Health policy directions for evidence-based decision making in Canada

The topic, evidence-based decision making, may be seen from many perspectives and levels of policy consideration. Canada has been actively pursuing policy macro-level directions for health information and evidence-based decision making through the National Forum on Health and the Advisory Council on Health Infostructure, together with changes in the federal health ministry, Health Canada, and other important national health organizations such as the Canadian Institute for Health Information. It remains to be determined how these initiatives will fundamentally influence a culture of evidence-based decision making and health information availability and quality for the average Canadian. Canada has, nonetheless, recognized that our health care delivery system has fallen behind in terms of using information management and technology to enable and facilitate the ever-growing information needs of the system. Policy direction provided by the National Forum on Health and the Advisory Council on Health Information offer an agenda for action and strategic direction drawn from two broadly based, highly iterative processes.