Canada's Health Infostructure

Federal/Provincial/Territorial Chief Information Officers Forum

In February 1998, Health Canada hosted a two-day meeting for senior government officials from the provincial/territorial health ministries to discuss issues impeding the application of information technology within Canada's health system and to explore solutions. The group decided to continue to meet and work together regularly to pursue collective action regarding the creation of a national health infostructure.

The Forum established a Canadian Year 2000 National Clearinghouse for Health (CYNCH) to facilitate information coordination and dissemination.

To further one of the forum's long-term privacy and security goals, the harmonization of jurisdictional legislation and systems, Health Canada hosted a Federal/Provincial/Territorial Workshop on Privacy. The workshop's objective was to develop a strategic security framework to allow the transfer of personal health information across Canada.This was a first step towards developing a national strategic framework for health information standards.

The Forum also worked on a "business model" for setting standards in Canada which would identify the major steps in the process and the players, and highlight critical issues and interrelationships between stakeholders.

The CIO Forum completed its mandate in early 1999. Much of the work of the Forum has been taken up by the new Advisory Committee on Health Infostructure to the Conference of Federal/Provincial/Territorial Deputy Ministers of Health, which was set up in June 1999.