I was encouraged by the great emphasis on health care in the 1999 Federal Budget. I feel that one of the most important aspects of health care, i.e., finding an appropriate physician especially a family doctor, remains a black art. For example, a recent article 1999-01 in the Ottawa Citizen entitled "Author gives advice on selecting a doctor" starts with "It's hard to shop for a good family doctor...". Also, there was a segment entitled "Grading the Doctors" on CBC National Magazine 1998-10.
Some time ago, I started a unique bilingual service on the Internet as a value-added searchable directory of Canadian physicians because I believe that health care recipients deserve better information than Yellow Pages and words of mouth.
MediCanada service provides the general public with a single point of entry and simple and consistent presentation in order to allow them to find a suitable physician. Although there are few physicians in the directory at present, the MediCanada website records many visits every day. Some of the feedback from the users are attached to this letter. I have received positive comments from the Commissioner of Official Languages, Victor C. Goldbloom, for the fully bilingual nature of the website. In addition, the MediCanada website has been nominated for the Canadian Internet Awards for "Best Health or Medical Site".
The cost of running the website, i.e., populating the directory and maintaining it, would be about $100K CAD/year range. I have sought co-operation with Canadian Medical Association and College of Family Physicians of Canada, but medical colleges and associations are intended to serve their members rather than the general public. I have browsed the Health Canada website, but MediCanada does not seem to fit into existing funding programmes. Thus, I would appreciate your direction in order to keep the MediCanada service alive, if you think that MediCanada deserves to serve the health care needs of Canadians.
