AMS Healthcare releases: Patient and Caregivers Recommendations on Technology & Compassion During COVID-19

Join AMS Healthcare to help make patient digital interaction with the health system more compassionate, inclusive and user friendly.

In 2020, AMS Healthcare hosted “Hearing Your Voices – A Virtual Conference on Compassion and Technology for Patients, Family and Caregivers” in partnership with The Ontario Caregiver Organization, The Change Foundation, and the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement (now known as Healthcare Excellence Canada).

At the event we heard from over 700 patients and caregivers on how well these systems worked for them.  What we learned was that despite being designed to assist the patient journey, technology offerings from virtual care visits to digital records often failed to deliver in the key priorities identified by the participants:

• Patients should have full access to their health information
• Healthcare providers should have access to patients’ health information regardless of where in Canada they are located and across care settings
• Canadians should have equitable access to virtual care and options that enable participation across diverse groups
• Digital solutions that can be accessed regardless of where you live in Canada

Over the past 18 months, the COVID pandemic has forced patients and caregivers to rely on virtual care and other technology products to interact with health services more than ever.  How well did these digital offerings perform in meeting patient and caregiver needs, realities, geographies, and preferences?

We have created a final report Patient and Caregivers Recommendations on Technology & Compassion During COVID-19 to highlight the valuable recommendations that came out of this conference aimed at the many audiences that can help solve these problems. We ask for your help in championing the change patients and caregivers need to successfully navigate the health system: digital tools that are more compassionate to their needs, capabilities, circumstances, geographies, and preferences.

We have created a supportive Action Plan, for you as a patient or caregiver or for your organization to assist us in championing change.  Please feel free to share the full report with your network.