Conducting research at the intersection of digital information technologies, commercial interests and health systems
Our objective is to conduct high quality research to understand how emerging health information technologies affect individuals and communities as well as transform health systems. We conduct our research with an awareness of how our current economic and social systems affect the development, implementation and outcomes of new health technologies. We are a multidisciplinary team and seek to provide opportunities for students and early career researchers interested in exploring this area of research.
Features and News
Research Study: Direct-to-consumer commercial virtual care: a scoping review
March 26, 2026
The Lab’s latest publication in BMJ Open examines the growing body of literature on direct-to-consumer (DTC) virtual care. This scoping review found that, despite the large number of studies examining this model of care, there is little insight into the impacts on quality of care, health outcomes, health system utilisation or privacy-related ethical concerns. The financial ties with industry suggest possible bias in this body of research.
Recent opinion article:
The quiet commercialization of primary care records
January 20, 2026
In an opinion article in Healthy Debate, Lab members Dr. Danyaal Raza, Dr. Sheryl Spithoff, Brigid Goulem and collaborator Gaibrie Stephens examine the vertically-integrated model of commercialization of patient medical records in Canada. The authors raise concerns about the impact of these models on patient privacy and care, and consider policy alternatives to protect patient and health system interests.
Research Study: Patient medical records, profits & primary care in Canada
May 5, 2025
The Lab’s latest research reveals how commercial data brokers access and monetize Canadian primary care medical records through their relationships with for-profit chains of primary care clinics, physicians and pharmaceutical companies. Published in JAMA Network Open, an international medical journal, researchers identified growing pharmaceutical industry influence; the emergence of a vertically-integrated model; and the exclusion of patients from decision-making.
Recruiting study participants
April 15, 2025
We are recruiting interviewees for a study that examines how the pharmaceutical industry promotes its products through electronic medical record systems and other patient care software platforms.
Recent opinion article: We need virtual care that cares for everyone
January 21, 2025
In an opinion article in Healthy Debate, Lab members Dr. Sheryl Spithoff and Dr. Danyaal Raza call for a non-profit model of virtual care that has the potential to not only improve health outcomes for patients but would promote health system sustainability.
Recent commentary: Typology of virtual primary care
December 8, 2024
In a commentary published in Canadian Family Physician, Lab member Dr. Sheryl Spithoff and collaborators Dr. Ewan Affleck and Dr. Lindsay Hedden, examine different models of virtual care in Canada, considering how underlying economic structures shape available models of care within the health system.
The Health Tech and Society Lab is based at Women’s College Research Institute and the Department of Family and Community Medicine (DFCM) at the University of Toronto. It is supported by grants from the Social Science and Humanities Council of Canada (SSHRC).
