Do we have a great healthcare system in this country? Yes, we do, said Dr. K. Kellie Leitch, chair of the Ivey Centre for Health Innovation and Leadership, speaking to The Economic Club in Toronto on Friday. “But by applying fresh thinking and innovative ideas within the system itself, it could be even better.”
The innovation and fresh thinking are just what our system lacks, Leitch said, adding that Canada has very few incentives for innovation in healthcare. In fact, the Conference Board of Canada ranked Canada 14th out of 17 industrialized countries in innovation capacity. And, even though Canada spends more than $183 billion on healthcare, it isn’t among the top 12 countries in healthcare provision.
And, Leitch added, managing Canada’s healthcare system is not going to get any easier, pointing out the challenges of an aging population, the threat of new pandemics and increasing chronic diseases.
However, the Ivey Centre for Health Innovation and Leadership was created in 2009 to promote the adoption of technological innovations and best practices and new platforms for healthcare sectors to collaborate.
Its new white paper, Innovation Takes Leadership: Opportunities & Challenges for Canada’s Health Care System, written by Leitch and two of her colleagues, provides three recommendations for our healthcare system:
1. Grow the leadership capacity for innovation in the healthcare system through education, skills development and team building. Leitch explains that it is inefficient to wait for a call from an administrative assistant to book an appointment with a specialist, yet we can book a flight to Asia online sitting on our couch. “Healthcare remains stuck in the 1970s.”
2. Build momentum through the development of small pilot projects.
3. Create a culture across the healthcare system by focusing on the adoption of ideas and innovation — not just new knowledge.
But Leitch reminded the audience that this isn’t simply academic blue-sky thinking. “[It’s] moving beyond studying what needs to be done to doing what needs to be done.”