An electronic system to help doctors provide better care for patients with this chronic and deadly illness was routinely put forward as a success story amid the setbacks in the broader goal of delivering e-health records to all Ontarians.
That success story has now made a sudden 180 turn. As the Star reported on Saturday, the board of eHealth Ontario has recommended terminating the project. That will leave the private company involved – and not, thankfully, taxpayers – on the hook for the millions spent in development. That part, at least, is a refreshing change.
The fact we’re apparently not paying for this latest fiasco, though, should not stop us from asking how this could have happened. How does a project go from being “a top clinical priority” and a “key deliverable” to being so useless that it isn’t worth finishing?
The registry was originally intended as a quick fix to help manage diabetes care and pave the way to an electronic record system for everyone. Yet, three years later, the much-delayed registry is still unfinished while the use of electronic health records has grown dramatically. That makes it the equivalent of a cassette tape in an iPod world.
The registry was originally intended as a quick fix to help manage diabetes care and pave the way to an electronic record system for everyone. Yet, three years later, the much-delayed registry is still unfinished while the use of electronic health records has grown dramatically. That makes it the equivalent of a cassette tape in an iPod world.
Health Minister Deb Matthews should back up the eHealth board in its recommendation to axe the diabetes registry and focus the agency’s full attention on expanding access to the far more useful electronic health records. It means the Liberals will have to wear yet another eHealth mistake. At least this one won’t cost taxpayers.
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Quelle/Source: The Toronto Star, 17.09.2012
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