In a world where AI sits in our pockets and answers our questions in seconds, how do we know when to trust the technology with our personal health? On today's episode, host Avis Favaro talks with Alvina Nadeem, an engineer, mother, and ovarian cancer survivor who admits AI likely saved her life when she input symptoms that she had ignored into ChatGPT and it flagged the possibility it was cancer.

But research from the University of Waterloo cautions that using artificial intelligence to self-diagnose illness can misinform after finding that AI was right less than a third of the time when prompted using real world questions.

Bottom line, AI can be a powerful tool for health care, but experts urge it needs some kind of guardrails to prevent it doing more harm than good.

The episode is available in English only.

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.

Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

According to CIHI’s new report on the state of Canada’s health workforce, 5.7 million Canadians don’t have a primary care provider. In this episode, host Avis Favaro talks with Emily Stevenson, the director of Practice and Policy with the Ontario Physiotherapy Association, and family physician Dr. Alexander Glover about one way to ease pressures on family doctors due to an aging and injured population. It’s a growing trend in Canada and other parts of the world known as first-contact physiotherapy: allowing patients to see a physiotherapist when they have back and joint pain, arthritis and sports injuries instead of waiting to see a doctor. Studies show that first-contact physiotherapy helps patients faster — and at a lower cost to the system — while freeing up primary care providers for other patients in need.

This episode is available in English.

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.

Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.

When you call 911, police, fire or paramedics respond. But did you know they have no access to any medical information before they arrive? They’ll only get it at the scene — if you’re conscious and can tell them, if someone else is there, or if you have a medical bracelet or card with details. But even then, studies show the information, which is relayed by phone, takes an average of 7 minutes from dispatch, which delays medical treatment.

In this episode, host Avis Favaro talks with Leslie McGill, president and CEO of MedicAlert, about a world-first experiment with Ottawa’s emergency services to get 911 dispatchers access to health data, not when first responders reach the patient, but in the blink of an eye.

This episode is available in English.

Episode transcripts can be found on our podcast web page.

Learn more about the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Say hello on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also stay up to date on the latest news and upcoming releases with our monthly newsletter.

Vous préférez les balados français? Voyez le Balado d’information sur la santé au Canada.