Design and improvement of preventive and primary care processes

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Aging population, attrition in the workforce, adoption of emerging technologies, congestion at healthcare facilities and timely access to health services constitute major challenges facing healthcare providers and policy makers. Recognizing the urgency and significance of these problems the federal government identified "health and related life sciences and technologies" as one of the four priority areas in its new science & technology strategy. The federal and provincial governments have spent considerable effort on health policies during the past decade. The federal government commissioned two major reports (the National Forum on Health in 1997 and the Romanow report, while Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia published at least one healthcare commission report. Specific legislation has emerged in most provinces emanating from these efforts and the federal government has also taken some heed. The "10-year plan to strengthen healthcare", announced by the First Ministers in 2004, recognized providing all Canadians with timely access to quality care as the foremost priority.