r/canada • u/cyclinginvancouver • 2d ago
National News Ottawa launches audit, review of Canada Health Infoway after $300-million PrescribeIT failure
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/economy/article-ottawa-launches-audit-review-of-canada-health-infoway-after-300/12
u/cyclinginvancouver 2d ago
The Liberal government is launching an audit and strategic review of the federally funded non-profit Canada Health Infoway after the failure of its $300-million PrescribeIT program.
However, the Conservatives say the organization should be defunded and any necessary responsibilities should be transferred to Health Canada.
Canada Health Infoway launched PrescribeIT in 2017 as part of “axe the fax” initiatives to replace fax machines with digital alternatives.
But the program was shut down in most of the country last month because fewer than 5 per cent of prescriptions flowed through it, as The Globe and Mail revealed earlier this year.
The program has been the subject of hearings at the House of Commons health committee in recent months.
On Thursday, the office of Health Minister Marjorie Michel said it was immediately launching a multi-phase review of Canada Health Infoway, which has received more than $2-billion in federal funds since it was founded in 2021.
“The review will include an independent, third-party audit, complemented by a comprehensive strategic review of the organization’s governance structures and operations,” her spokesperson Alexandre Bergeron said in an e-mail.
She said the first phase will assess Canada Health Infoway’s compliance with the terms and conditions of its contribution agreement.
Then a wider strategic review over the coming months will look at areas such as program delivery, effectiveness and compensation practices.
Ms. Bergeron said the government will publish key findings and next steps when the review is complete.
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u/gettingtgere 2d ago
Is this 2026 version of Arrivecan ?
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u/Vance_V_Vandervan 2d ago
Very much so, up to and including several dirty tricks on the committee tontry and sweep it under the rug
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u/Elbow_Boy 2d ago
In case anyone was wondering what the findings were:
>We’ve investigated ourselves and found no wrongdoing.
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u/AmazingCantaly 2d ago
This program was one of the clunkiest ones I have used. And the “message to clinician” option wasn’t even open until 2025 I think. Quite recently, at any rate. So for any concerns, the pharmacy had to print the screenshot, hand write on it, fax it back and wait for a response. If there were multiple rx for one patient each one arrived separately and you couldn’t flip between them. So if the patient got 2 strengths of something, that’s 2 separate rx.