Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chair, members, I am very pleased to have the opportunity to be here with you this morning.
I first want to thank the Auditor General and her staff for their very informative reports. Health Canada is pleased that they have undertaken the task of reviewing electronic health record initiatives. The process has provided all parties with useful feedback.
The federal government has invested $2.1 billion in Canada Health Infoway since 2001. In this context, the audits have provided confirmation and assurance that these investments are being managed responsibly and effectively.
Indeed, the audit of electronic health records provided an additional layer of due diligence, to support the recent release of the $500 million allocated to Infoway under Budget 2009.
I would like to take this opportunity today to speak in more detail about Health Canada's reaction to both the fall audit report, and the spring overview report.
As noted by Ms. Fraser, developments in the area of electronic health technologies are expected to be of great benefit to Canadians as they will enable better, safer, and faster management of patient information. Evidence of this is already being seen across the country.
Of course, establishing electronic health technologies is a highly complex undertaking, particularly in Canada, where 14 jurisdictions are individually responsible for the delivery of health care. This makes the results of the audits encouraging, for although they identify areas for improvement, they also emphasize many achievements. With respect to the Auditor General's fall 2009 report, Health Canada was pleased to note that Ms. Fraser recognized that Infoway has accomplished much since its creation, a point that she reiterated today. In this context, Ms. Fraser also underscored that provinces and territories are individually responsible for the pace of progress in their respective jurisdictions.
I believe this speaks to the importance of having an entity such as Infoway, which brings all parties together in a cohesive manner towards a shared goal.
The auditor general also recommended that Health Canada fully develop and implement its framework for monitoring Infoway's compliance with the funding agreements. I am pleased to tell you that, at the time of the release of the audit report in November 2009, the department had already completed implementation of its monitoring framework. This framework has been shared with the Office of the Auditor General.
This document is an evergreen tool that will be updated by the department on an ongoing basis to reflect the evolution of this dynamic initiative. I am pleased that the Auditor General highlighted this document, as I believe it supports Health Canada's proactive attention to accountability issues and due diligence in relation to the significant federal investments in Infoway.
The Auditor General's electronic health records overview report, which was released this spring, provided a unique opportunity to better understand the complexity of e-health activities at both the pan-Canadian and jurisdictional levels. In this context, I was pleased to note that it further underscored the progress that is under way across Canada. For example, implementing EHRs requires the establishment of a number of key foundational components. As noted by Ms. Fraser, every jurisdiction has at least one new component in place.
Health Canada was also pleased to note that the report highlights the important role that Infoway plays in ensuring that electronic health records are implemented across the country in a cohesive and standardized fashion. Indeed, the ultimate goal is to ensure that when Canadians move across the country, there will be portability of their health information. To this end, Infoway led the creation of a blueprint that lays out the design for a pan-Canadian EHR system. Infoway also leads the identification, development, maintenance, and application of standards, which are required to ensure that EHR systems will ultimately be able to communicate.
The report tempers these observations of progress by underscoring the variety of challenges which face all parties as we move forward. I would like to emphasize that these challenges are well understood by governments and Infoway, and that plans and activities are already underway to address each one.
I am also confident that the recent federal investment of an additional $500 million in Canada Health Infoway, will serve to accelerate action on many of these challenges, such as computerizing doctors' offices, insuring that systems will be compatible, and completing the establishment of electronic health records.
In closing, I would like to reiterate Health Canada's appreciation of these informative audit reports. We look forward to continued progress in the area of e-health, and I am confident that the audit findings will help to support us in this ongoing process.
I'll be pleased to answer any questions that committee members may have.