Being able to access health data online — including test results, medication history and immunization records — gives Canadians an overview of their health history, which they can use to advocate for care or track progress toward treatment goals.Reference1 A 2023 study found that more than 4 in 5 Canadians felt better able to manage their health after they had seen their electronic medical records.Reference4

Source
Canada ºìÁì½í¹Ï±¨ Infoway. 2023 Canadian Digital ºìÁì½í¹Ï±¨ Survey. 2023.

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I am a senior living in a small, isolated, rural community. I see 2 specialists, about 4 hours from my home. Neither one of them knows about what the other one does, nor do they have access to my primary care provider’s information. I have to contact health records, sign a consent, pay a fee, wait up to 6 weeks and then I get copies of my information which I can share. — Brenda Andreas, Patient Advocate, Saskatchewan

Patients having access to medical records might also reduce pressure on health care systems. In a recent survey of Canadians who accessed their records electronically, 1 in 3 (34%) said that the information allowed them to avoid a trip to the emergency department and almost half (45%) said they avoided an in-person visit with their regular care provider.Reference4

The provinces and territories are making significant investments in technologies and services to make health information more available. Between 2021 and 2023, the percentage of Canadians who reported checking their health information online increased from 32% to 39%. Reference4 Reference5

Factors associated with greater use of electronic medical information include the following:

• Older age: 48% of those age 65 and older have accessed their medical information electronically, but only 30% of those age 18 to 24 have.
• Higher household income: 46% of people with an annual household income of $100,000 or more have looked at their medical records online, compared with 33% of those whose household income is below $50,000.
• Sex: 43% of females versus 36% of males have looked at their online medical records.
• Regular health care provider: 42% of people who have a regular provider have used e-health records versus 25% of those who do not.Reference4
• Urban location: 40% of urban residents used online records, compared with 32% in rural or remote areas.

Some types of information are easier for Canadians to get than others; for example, results for lab and diagnostic tests are accessed more frequently online than a list of their medications.Reference5

Canadians are also less likely than citizens of other high-income countries to have accessed their own electronic health information. In an international survey conducted in 2023, 35% of Canadians reported having done so in the past 2 years (compared with the survey average of 45% for all participating countries).Reference6

Source
Canada ºìÁì½í¹Ï±¨ Infoway. 2024 National Survey of Canadian Physicians: Use of Digital ºìÁì½í¹Ï±¨ and Information Technologies in Practice. 2024.

When physicians and other health care providers can share patient information (such as existing medical conditions, records of care, test results, medication lists and allergies), it allows them to operate as a team, even if they don’t work in the same office. It can speed up treatment, reduce medical errors and limit unnecessary procedures or duplicated tests.Reference2 Reference7 Survey data shows that more than 4 in 5 Canadians want their personal health information shared electronically among all their health care providers when decisions are being made about their health.Reference4

While progress has been made in recent years, there is still work to do to improve electronic sharing of health information among providers. Surveys conducted for other health care professionals showed that 24% of nursesReference8 and 52% of pharmacistsReference9 are able to exchange patient information outside their practice. The most recent (2024) national survey of physicians found that 29% of physicians in Canada share patient clinical summaries electronically with care providers outside their practice.Reference10 This number varied by these factors:

• Physician type: Only 25% of general practitioners reported sharing electronic information beyond their practice, compared with 33% of specialists. 
• Care setting: Information exchange was highest in hospital settings compared with community settings, such as doctor’s offices and long-term care homes.

Doctors, nurses and other health care workers report that the main barrier to sharing patient information with other providers is a lack of common technical standards between systems.Reference11 Furthermore, the technology is not always user-friendly; health care providers say that searching for patient information takes, on average, over an hour more per day than they think it should,Reference11 which adds stress and leaves less time for patients. 

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I can access my patients’ primary care summaries, medication records and more through Manitoba’s eChart, but there are still many gaps. The most frustrating visit I have is when a patient has been discharged from hospital and I don’t have access to their discharge summary. It’s dangerous because I need the patient to recall what happened during their visit, and I might miss something. — Dr. Alexander Singer, Family Doctor and Associate Professor, University of Manitoba, Manitoba

• Canadians Who Access ºìÁì½í¹Ï±¨ Records Electronically, 2023 — Data Tables (XLSX)
• ºìÁì½í¹Ï±¨ Providers Who Share Patient ºìÁì½í¹Ï±¨ Information Electronically, 2023 — Data Tables (XLSX)
• Connected care
• , Canada ºìÁì½í¹Ï±¨ Infoway
• , Canada ºìÁì½í¹Ï±¨ Infoway