e-Health -- a town shall lead them

Downtown Ajax, Ontario

To be honest, this is really another appeal to my LHIN, but before I delve into the specifics, let me set the scene.
As you may have noticed, I just love flicking through the pages of my local paper to get an appreciation  for what's going on in the neighborhood.
Most times I get rewarded, and last week is a testament to this, for right at the top of one of the inside pages was a caption that made me do a double-take -- it read: 
"Ajax to use Internet voting in municipal election"
Now, in this age of technology, this shouldn't be that big a deal, but similar to the Electronic Medical Record systems (EMRs)/healthcare providers scenario, many municipalities with much larger populations balk at Internet-voting -- they tend to cite all the reasons why it wouldn't work for them; no such opting-out for Ajax, Ontario -- this is the "little town that could"!
From an Ontario resident's perspective, just think of the huge savings in time and effort during the next Municipal election, in that you get home from work after the usual grueling fight with traffic, and you're able to:

• grab a glass with your favorite beverage
• relax on the couch as you open your tablet computer
• record your vote with a couple of flicks, swipes, and taps
• stop with the "where did I put my paper ballot/where's my polling station/what time does it close" type of questions

Fade to the LHIN -- how much easier would it be if you could (at any time of day and from any location on the planet):

• schedule your next doctor's appointment after checking her availability for the next little while
• review your medical history in terms of doctor visits, lab results, medication etc.

I can do similar tasks with my bank and tax accounts, so I believe questions vis-à-vis my health account are way overdue!

I'd hazard a guess that no one hospital has the resources to put something of this scope in place, but its LHIN sure can!

Using cloud computing technology, any LHIN can efficiently share the tremendous amounts of data collected daily -- that same data can be explored using big data analytics to uncover noteworthy trends within its communities.

Sure, it may be easier to manage the status quo, but to borrow from a well-known television personality: how's that working for us?

I think it's time for my LHIN to take a page from this Ajax initiative; sure many of the others may prefer to stay with the familiar, criticize etc., but this simply brings to mind the 3 stages of a great idea, namely:

• ridicule
• violent opposition
• acceptance as being self-evident

Just imagine if any LHIN was able to hoist a sign above its head office that stated something akin to:

"Just had a lab test? If you lived here, you'd be able to see your results by now"!
My LHIN's located in Ajax and I'd like to close with these words of encouragement: It can be done -- inspiration's just across the road from your location.
Coincidence? I hope not!

Ernest A. James

President and CEO
Regal Informatics Inc.