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The way medical records are handled in Canada is a patchwork of disconnected systems – creating massive headaches for patients and doctors. Patients struggle to access their own data, and practitioners have to waste time compensating for inefficiencies. But governments, companies and health care professionals are searching for ways to make all these systems talk to each other.

Chris Hannay is a staff reporter at The Globe who covers the business of healthcare. He’ll explain how Canada’s medical record system ended up like this and what Canada could gain from adopting an interconnected system.

This episode originally aired April 15, 2025.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

Canada’s fragmented medical records system

The Decibel

Canada’s fragmented medical records system