Insight In Conversation with Fred Horne Ken Tremblay Editor’s Note: In October 2011, several weeks after this interview, Mr. Horne was appointed minister of health by Alberta’s new Premier Alison Redford. irst elected on March 2008, Fred Horne was still a rookie member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Edmonton- Rutherford when he became parliamentary assistant to the minister of seniors and community support. By November F2010, he moved to a similar role with the minister of health and wellness. Concurrently, he served as chair of the legislature’s Standing Committee on Health, with a mandate to focus on primary care, continuing care and mental health. Horne’s career has been deeply rooted in healthcare, with numerous consultancy roles in health policy and a range of clients spanning government, agencies, health authorities and the private sector. With a master’s of business administration degree from Royal Roads University and post-graduate certification in dispute resolution from York University, he seems aptly qualified for the issues and challenges of healthcare, health policy and systems delivery. Horne’s fingerprints are prominent on several pieces of legislation, policy and system reviews, all positioned to place Alberta at the apex of performance and outcome measures in Canada. In June 2011, Horne showcased Alberta’s progress and track record in healthcare at the Canadian College of Health Leaders National Conference in Whistler, British Columbia. Ken Tremblay caught up with Horne over the summer. 30 Healthcare Quarterly Vol.14 No.4 2011 Ken Tremblay In Conversation with Fred Horne HQ: During your Whistler presentation, it became very professionals in team-based environments not only can review apparent that you are both articulate and wise regarding historical information but can share [current] information to the intricacies of the healthcare system, public policy and help achieve specific outcomes for patients. all the moving parts. How has that knowledge shaped your We have seen many effective applications of the EHR in approach to leading or driving the changes you feel are needed the in-patient environment. These systems are going to be even in healthcare? more effective once they are connected to primary care providers FH: I have been very fortunate to have had a number of oppor- because if you look at chronic disease management, for example, tunities in my professional life to work with and learn from the ability to link early intervention, proactive intervention people who have a wide range of experience and knowledge and assisting patients to manage their own condition over time within the Canadian healthcare system. That is the biggest asset resides at the primary care level. In this sense, the EHR is not I have coming into my role as an MLA and parliamentary assis- just automation; rather, it is a true enabler of new processes and tant for the Ministry of Health and Wellness. approaches that actively involve patients in their own care. I started out as a health planner in Ontario, working in everything from mental health to acute care to continuing care. HQ: I noted the interactive symptom checker on the MyHealth I worked with the professionals but also talked with the people website. How have Albertans responded to the ability to take who actually use the system. Increasingly, in addition to looking more control of their healthcare and access to the system? at best practices, I found a real need for engagement with the FH: We are still in the early days of the portal. From my public in terms of understanding their experience with the health constituency, I have heard some very positive reactions about system and their goals and aspirations. [Patient] engagement is the ability to log in, although we are not yet at the point where really helping me do an effective job as an elected representative. Albertans can fully access their own clinical information. We’re In the past two years, I have had the chance to do some working hard on that and hope to get there soon. extensive consultations with Albertans. First, the Minister’s When I started my career, healthcare was very much a Advisory Committee on Health, which I co-chair, looked at program where individuals, families and communities were, for our legislative framework for health in Alberta. The second the most part, passive players. “Healthcare” was something we instance related to specific consultations on the Alberta Health received, but we didn’t really get involved in terms of making Act, which was passed in the legislature last fall. Having had the decisions about our own health. There is an increasing demand opportunity to work in the field for a number of years, I have for access to information, enabling individuals and families to a network of people whom I respect to draw from – both in take an active role in managing their own health and health Alberta and across the country. outcomes. When I talk to constituents caring for young children, The last piece of the puzzle is an understanding that to their aging parents and their own health, [I hear that] these tools really get the most value out of our system, we need to actively offer access to information and support people, particularly engage our citizens in a discussion, not just about how to fix those with chronic diseases or at the threshold of developing, the health system but about how to make improvements on let’s say, diabetes. It’s those people who want to pull themselves their individual experiences and to respond to their priorities: back from the brink who are going to really benefit from the primary care, continuing care and mental health care – three portal. It’s not just a case of pushing information out to people; very basic building blocks that concern people about their it’s allowing them to pull information to use to make decisions. health system. HQ: Creating the best-performing, publicly funded health HQ: Alberta seems to be leading Canada in the successful system in Canada by 2015 is the endgame contemplated by implementation of a province-wide electronic health record your province’s five-year health action plan. In it are perfor- (EHR) and, specifically, products such as MyHealth and the mance targets such as scheduled primary care visits within two Netcare EHR portal. What benefits do you see from these days, and 100% of patients discharged from the emergency investments in e-health? department within four hours. Tell us how you found the FH: Alberta was fortunate to have ministers and officials who resolve to make such standards-based direction statements had the vision for the EHR. Automating processes that already within your province’s reform agenda. existed – laboratory test information, information about patient FH: The credit goes to our minister [of health and wellness] prescriptions and the ability to view diagnostic imaging infor- and our premier, in particular, and my colleagues in caucus mation – has been really helpful. for making the decision to focus on performance. In the years Going forward, we have to take what we have developed during which I’ve been involved in [healthcare], the country and connect it to primary care. We are beginning to see that has been fixated on the total cost of healthcare – sometimes in primary care networks with linkages to Alberta Netcare, expressed as a percentage of GDP [gross domestic product], Healthcare Quarterly Vol.14 No.4 2011 31 In Conversation with Fred Horne Ken Tremblay sometimes as a percentage of the provincial budget. It’s impor- HQ: Alberta has come full circle in its evolution of districts, tant that we are mindful of those metrics as some provinces to regional health authorities, to the current Alberta Health are approaching 50% of their expenditures on healthcare. But Services. What would you say are the lessons learned that can limiting the discussion to what we’re spending versus engaging be used by other provinces? people in a conversation about how well we’re spending the FH: There are probably a number. One is the engagement of money seems to be a missed opportunity. your citizenry, health professions and the people who work in the system as key to the success of making this kind of Limiting the discussion to what change. Alberta Health Services has about 96,000 employees we’re spending versus engaging people in a at the moment; there are a lot people who have been affected conversation about how well we’re spending by the change. One of our major goals was simply to maximize efficiency. I the money seems to be a missed opportunity. believe we had over seven separate payroll systems. But, if you also look at [the system] from a policy perspective and seek to While Albertans are mindful of costs, they’re [more] inter- improve the health status and outcomes of your population, ested in how well we’re doing, not just against the best in you really need to deploy a best practices approach across the the OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and board. Alberta Health Services is going to allow us to do that. Development] but benchmarking against our own performance. With that said, one of the lessons is that you don’t want a It’s an incremental approach to system improvement versus remote head office to take away opportunities for local input trying to find the one big fix. I don’t believe there is a single big on decisions best made on a site basis. It’s a balance, and we’re fix for healthcare; I do believe we are not getting the most value still learning.