Season 1, Episode 2 | From eHealth to AI Health: Reimagining Primary Care with AI

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The Data Frontier Podcast

Patricia Thaine

2 episodes

4 days ago

Host Patricia Thaine – co-founder of Private AI – sits down with engineers, data scientists, product leaders, domain experts, policymakers, and innovators pushing the boundaries of what's possible with data. They talk about real problems. The blockers slowing projects down. The gaps between prototype and production. What needs to change – and what's already working – when you're handling some of the most complex data out there. From NLP and privacy-preserving techniques to interoperability standards, AI workflows, and the infrastructure and governance challenges that come with scale.

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Season 1, Episode 2 | From eHealth to AI Health: Reimagining Primary Care with AI

The Data Frontier Podcast

1 hour 5 minutes

6 days ago

Season 1, Episode 2 | From eHealth to AI Health: Reimagining Primary Care with AI

What if we could rebuild primary care from scratch – knowing what we know now about AI, robotics, and the lessons from eHealth Ontario?

Patricia Thaine sits down with Adam Cole (Senior Solutions Architect, Smile CDR) and George Smitherman (former Ontario Deputy Premier and Minister of Health) to explore the gap between healthcare's $100 billion budget in Ontario and its struggling digital transformation.

They dig into the real blockers: how 17 hours of weekly admin burden is pushing physicians away from practice ownership, why your EMR can't talk to the local hospital despite decades of "interoperability" promises, and what happens when venture capital starts eyeing those 10,000 primary care clinics.

The conversation spans from George's insider view of eHealth's ambitious failures to Adam's vision of AI handling 80% of routine cases – while tackling the thorny questions around privacy walls, innovation sandboxes, and whether grandma's Alexa companion is just the beginning of ambient AI monitoring.
From the minister who wrote Ontario's privacy legislation to the architect building tomorrow's clinical systems – they're mapping the path from good intentions to actual implementation.
About the Guests:

Adam Cole is a veteran healthcare technology leader with over two decades of experience driving digital innovation across enterprise and startup ecosystems. Currently Senior Solutions Architect and Head of Sales Engineering at Smile CDR, Adam has held senior roles with organizations like McKesson, the Canadian Clinical Trial Network, and HealthChain. A Canadian IT Professional of the Year and Smithsonian Laureate, he combines deep technical expertise with a passion for ethical, sustainable, and ROI-driven innovation in digital health.

Hon. George Smitherman is a trailblazing public servant, entrepreneur, and advocate with over three decades of leadership across government, healthcare, and social impact sectors. As Ontario's first openly gay MPP and former Deputy Premier, he led major portfolios including Health, Energy, and Infrastructure, overseeing transformative policies and major healthcare expansions. Since leaving politics, George has founded organizations driving innovation in workforce development, aging, and sustainability, continuing to champion pragmatic solutions to healthcare recruitment and community well-being.