Limited access to timely same-day and after-hours primary care is among the most significant barriers to continuous, appropriate care for patients in Niagara Falls and across Ontario. A lack of interoperability between Family Health Teams (FHTs) and the primary care practices they collaborate with is among the most significant barriers to coordinated, team-based care across Ontario, particularly within the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance (HPHA) region. The Stratford FHT is transitioning from the TELUS Collaborative Health Record (CHR) system to QHR Accuro, while its partner primary care offices remain on CHR, leaving two EMR platforms that do not share information directly. Lack of a structured pathway to exchange clinical notes, care plans, medication updates, and diagnostic results across these platforms can contribute to incomplete or delayed information at the point of care, duplicated tests, and increased administrative burden, particularly for patients with complex or chronic conditions who rely on coordinated, team-based services. The Stratford FHT is seeking a technology-enabled solution that provides clinicians across both EMR systems with seamless, secure, and timely access to patient information.
Stratford FHT and CAN Health are posting this Call for Innovation to seek out qualified Canadian companies who can meet the following desired outcomes. Stratford FHT and CAN Health reserve the right to not move forward with this project at their full discretion and in particular if there are no qualified Canadian companies that can reasonably meet the desired outcomes.
To qualify for a CAN Health project, the company must meet ALL the following criteria:
- Headquartered in Canada (additional criteria apply for companies not headquartered in Canada)
- Majority ownership of both the company and the solution by Canadians
- Solution at Technology Readiness Level (TRL)>7, indicating actual technology completed and qualified through tests and demonstrations
- All the data and AI models (if applicable) must be hosted in Canada and comply with all the Canadian privacy regulations
- Possess all regulatory approvals required for commercialization, such as Health Canada approval
- Completion of all required clinical validity/utility studies
- No need for policy changes to be widely adopted
- Strong use cases in the Canadian healthcare system
- CAN Health requires a Project Facilitation Agreement that includes a facilitation fee that varies based on the scope of the project
- Active Elevate Membership with CAN Health Network (must be active at the time of project launch; not required to apply).
If the company is not headquartered in Canada or the solution is not majority owned by Canadians, additional criteria apply:
- Independent autonomy over business operations and product development (for subsidiaries, affiliates or distributors)
- High Canadian job creation potential, especially in executive and senior management positions
- Commitment of over 70% of contract value to Canada.
During the company selection process, preference is given to companies/solutions fully owned by Canadians, followed by those majority owned by Canadians, and finally international companies with a significant presence and economic impact in Canada.
For more information on the Call for Innovation process and the commercialization projects funded by CAN Health Network, please refer to the FAQ page on the CAN Health Network website: https://canhealthnetwork.ca/faq/
Problem Statement:
The Stratford FHT and its partner primary care practices operate on different EMR platforms, QHR Accuro and the TELUS CHR, limiting the exchange of patient information including clinical notes, care plans, medication updates, and diagnostic results in a timely, structured way. This fragmented digital environment increases the risk of incomplete or delayed information at the point of care, duplicated tests, and suboptimal treatment decisions, and it adds manual data entry and administrative burden for staff. The need for a solution is becoming more urgent as the Stratford FHT expands its role as a regional hub for services such as cardiac rehabilitation, unattached patient care, and a developing women’s health hub, a model that aligns with the province’s Neighbourhood Health Home approach and is expected to become more common across Ontario. Addressing this challenge is foundational to delivering safe, coordinated, high-quality care regardless of the EMR platform a provider uses.
Objectives:
This initiative aims to enable secure, near real-time data exchange between the Stratford FHT and its primary care partners regardless of EMR platform, so that care teams have access to accurate, up-to-date patient information at the point of care. The objectives include:
- Develop and implement a platform that enables structured exchange of clinical information between the TELUS CHR and QHR Accuro EMR systems.
- Improve referral process, care coordination and clinical decision-making by ensuring providers across the Family Health Team and partner primary care offices have timely access to complete patient information.
- Reduce manual workarounds and administrative burden, such as duplicate data entry and repeated diagnostic testing, associated with fragmented EMR systems.
Essential (mandatory) outcomes:
- Be supported by a validated Data Sharing Strategy defining interoperability requirements, clinical workflows, and standards for secure, usable information exchange between the Stratford FHT and its primary care partners.
- Enable near real-time data exchange between the TELUS CHR and QHR Accuro systems that is integrated into existing EMR workflows across the two EMR solutions.
- Demonstrate measurable improvements in clinical workflow efficiency, data accuracy, provider communication and care coordination, including fewer manual processes and better access to complete patient information.
- Generate evidence to support a procurement decision, including quantified time savings, quality improvements, enhanced patient care, and a model that can scale to other healthcare organizations facing similar EMR fragmentation.
Fragmented Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems and limited interoperability between care providers are a persistent barrier to coordinated, team-based care. Within the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance (HPHA), the Stratford FHT is transitioning from the TELUS Collaborative Health Record (CHR) system to QHR Accuro, while its partner primary care offices continue to operate on CHR. This divergence creates a fragmented digital environment where clinical notes, care plans, medication updates, and diagnostic results cannot be exchanged directly between systems. The Stratford FHT is also building a growing role as a regional hub, including partnerships with acute care and services such as cardiac rehabilitation, unattached patient care, and a developing women’s health hub, a model that aligns with the province’s Neighbourhood Health Home approach and is expected to become more common across Ontario.
This is not an isolated challenge. Fragmented EMR systems and limited interoperability are a systemic issue across Canadian and global healthcare systems. In Canada, improved interoperability has been projected to generate approximately CAD $4 billion in annual savings, representing about 1.6% of total healthcare expenditure (Saberi et al., 2025). Globally, only a small number of jurisdictions, such as Estonia, have achieved near-universal interoperability, showing that most health systems, including Canada’s, continue to struggle with effective data exchange (Black Book Research, 2025).
This gap persists because EMR adoption across health systems has often happened independently at the vendor, organization, or regional level, creating data silos even where digital health infrastructure is otherwise advanced. The result is a problem embedded in system design, procurement, and vendor ecosystems, not a lack of technology. In the case of HPHA, two clinically connected organizations ultimately operate on two different EMR platforms with no structured mechanism to exchange patient information.
Left unaddressed, this gap will continue to affect clinical decision-making, care continuity, and operational efficiency for patients moving between the Stratford FHT and its primary care partners, particularly those with complex or chronic conditions who depend on coordinated, team-based care. Solving it is a foundational step toward the kind of integrated, data-driven care delivery that HPHA, and health systems across Ontario, are increasingly expected to provide.
