Data Governance: Part 5 - Health data and information capability framework
Scope:
This standard specifies the minimum requirements for organizations to define the depth, diversity and complexity of capabilities, including criteria to assess the degree to which the capability is mature and consistently applied across an organization’s data assets and processes.
The framework also aims to help networks of organizations (e.g., multiple agencies within a jurisdiction) understand the alignment required within the network for a given Health Data and Information (HDI) capability through:
- Identifying the need for and extent of alignment required of their HDI principles, practices and content where it is practical and beneficial toward achieving common aims; and
- A common language for multi-organizational collaboration as a basis for exchange of leading practices and lessons learned in a meaningful and constructive way that fosters improvement and alignment.
The framework is not intended to prescribe how these capabilities and related processes should be implemented. Individual organizations will need to design or refine their own policies, processes and practices given their scope, mandate, priorities and legislative authorities.
Project need:
In the fall of 2019, Ernst & Young (EY) estimated that the potential value to be gained through the appropriate use of the National Health Service (NHS) longitudinal patient records would be £5 billion per annum for the NHS (e.g., only necessary procedures, operational efficiencies) and an additional £4.6 billion per annum of benefits for the public (e.g., fewer sick days). Scaling to Canada (population and exchange rate), this would result in $4.9 billion per annum savings for Canada’s health systems and $4.5 billion per annum for the public if we had base infrastructure comparable to the NHS. (Spence P. How we can place a value on health care data. EY Global. July 19, 2019).
Health systems across Canada are seeking greater value from their health data and information (HDI) assets in an effort to achieve sustainable, effective and impactful outcomes, resulting in better individual and population health and better health system planning and delivery. At the same time, it is essential to continue to keep personal health information protected in order to earn and retain public trust. There is a consensus that it is time for Canada to take action. Canadian health information organizations — ministries and departments of health, health agencies and authorities, health delivery organizations and research organizations — indicate there are significant opportunities for realizing greater value from health data and information (HDI). Examples of such opportunities are supporting evidence-based decision-making in areas of social and economic policy, research on population health, evaluating health system performance and improving care for Canadians, while keeping data
protected.
There is an increased focus on analytics, including emerging areas such as the application of artificial intelligence to health care. Generating value from these advanced techniques requires effective and efficient processes to collect, prepare, link, protect and distribute trusted data. This requirement has been echoed in numerous Canadian papers that have called for a strategic and coherent approach to organizing and governing Canada’s HDI assets.
Note: The information provided above was obtained by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) and is provided as part of a centralized, transparent notification system for new standards development. The system allows SCC-accredited Standards Development Organizations (SDOs), and members of the public, to be informed of new work in Canadian standards development, and allows SCC-accredited SDOs to identify and resolve potential duplication of standards and effort.
Individual SDOs are responsible for the content and accuracy of the information presented here. The text is presented in the language in which it was provided to SCC.