Preparing Canada’s health workforce for the digital future

As Canada's health care system rapidly adopts digital technologies, a group of Canadian researchers is calling for a major overhaul of health professional education to ensure consistent, outcomes-based training in digital health and informatics competencies. A new article published in JMIR Medical Education by researchers at the British Columbia Institute of Technology and University of Calgary proposes using the Quintuple Aim as a national guiding framework to prioritize the digital health skills health care workers need now and in the future.

The paper, titled "Shaping the Future of Digital Health Education in Canada: Prioritizing Competencies for Health Care Professionals Using the Quintuple Aim" and published by JMIR Publications, argues that current education is fragmented and inconsistent, leaving health professionals underprepared to use tools like telehealth, electronic health records, and data analytics effectively. The proposed framework offers a solution: to align digital health competencies with five key goals-improving patient experience, boosting population health, lowering health care costs, enhancing provider experience, and advancing health equity.

This model helps identify and prioritize core skills such as digital literacy, privacy awareness, user-friendly technology integration, data-informed decision-making, and inclusive access. The authors also emphasize that training programs should include practical, real-world assessments-like simulation exercises and project-based evaluations-to ensure professionals are ready to apply their knowledge in the field.

Additional professional development opportunities in digital health are essential to support scaled and sustainable change in Canada's health systems that can truly create opportunities for better outcomes for all." 

Tracie Risling, Author, University of Calgary

While calling for national standards, the article allows room for local adaptation, encouraging educational institutions to customize learning based on regional health needs and resources. The authors also emphasize the importance of collaboration among health care organizations, educational institutions, and technology developers to ensure that programs keep pace with rapid innovation.

Ultimately, this research signals a clear call to action: to prepare Canada's health workforce for the digital age, the country needs cohesive, forward-thinking education strategies now more than ever.