Charting the Future of Saskatchewan Healthcare

Gaining common ground and shared understanding can be difficult when working amongst complex organizations with diverse priorities, such as those within Saskatchewan’s health system. However, a common goal does exist; to better understand and implement learning health systems (LHSs) in our province. LHSs occur when all stakeholders in the health system work collaboratively to integrate data, evidence and knowledge to make continuous improvements for the health and wellbeing of the people in the province.

When the Saskatchewan Centre for Patient-Oriented Research (SCPOR) recognized gaps in our understanding of LHSs and opportunities to collaborate, they organized an LHS symposium titled Charting the Future of Saskatchewan Healthcare: Generating Value within our Health Systems that would bring partners from across the province together to explore strategies for building and strengthening LHSs in Saskatchewan.

The symposium, held in May 2024, attracted over 100 attendees. Morning presentations focused on the LHS Action Framework and examples of successful LHSs across Canada. In the afternoon, attendees were divided into two groups; one group was asked to consider what possibilities exist in Saskatchewan to foster LHSs and to recommend big, bold ideas to move them forward. The second group included senior leaders from throughout Saskatchewan’s health system. They were also asked to consider the possibilities for fostering LHSs and, having been provided with the top-scoring ideas from the other group, identify the next steps in the LHS journey. 78% of post-event survey respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the event improved their understanding of LHSs and over half felt the discussions were effective in determining opportunities and next steps for future LHSs in Saskatchewan.

Symposium insights and recommendations were developed and shared with attendees, many of which have been pursued over the past year. Several changes within the landscape of Saskatchewan healthcare can be attributed, either directly or indirectly, to the conversations and collaborations that took place at the symposium, as exemplified below.

One of the insights from the symposium indicated a need to prioritize patient-reported metrics. Following the symposium, patient-reported outcome and experience measures were identified as provincial priority areas. The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) led Patient-Centred Measurement (PCM) Collaborative engages health system partners from across the province to develop a coordinated approach to advance PCM, and the collaborative is now pursuing the development and maintenance of PCM infrastructure, storage and access that will effectively and sustainably support their vision.

In early 2025, SCPOR connected the SHA with LHS expert Dr. Walter Wodchis, who was invited to present at a spring planning day, and in June 2025, the SHA emerged with a new LHS-focused portfolio called “Insights for Better Health.”

Says Michelle Mula, SHA’s Vice President Quality, Safety and Chief Information Officer, “These changes to our structure will bring increased capacity for quality improvement and strengthened focus on patient safety. The Quality, Safety and Information team is now better positioned to enable a learning health system and strategically aligned for success. These changes will enhance our ability to serve our organization, partners, and most importantly, patients.”

Over the past year, SCPOR has focused on the symposium recommendation to build on and align strengths and assets by surveying health and research partners in Saskatchewan and gain an understanding of the LHS assets available within the province. When completed, the asset map will serve as a valuable source of information and will highlight gaps that SCPOR and its partners can seek to fill.

One such gap, as identified at the symposium, was the need for access to rapid synthesis in Saskatchewan. SCPOR has since championed the creation of the Rapid Evaluation Synthesis Team (REST), in collaboration with the SHA and University of Saskatchewan. The evidence gathered by REST can be used to improve systems and inform policy changes.

Saskatchewan has embraced learning health systems and has taken advantage of the momentum created by the LHS symposium. Health organizations province-wide continue to work collaboratively to address symposium insights and recommendations and move forward with the common goal of advancing LHSs to improve health and healthcare in Saskatchewan.