Participant, Provincial Digital Health Patient Advisory Group

Volunteer Opportunity
Given the significant changes in how people now access health care services, would you like to help advise the Ministry of Health as they develop the future vision of digital health? If yes, this could be the opportunity for you!

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Lead Organization/Department
BC Ministry of Health, Digital Health Policy Team

Aim
• The Digital Health Policy Team has prioritized the development of a core set of standards and policies that will provide provincial direction and support for the use of digital health in British Columbia. Our aim is to ensure that the digital health policies we have developed are inclusive, patient and family centred, and reflect patient perspectives on empowerment and digital health.
• Your role as a patient partner will be to review and provide your involved feedback to our team on these draft standards and policies.
• The Ministry of Health has prioritized several policy areas that you will review and provide feedback on: Information Management, Patient Portals and Personal Health Records, Remote Patient Monitoring, and other key topics. The policies that we will review with you will provide a clear blueprint for how we move forward with a strategic, systematic and aligned vision for digital health in British Columbia.

Level of Engagement
This opportunity is at the level of involve on the spectrum of engagement. The promise to you is that the health care partner will involve patients in planning and design phases to ensure ideas or concerns are considered and reflected in alternatives and recommendations.

Eligibility
Open to patient partners from across the province who:
• Are comfortable working in large groups with other patient partners
• Are comfortable with the use of Zoom/teleconference to attend meetings
• Are comfortable using Microsoft Word, PDF, or other formats for sharing and reviewing documents
• Prior experience using digital health services is not necessary

We are looking for a representative sample of patients from each health authority. We want to have an inclusive approach and are thus looking for diverse representation from across the province

If you have a strong interest in this work but have not yet completed a PVN orientation and Volunteer Agreement, are unsure if your experience is a good fit or feel another format of engagement would work better with your availability, please contact Cassy Mitchell.

Logistics
• Number of vacancies: 16-18
• Date and Time: Advisory sessions are tentatively set to begin May, 2021
• Each session will last 40 minutes – 1.5 hours, with one meeting per week or as needed. Agenda and supporting documents will be provided in advance. Reviewing items before each meeting is not required
• Location: Via Zoom/teleconference
• Commitment: 6 months

Reimbursement
If you would like to participate in this opportunity, but have concerns about your internet provider and data limit, please contact Cassy Mitchell at cmitchell@bcpsqc.ca. Otherwise, no expenses are anticipated.

Background
Digital health policy refers to using and promoting the opportunities offered by digitalisation in the delivery of health care services. It includes integration of virtual care into BC’s health care system and the regulation of electronic communications and information security in relation to health.

Digitally-enabled team based care is a top priority for the Digital Health Policy Team. This includes, but is not limited to, creating a standard that ensures all of the correct information about the patient is shared with the correct people in a timely manner that supports safe and high-quality health care.

The developed digital health policies were based on a review of domestic and international sources, focusing on jurisdictions with mature approaches to digital health (e.g. Australia, New Zealand, Northern Europe, United Kingdom, the United States, etc.).

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Cassy Mitchell Engagement Leader, Patient and Public Engagement | Provincial
250.279.o717
cmitchell@bcpsqc.ca