Daniel Leblanc
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail Published on Wednesday, Nov. 04, 2009 12:00AM EST Last updated on Friday, Nov. 06, 2009 2:56AM EST
Ottawa will fall short of its plan to provide electronic health records to half of all Canadians by next year, Auditor-General Sheila Fraser said yesterday of the $1.2-billion initiative.
So far, Canada Health Infoway's efforts have reached 17 per cent of the population, or one-third of the goal.
Infoway president Richard Alvarez said "much has been achieved" since 2001. He said the provinces are set to launch a number of initiatives in coming months that will boost the availability of electronic health records and bring the total close to 50 per cent.
Ms. Fraser's audit did not mention the scandal over untendered contracts that recently engulfed eHealth Ontario, but she did raise questions about Infoway's practices.
A one-year contract originally valued at $144,000 was amended five times in less than three years, bringing its total value to $726,000.
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