More than 12,000 records were shipped electronically during a six-month pilot project involving the Ottawa Hospital, the Upper Canada and Osgoode Family Health Teams and the Southeast and Champlain Local Health Integration Networks (LHINS).
"We've shown we can move this information quickly, safely and securely," project manager Rowland Taylor told The Recorder and Times during a conference call Thursday.
Taylor said both LHINs, which control the regional health care pursestrings, are pleased with the results of the program.
But more telling is the buy-in from physicians participating in the project and doctors outside the pilot who are eager to jump on the bandwagon, said Taylor.
Added Brockville General president and CEO Ray Marshall: "The volume of files transferred is one indicator of the success of the project, but the physician acceptance is a better indicator."
Marshall said doctors like the fact a hospital X-ray can be transmitted to the physician's office within minutes for a follow-up consultation with the patient.
For instance, if a patient with a persistent cough sees a doctor who orders a chest X-ray, a report is sent out soon after the procedure, said Marshall.
"If the patient has pneumonia, the doctor would know immediately that something is wrong."
Brockville General is the host site of a clinical document repository of primary patient records which is an essential component of the operating principles of the LHINS and eHealth Ontario to improve health care, said Marshall.
"Brockville "General Hospital is proud to be leading the development of this important project. We made a conscious decision that elective patient records need to be a part of the system."
Marshall expects BGH will be the repository for a wider system when other health-care providers in the area come on board.
But it is unclear if the hospital will be able to go outside the area to offer the service, nor how the program will be expanded in the future, he added.
Still, the project will result in a measure of savings and efficiencies that include the use of less paper and less manpower copying and mailing documents, said Marshall.
In a statement, Rene Melchers, BGH's manager of clinical managment and information technology, said the new system replaces the old paper reports sent by courier or fax with an immediate electronic data transfer.
The report is generated, goes to the physician's office and is automatically integrated into the patient's record," said Melchers.
"This will enhance information flow for thousands of patients over time."
Paul Huras, CEO of the Southeast LHIN which has jurisdiction over Brockville General Hospital, said the project is an important example of how innovation and shared expertise can contribute the building of a regional health-c a re system better suited to serve patient needs.
LHIN media spokesman Michael Alexander said a time-line hasn't been established for expanding the program, but it will be part of the budget discussions for 2012.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Nick Gardiner
Quelle/Source: The Recorder and Times, 20.01.2012
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