Do you believe doctors and patients should control who has access to their medical data?

TELUS Health currently does not allow doctors and patients to connect the tools they rely on and trust, effectively withholding access to their medical data.

One such tool is Cortico - an app that saves doctors hours of their day and makes it easier to see their patients. Hundreds of doctors using TELUS EMRs have been prevented from benefiting from Cortico. Even worse, other physician innovators and startups are unable to help half of Canadians for the same reason.

There are several other EMR systems Canadian doctors use. The most popular ones including WELL OscarPro, Loblaws' QHR Accuro, (and many others) allow access already. It’s already legislated in the United States since the 2018 Cures Act, to allow patients digital access to their records. We ask TELUS to open up access to the other half of Canadian patients and doctors, by allowing new vendors into the TELUS Health Exchange.

There are long term benefits to opening access:

First, by allowing third-party connections to their EMR systems, TELUS can avoid ethical and legal conundrums, protecting the right of doctors to use whichever medical tools they see fit, while giving patients access to innovative apps that will improve the quality of healthcare they receive.

Second, this move improves interoperability of TELUS EMRs, the top technical issue their users currently face in their EMRs [1].

Finally, TELUS will directly benefit from monetizing a platform for entrepreneurs to build and innovate on.  As we have seen with other household-name companies like Apple, a marketplace for apps can drive market share in the software industry.

Investigations have already begun by the Competition Bureau, who say the current situation "hurts competition and innovation in Canada." But, these proceedings can take a long time and we worry about the burnout among doctors, and reduced care for patients meanwhile.

Do you think TELUS should let doctors access their medical data with the apps of their choice? If yes, we invite you to sign this petition and let TELUS know your thoughts.

Your time and support are greatly appreciated,

Clark Van Oyen, CEO, Cortico Health Technologies

[1] 2022 Provincial EMR Strategy - Doctors of BC Member Survey.