"We're the largest province, surely we should be able to figure this out and come up with an action plan,'' Ann Cavoukian said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
"Don't give me more strategy on how you're going to do it. We need something right now.''
According to Canada Health Infoway, a not-for-profit agency that helps develop electronic health records, the widespread use of such records can reduce wait times, create fewer adverse drug reactions and provide better prescribing practices.
Still, the Ontario government says it doesn't know when residents can expect a full electronic system that would give every person in the province a health record that all authorized health-care workers can access.
"We don't have any final decisions on timelines, or announcements on timelines, for the full implementation of the electronic health record,'' said A.G. Klei, a spokesman for Ontario's Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
"The implementation of the electronic health record is a rather huge and complex thing, so right now we're putting the building blocks in place as part of the e-health strategy.''
While many hospitals, laboratories and doctors in Ontario already use some form of electronic records, a plan to connect the systems falls short of commitments made by other provinces.
Currently, Alberta has an electronic health-record system in place and the government says it hopes all Albertans will have electronic health records by 2008.
In April, British Columbia signed a $148-million deal with Sun Microsystems to build the infrastructure they need to develop a provincewide electronic system by 2009.
Ontario isn't making enough progress and is falling behind, said Cavoukian.
"It has cost implications in terms of your health and your deliverables, when you need treatment and care,'' she said.
But Jeff Rohrer, spokesman for Health Minister George Smitherman, said it's not fair to compare Ontario to other provinces.
"It's not appropriate to say that all provinces started in the same place on e-health. When we came to office, we were significantly behind on the infrastructure basics,'' Rohrer said.
"We are not setting arbitrary timelines, we are actually delivering the infrastructure that will support e-health records.''
Dr. Janice Willett, president of the Ontario Medical Association, said Ontario needs to have a system in place, "in the next five years.''
Information about patients just isn't available when they move from a family doctor to a specialist, or from a walk-in clinic to a family doctor, she said, and patients will continue to endure extra tests that they don't need if Ontario doesn't put a comprehensive electronic system in place.
Without immediate access, doctors and their staff have to get on the phone seeking the information and test results they need, said Willett, who adds she spends about 15 per cent of her time tracking down patient information.
Richard Alvarez, president of Canada Health Infoway, agreed that Ontario needs to establish an overall electronic health-record system soon.
"They're clearly working on (a system) but it's something that we really do need to accelerate,'' Alvarez said. "At this stage of the game there is a lack of understanding about how all of this is going to come together.''
Although the government doesn't have a timeline, the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care says it recognizes the need to link its electronic initiatives together.
"Admittedly, the problem is that they've been built in isolation without the ability to connect to each other for information sharing,'' said David Jenson, a spokesman for the Ministry.
This is also not the first time the Ontario government has been pushed to move forward with its electronic record initiatives.
In 2006, the Ontario Health Quality Council released a report identifying the importance of moving ahead with information technology.
Although the need for creating a connected system is there, Alvarez says population size and geography are some of the reasons Ontario is behind other provinces.
"The bigger you are as a jurisdiction, the tougher it is,'' said Alvarez.
Still, if Ontario makes electronic health records a priority they could "overtake the rest of the country,'' he said.
"The time has come now to cut the excuses, to make it a priority and move on.''
Quelle/Source: CTV Toronto, 24.06.2007
