Having the right information at the right time and at the fingertips of the right individuals is not just a necessity for a well-functioning healthcare system but it is also the difference between life and death for Canadians. It is particularly critical to enable improved access to and quality of care for equity-deserving individuals because these data eliminate blind spots for clinicians, policy makers and system planners. The COVID-19 pandemic put a spotlight on the health data challenges that exist across Canada and the tangible impact those have on the healthcare system's ability to meet the needs of underserved populations. It sparked unified urgency at the federal and provincial/territorial levels to build a learning health system powered by connected health data for clinical care, patient access, care organization operations, health system use and population/public health. Person-centric data content standards will lie at the foundation of Canada's learning health system, enabling the creation and exchange of data.
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