A doctor wears a lab coat and stethoscope in an exam room on Friday, July 14, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntoshJeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Nearly all Canadian doctors who participated in a recent survey said they had to intervene to prevent harm or to address consequences after patients accessed false or misleading health information online.
The survey, conducted by the Canadian Medical Association and research firm Abacus Data, found 97 per cent of doctors faced these challenges, including because of advice patients accessed through artificial intelligence. The survey was completed by 645 practicing physicians between April 6 and 13.
“When individuals do not have access to appropriate health care professionals in a timely way and have a question or concern, then they are going online for that information,” said CMA president Margot Burnell.
There are online platforms that offer reputable information, such as the Public Health Agency of Canada website, Dr. Burnell said. However, she said others distribute false health information which is “very concerning.”
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“As the study showed, then physicians and health care teams really have to intervene and deal with what the patient has accessed, whether they think they have a particular diagnosis or they’ve tried a medication or treatment protocol from online,” she said.
Patients can be misdiagnosed because of false information or suffer side effects from treatments they’ve opted to follow, Dr. Burnell added.
Earlier this year, the CMA’s annual Health and Media Tracking Survey similarly found that people who followed health advice from AI were five times more likely to experience harms than those who did not.
The latest research from CMA and Abacus also found 99 per cent of respondents reported that health systems that are not connected to one another prevents them from being able to easily share patient records, test results or clinical notes.
It also found nearly half of the doctors witnessed a patient experience serious adverse health consequences, including the progression of a disease or missed diagnoses, because of those disconnects.
Last year, The Globe and Mail reported how health care providers often cannot share fragmented medical records that are also inaccessible to patients, and how this could affect health outcomes. Records are often dispersed between hospitals, doctors’ offices, pharmacies and other points of care – some of which still work with paper records and faxes.
Dr. Burnell said the CMA supports current legislation that is before Parliament, Bill S-5, which looks to improve the flow of information for the benefit of patients and health care providers. She called it “long overdue.” It is a follow-up to a previous bill that died when Parliament was prorogued in January, 2025.
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Ahead of the spring economic update scheduled for next week, representatives for CMA, as well as provincial and territorial medical associations, are to hold meetings on Parliament Hill on Tuesday. They plan to meet with a number of parliamentarians to discuss how federal decisions affect health care.
Discussions will focus on issues including Indigenous-led approaches to close health gaps, making it easier for internationally trained physicians to care for patients in Canada, the need to counter false health information and lessening administrative burdens through digital tools, the CMA said.
The federal budget, tabled last November, was not a health care budget, Dr. Burnell said.
The CMA recognizes and respects the fiscal pressures the government is facing, but Dr. Burnell said spending on health care is an investment, one that would help generate employment and GDP dollars.
“We’re hoping that there will be increased funding and that it will certainly recognize health care as a top priority for this current government,” she said.