The Office of the Auditor General of British Columbia presented our report, An Audit of the Panorama Public Health IT System, to the Legislative Assembly today.
Following the SARS outbreak in 2003, the Canadian government directed the development of a seamless public health system to track and manage communicable disease outbreaks and immunization across the country. This system is Panorama.
The B.C. Ministry of Health led and managed the complex national Panorama project on behalf of all provinces and territories.
The audit found that:
- Panorama is 420% over budget, 5 years late, and does not meet expectations
- Panorama has cost the province $115 million
- Annual maintenance costs are approximately $14 million
- Panorama contains thousands of defects with new ones being discovered regularly
As a result, our report contains three recommendations to the Ministry of Health around leadership, and project and contract management, as well as an independent review to assess the ongoing suitability of Panorama. 