A Foundational Reset: An Actionable Roadmap for Ontario’s Digital Health

Dear SGFP Members,

Every day in Ontario, family physicians deliver more than 161,000 patient visits. We are the keystone of the healthcare system, yet the digital tools meant to support that work often do the opposite. Fragmented systems, outdated infrastructure, and inconsistent standards create unnecessary administrative burden and contribute to burnout, undermining both physician wellness and patient care.

The recent cancellation of PrescribeIT is a reminder that without strong governance, coordinated rollout, and long-term sustainability, even highly funded tools can disappear abruptly, leaving clinicians to absorb the administrative and workflow impacts. This is precisely why Ontario needs a unified, well-governed digital foundation.

We cannot build a modern health system on a broken foundation. We need to move beyond reactive fixes and toward a unified, secure, integrated digital environment that actually supports front-line care.

Over the past several months, our Digital Health Team has been listening closely to family physicians and working with partners across the system to map a path forward. Today, we are sharing A Foundational Reset: An Actionable Roadmap for Ontario’s Digital Health, a plan shaped directly by your experiences and insights. I’m now handing the pen to the team to walk you through the work.

Warm Regards,

Dr. Dave Barber

Chair, SGFP

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SGFP Digital Health Team

Dear Members,

This roadmap reflects deep collaboration with our partners and, most importantly, intensive listening to family physicians on the ground. We set out to understand your daily friction points and the systemic barriers preventing technology from being the helper it should be.

The message was clear: you don't need more features—you need a system that works. A foundation that allows our digital ecosystem to be agile, responsive, and iterative. We cannot patch this with software fixes or tools; we must fix the underlying structures and processes in step with our digital tools so the system can evolve to support your work, not add to it.

To achieve this sustainable future, our roadmap proposes six interconnected pillars:

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1. Fix the Governance: Mandate the clinical leadership and expertise of family physicians who are accountable and formally representative on all leadership and data councils.
2. Fix the Foundation: End the DIY model of clinic IT by funding a centralized, minimum provincial standard for Digital Readiness.
3. Fix the Plumbing: Build an EMR-fed digital backbone to ensure seamless data flow and digital attachment, led by optimized Primary Care Networks (PCNs).
4. Fix the Market: End vendor lock-in by mandating open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) by 2027 to achieve true interoperability.
5. Fix the Rollout: Innovation must respect your zero capacity for disruption. We demand a community-led, workflow-first approach to change management.
6. Fix the Interface: Deliver safe, physician-led patient access to health information through a staged rollout that protects continuity of care.

Building for Sustainability

Our goal is a unified digital front door for Ontario. By fixing the foundation first, we create a living infrastructure that supports the Patient’s Medical Home — not just a static piece of technology. This is how we build a healthcare system that is fiscally responsible, clinician-supporting, and sustainable.

We are calling on the government to partner with us on this physician-led vision and take immediate action on these prerequisites. Ontario deserves a secure, efficient digital system that strengthens primary care rather than straining it.

We welcome you to review the paper. In the weeks ahead, we’ll walk you through each pillar and outline what it means for your practice and for the future of primary care in Ontario.

Warm Regards,

The SGFP Digital Health Team

Dr. Kevin Brophy, Physician Lead

Barbra McCaffrey, Co-Lead

Dr. Anushiya Ganeshalingam

Dr. Naila Kassam

Dr. Stan Spacek

Dr. Keith Thompson

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