Connect Every Visit
Are you a patient in BC and wondered why your doctor is still using a fax machine? It’s because BC has over 40 different digital health systems that don’t talk to each other.
That means your health information doesn’t always follow you, costing time, safety, and continuity of care.
The system isn’t working for British Columbians
Systems that don’t speak to each other are undermining the care British Columbians depend on.
Family physicians want to spend their time with patients, not fighting the systems meant to support them. But across BC, outdated and disconnected digital infrastructure systems are getting in the way.
In February 2026, BCCFP asked family physicians across the province how fragmented digital systems are affecting their practice:
of physicians routinely navigate between 2 to 5 different digital systems, just to manage a single patient’s care.
are duplicating patient information across multiple systems on a weekly basis.
minutes are lost every day to navigating clunky, disconnected systems, longer than the average patient visit.
It's time to connect health care in BC.
BCCFP - Connect Every Visit Campaign
Ever had test results your family doctor couldn't access because they were done elsewhere?
Ever wonder why you have to repeat your medical history at every appointment?
Ever wonder why clinics still use faxes and phones for referrals?
Case Study: A Broken Bone Away from Home
Picture this. You are visiting Kelowna from Victoria on a family vacation when you get into an accident and break your arm:
Under the Current Disconnected System
At the point of injury
I go to the ER in Kelowna, get x-rays, and the fracture is set and casted. I try to relay my medical information (allergies, medications, medical history) because they cannot access my record, but I cannot remember all of the medications I am taking. They discharge me and tell me to follow up with my family physician to get a referral for an orthopedic surgeon when I get home.
First appointment with my family physician
My family physician fits me in for an urgent appointment when I get home. They have no access to the images that were done at the hospital in Kelowna.
Addressing the gap in information
My family physician contacts the hospital to fax the report over. They are still unable to see the original x-ray. They refer me for another x-ray which must be done before they can make a referral.
Second appointment with my family physician
I receive a new x-ray and now have to wait for the results of this x-ray and for a second appointment with my family doctor. Once I am able to see my family physician, they then can make a referral to an orthopedic surgeon by fax.
Waiting for a Referral
2-3 weeks go by. The specialist responds to the fax and states that they are not currently accepting referrals. My family physician makes several phone calls to specialists’ offices to ensure they are taking referrals. Several weeks after the initial hospital visit, I finally get to see a specialist.
Under a Connected System
At the point of injury
I go to the ER in Kelowna; they have access to my complete medical history already. I get an x-ray and the fracture is set and casted. They send a full summary and images to my family doctor.
Appointment with family physician
I arrive at my appointment in Victoria for a follow-up. My family physician has all the information from the point of injury and can make an efficient, effective, and accurate decision about the progression of my treatment. They are then able to send a referral with ease through a connected system to a specialist.
We need to connect care in British Columbia
The provincial government must commit to a plan that reduces BC’s 40+ fragmented systems to a small number of systems that actually work together.
Connecting every visit would have direct, measurable impact on:
- Quality of care
- Patient safety
- Access to care
- Physician retention
This builds on progress already underway to stop wasting money on fragmented digital health systems and lays out a clear plan for a health system where every visit is connected.
Share Your Story
Your voice matters. Whether you’re a family physician or a patient in BC, tell us what it’s been like navigating a health system where the pieces don’t connect.
Submissions will be published anonymously.
Your Stories
Physician
My hospital provides excellent care however their Meditech system is not connected with the private LTC homes that provide the majority of LTC in my area. To update a new FP in Meditech, there’s a cumbersome process that only works intermittently. Emergency department admin staff missed the new FP name on the patient’s chart notes sent from the LTC home, and the patient with dementia was unable to advocate for the change of FP name.
This meant that when my new LTC patient recently visited the hospital after a fall, the hospital visit and x-ray report detailing the broken pelvis was not communicated to me, and the LTC staff also had insufficient information when the patient returned to the home. This has been a problem for over 20 years in my community.
A mechanism to update FP name pro-actively when there’s a change and Meditech access at all LTC sites would have prevented this problem.
Physician
I cannot say enough how unsafe and time consuming it is to try to track down patient records in BC. I’ve worked in hospitals where another hospital merely 15 mins away is on a different electronic record that we cannot access with ease. This means when we have transferred patients, there is important details that may be being missed.
I work in Alberta as well now and their unified system and electronic records has been night and day in my daily work. I am able to provide safe patient care in both the hospitals and outpatient clinics. I have all the information I need in easy access.
Physician
I am a family physician on Salt Spring Island. I started my practice last year and have taken 1250 patients. Most assume I have all of their old records at my fingertips. They don’t know their medications. Their specialist’s names. The last time they had colon, breast or cervix cancer screening. The results of their last x-ray, ultrasound, CT scan, MRI. They wave vaguely at the desktop computer in my exam room and say “ don’t you have it all there?” I request specific documents from their last physician. Their last physician has no time to sort through documents, so they send me THE ENTIRE OLD CHART that’s 200 pages long. I contact multiple different sites to find old imaging and bloodwork and consultant letters. Finally I have a picture of their medical history… I order x-rays for a new problem. There is an incidental finding that needs follow-up. The report does not specify which side. I am STILL waiting for my associate privileges with the health authority (months after applying, because they want me to duplicate all the info I already gave to the BC college of physicians and surgeons to get my BC licence) so cannot access the actual images to figure it out myself. I call the report line and leave a message about the incomplete report that is never responded to. The patient eventually gets a private CT in another province and pays to have both sides done because we still don’t know which side has the incidental finding…I finally get my associate privileges. It takes me 3 calls to tech support and I download three different authenticator apps before being told which is the right one on to my phone in order to access “Powerchart” to look up hospital reports directly. Once it is working it still takes about 10 minutes to logon to EACH TIME (it automatically logs you out) and then is hopelessly clunky and inefficient to navigate. It has no compatibility with my EMR. The possibility of using this during a patient encounter to look up necessary information is zero. These are time wasting challenges I face EVERYDAY DAY.
Physician
When I moved clinics this year, I also had to switch the EMR (chart software) that I was using. The companies initially promised that they could transfer the files for me, which turned out to be wrong. Since then, I’ve had to spend months manually entering the charts of nearly 1000 patients – every medication, every condition, their last blood pressure… I’ve lost count of how many hours I’ve spent on it, and it doesn’t even include previous visit notes. It’s been embarrassing for patients to ask about a prior conversation ftom last year and I have no notes to remind me. It’s fragmenting the care they’re getting, not only between my family medicine practice and specialists, but within my own clinic too.
Write to your MLA
Help us make the case for change. Add your voice and tell your MLA that connected care matters.
If you’re a family physician, you can access a modified template to send to your MLA here.
For more information, check out: www.bccfp.bc.ca