With the exception of the My eHealth portal, which is for patients, all these databases are accessible only by caregivers according to security protocols that differ by health region. Physicians at hospitals, for example, can access a patient's laboratory test results throughout the province through their electronic health record.
Hospitals still maintain their own independent patient records that include information not found in provincial databases.
The databases are:
- PharmaNet
Patients' prescription history and potential drug reactions are tracked in this provincewide database. The provincial government just finished an e-prescribing pilot program in which the doctor enters the prescription directly into this database and a pharmacist retrieves and fills it.
This reduces errors caused by a doctor's poor handwriting and improves patient convenience.
- Provincial Laboratory Information System
This stores a patient's laboratory results, reducing duplicate testing and enabling faster diagnoses through more immediate access to results.
- My eHealth portal
More than 345,000 British Columbians have signed up for free online access to their test results from LifeLabs and B.C. Biomedical Laboratories.
While this is not a government program, it offers access to some of the test results that are in the provincial laboratory database.
Patients who have had a test within the last 30 days can sign up using their care card number (full details at myehealth.ca).
- Diagnostic Imaging Database
This repository holds patients' X-rays and other diagnostic images. It is expected to reduce radiation doses by avoiding about 180,000 duplicate tests a year.
- Electronic Medical Records (EMR)
Physicians are replacing their patients' paper charts with electronic medical records, which are directly available only to caregivers and their assistants within the private practice that keeps them.
The government is subsidizing the investment and operating costs for systems that have met its functionality and security requirements.
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Quelle/Source: The Province, 22.09.2013
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