sophisticated data models and AI copilots and agents.    

Our data already shows users are 3x more likely to participate in a health program when leveraging League’s AI capabilities – this will no doubt improve as we aim to get the right care for the right person at the right time with increasing scale.

Step 5: Enable Self-Service through a Unified Digital Front Door

Finally, we must empower individuals through self-service care. 

Again, ask any young adult about this and you’ll hear, “Why do I still have to carry this piece of plastic around?” or “What’s a fax?” 

Access to information, medication refills, labs, health records and various healthcare services should be as straightforward as online banking. We need a “one-stop shop” — a unified digital front door that simplifies navigation through the complex healthcare landscape. 

Think of the ambitious digital transformation initiatives like Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, Australia’s Digital Health Ministry or Denmark’s Sundhed.dk national health portal. These models demonstrate the power of a cohesive, user-centric approach. League’s platform is designed to offer just this, bringing clarity and ease to the user journey.

Connecting members with the healthcare services they are eligible for, in a secure, unified way will increase access, guide more timely and accurate care paths, reduce system strain, and translate to better economics. This is how we close the gap between the healthcare Canadians expect and the one they actually experience.

It’s Time to Transform Canadian Healthcare: Moving from Talk to Action

At a time with growing geopolitical challenges, tectonic shifts in macroeconomics, and a  generational change in technology – we have a moment in time to drive investment in infrastructure to modernize our economy.

The biggest opportunity for Canada’s leading healthcare institutions is to invest in a modern, interoperable platform that offers personalized healthcare for each Canadian. 

A platform offers proactive, AI-driven engagement to improve consumer satisfaction, health outcomes, and retention, all while lowering costs. It personalizes interactions to meet individuals at any point in their health journey.

This kind of transformation isn’t hypothetical, it’s already happening. League serves 57 million people across the globe, through partnering with Canadian leaders like Manulife and Shoppers Drug Mart, and our first provincial governments.  We’re not waiting for change. We’re building it.

At League, we are uniquely positioned to help Canada achieve this digital-first vision. Our powerful and adaptable platform offers unified solutions for a diverse ecosystem:

• For private healthcare organizations, we offer flexible models to create engaging member portals that demonstrably lower costs and improve member experience, ultimately contributing to a more efficient healthcare system.
• For the public healthcare sector, League provides a “digital front door” solution designed to streamline access to e-health services, improve navigation, and maximize the effective use of public funds, enhancing the overall accessibility of care for all Canadians.

The challenges for Canada are significant, with lagging productivity and an aging workforce, but so are the opportunities – with some of the world’s most brilliant minds, and leading technologies.  We have a moment in time where we can act.

The challenges facing Canadian healthcare are significant, but so too are the opportunities. By embracing a digital-first approach, powered by accessible data, expanded definitions of care, virtual access, personalized AI-driven solutions, and seamless self-service, we can build a healthcare system that works within our provinces and across the country.  We can build a system that is truly accessible, equitable, and world-leading.

I invite Canadian healthcare leaders across both private and public sectors to build on this, and define healthcare 2030.  It’s not far away, but we don’t have the time to waste. Hiring a small army of consultants and talking about it for several years is not going to help.  We need action now, across federal and provincial governments, the public and private sector. I invite leaders to explore how League’s innovative technology and solutions can address their organizational goals and contribute to the betterment of healthcare for all Canadians. 

Let’s build the future of Canadian healthcare, together.

Sources
¹Country Comparisons: Life expectancy at birth, The World Factbook
²Troubling Diagnosis: Comparing Canada’s Healthcare with International Peers, C.D Howe Institute 
³How Canadian Healthcare Is Being Transformed by Generative AI Today, Business & Industry Canada