Canadian Medical Association

headshots of Shuswap Cardiac Society

Putting patients back in the heart of their health care journeys

The problem

Patients and their families desire to be actively involved in their healthcare journeys. By engaging them as collaborators in their healthcare plans, there's an opportunity to streamline administrative processes while enhancing their health literacy and autonomy. Unfortunately, most healthcare offices lack the infrastructure to empower patients as leaders in their own health management. Physicians often struggle to balance patient appointments with their administrative duties, resulting in situations where they must either update forms during appointments, leading to patient dissatisfaction with the quality of care, or handle paperwork long after the appointment has concluded which can lead to physician burnout.

The solution

Through this initiative, the Shuswap Cardiac Society is reimagining how medical appointments take place, prioritizing patients and providers coming together as equal contributors to patient’s care plans. Medical office assistants, supported by AI technology, will scribe the sessions, with documentation projected for the patient to see. This will free up physicians to focus on their patients while allowing greater transparency and giving patients the tools to be active champions of their own health care decisions. As most administrative duties will be performed during patient appointments, this will significantly reduce physicians’ administrative burden and give them more time to focus on what they do best: caring for patients.

“In launching our initiative, we’ve embarked on a mission not just to lift the weight of administrative tasks from the shoulders of Canada’s physicians but to restore the heart of healthcare—uninterrupted, high-quality, compassionate patient care. This grant isn’t just an incredible opportunity for us; it’s a promise to every patient that their well-being is our utmost priority.”

The innovators

The Shuswap Cardiac Society is a non-profit organization whose aim is to promote cardiac health for all residents of the Shuswap, a rural community in southcentral BC.

The Shuswap Community Foundation is a public, non-profit organization created by and for the people of Shuswap. It is receiving these funds on behalf of the Shuswap Cardiac Society.

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