Evidence of meeting #29 for Health in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was infoway.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Dan Mazier Conservative Riding Mountain, MB
Okay.
How many applicants initially applied to develop and run PrescribeIT?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Health Infoway
The initial process we used for selection was approved by the board of directors and included—
Conservative
President and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Health Infoway
Again, I don't know the exact number of applicants, but this is information we could provide after the meeting if the committee decides we should do so.
Conservative
President and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Health Infoway
The criteria we used included a quality matrix, the ability to deliver the program and many other things, other than financial criteria.
Conservative
Dan Mazier Conservative Riding Mountain, MB
Okay.
On what specific date did the Canada Health Infoway board vote to terminate PrescribeIT?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Health Infoway
The board of directors considered all the different pathways for sustainability and made the decision to opt for the open standards approach in the latter part of 2025.
Conservative
Dan Mazier Conservative Riding Mountain, MB
On what specific date did the Canada Health Infoway board vote to terminate PrescribeIT? Was it years in advance—2023?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Health Infoway
I believe it was on November 17.
Conservative
Dan Mazier Conservative Riding Mountain, MB
Okay.
Did the federal government or Health Canada recommend the termination of PrescribeIT to the Canada Health Infoway board, yes or no?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Health Infoway
The pathway forward for PrescribeIT was decided by the board of directors, which is, as you heard in my opening remarks, populated by deputy minister appointments from across the country. The—
Conservative
Dan Mazier Conservative Riding Mountain, MB
I guess the question is, did the federal government or Health Canada—
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Excuse me, Mr. Mazier.
For those of us who want to hear, it would be nice if you could let the witness round out their sentence, as opposed to cutting them off in mid-sentence. I would like to hear what he's trying to say, as long as he doesn't go on too much.
Go ahead.
Conservative
Dan Mazier Conservative Riding Mountain, MB
The question asked for a yes-or-no answer, Chair and Mr. Green.
Conservative
Dan Mazier Conservative Riding Mountain, MB
Did the federal government or Health Canada recommend the termination of PrescribeIT to the Canada Health Infoway board, yes or no?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Health Infoway
The decision was made by the Canada Health Infoway board.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Thank you. Now we've really run over time. It's a minute over time, I'm so sorry to say, guys. It's my fault, but—
Conservative
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
—I wasn't paying attention.
Now I'll go to Ms. Jaczek for the Liberals, for six minutes.
Liberal
Helena Jaczek Liberal Markham—Stouffville, ON
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Mr. Green, I'd like to go back to the $250 million—the federal investment. Telus received some $90 million.
Of the remaining $160 million, did you say in a previous response that it went to other EMR providers? Where did the remaining funding end up?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Health Infoway
With the program, there were multiple steps taken to implement the prescribing service: the design of the service itself, operation, integration with provincial assets, integration with health IT systems that are used across the country and connectivity with pharmacies. It's a very complex process.
We also had to ensure that the system is very secure, that it meets very stringent privacy and security standards, and that it's up and available.
To answer your question, there were multiple places where the funding was utilized, including the annual operation of the system. Again, it is possible to provide some of the information. There's not an easy answer to this question. I would also like to say that at every step we had a regular review of our expenditures and of the progress of the system by the board of directors, and we reported through that mechanism as well, at least on a quarterly basis.