Establishing electronic medical records (EMR) in doctors’ offices will be high priority for the Canada Health Infoway over the next decade, superceded only by the goal of establishing an electronic health record for all Canadians and launching a public health surveillance system.
This is according to a new report, 2015: Advancing the Next Generation of Health Care in Canada.
The report, launched at an e-Health 2007 conference in Quebec City, highlights a shortage of family doctors as a key factor driving the need for better coordination and management of health information.
It stated that EMRs were a priority for doctors’ offices because an estimated 80 per cent of patient encounters took place there and the percentage of doctors with EMRs in Canada was “disproportionately low” compared with other countries.
It said EMR implementation was key to other goals such as improved access and management of chronic diseases.
The estimated cost of putting EMRs in all doctors’ offices was up to $2 billion, but it would be balanced by a comparable amount of annual benefits such as “improved patient safety and a reduction in laboratory tests”.
Autor(en)/Author(s): Emer Mullins
Quelle/Source: Irish Medical Times, 29.06.2007
