Trailer: Making it Personal: AI, Knowledge Management and the Future of Canadian Healthcare

Canada's healthcare system, once the crown jewel of our national identity, now faces an unprecedented crisis. Emergency rooms overflow with patients waiting hours for care, while millions struggle to find a family doctor. The healthcare professionals we depend on are burning out at alarming rates, caught in a system that seems increasingly unable to meet the complex needs of Canadians.

But what if we're looking at the problem all wrong? What if the solution isn't just about more funding, more beds, or more doctors? Abbas Zavar MD, from the University of Toronto's Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation suggests a paradigm shift – one that leverages the power of personalized medicine and artificial intelligence to transform how care is delivered.

Through groundbreaking research, Zavar explores how we might collect and consolidate medical data from numerous sources using AI, applying sophisticated knowledge management methodologies to transform data and information into actionable insights. This approach wouldn't just benefit individual patients through more tailored care – it could fundamentally reduce strain on the entire system by improving outcomes, enhancing efficiency, and boosting patient satisfaction.

From overcrowded emergency rooms to remote rural healthcare areas, from fragmented provincial systems to the mounting pressures of an aging population, we examine the challenges facing Canadian healthcare and the innovative approaches that could chart a path forward. Whether you're a healthcare professional, policy maker, or simply a concerned Canadian, this conversation offers a compelling vision for how we might preserve the universal, accessible care that defines us as a nation.

Subscribe now and join us for "Making it Personal" – an episode that might just change how you think about the future of healthcare in Canada.

Blog Post for this episode

The music for this episode, Out There, is performed by our current artist in residence, #TracyJones from his album #LuckyTime

You can find out more about Tracy by visiting the Blog Post for his episode

Knowledge Management Institute of Canada
From those who know to those who need to know

Workplace Innovation Network for Canada
Every Graduate is Innovation-Enabled; Every Employee can Contribute to Innovation

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Chapters

• 0:00 Canadian Healthcare Crisis Overview
• 1:09 Introducing Personalized Medicine Solutions
• 2:01 Preview of Interview with Dr. Zavar

Transcript

Making in Personal - Trailer and Episode Intro

Blake Melnick: [00:00:00] Canada's healthcare system has long stood as a pillar of our national identity. Universal, accessible and rooted in the belief that healthcare is a fundamental right for Canadians. But today that pillar is under mounting pressure from overcrowded emergency rooms and extensive wait times to a growing shortage of family, doctors and burnout among front-line staff.

The system is stretched to its breaking point. An aging population, chronic underfunding, uneven access to care, especially in rural and remote regions, and a lack of integration of medical data across the provinces have only compounded the challenge. As [00:01:00] healthcare needs grow more complex, the system seems increasingly unable to keep up.

But what if the solution isn't just more funding or more beds or more doctors, but a smarter, more personalized approach to care? My guest for the next episode of The Many Faces of Innovation on for what it's Worth, podcast is Abbas Zavar M.D. from the University of Toronto's Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation.

His research explores how we might re-imagine healthcare delivery using personalized medicine, leveraging artificial intelligence to collect and consolidate data from a multitude of sources, and then applying knowledge management methodologies to turn that information into actionable knowledge. The goal to equip physicians with the insights they need to better understand and address the unique medical needs of each [00:02:00] patient, and in doing so, reduce strain on the system by improving outcomes, efficiency, and patient care and satisfaction.

In the next episode, we'll explore the current crisis in Canadian healthcare and a forward-looking vision into how innovation, data and knowledge might just help us find a way out. Join us for the next episode called Making It Personal for what it's worth.