By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
Northumberland Hilils Hospital – along with six other hospital organizations representing 14 hospitals in Ontario’s Central East Region – are partnering to deliver a new digital Clinical Information System that, once implemented, will provide a single unified personal health record for each of the 1.5-million Central East residents.
This collaboration represents the largest number of individual organizations joining together on Epic in Ontario, and will transform the way health care is delivered for generations to come.
“For the first time in Central East Ontario, patients and their entire care team will have real-time access to each patient’s health information in one place,” NHH President and Chief Executive Officer Linda Davis said in the announcement.
“The CIS will dramatically improve the ways patients and health professionals communicate with each other, supporting them to make the best possible decisions about each individual’s treatment and care.”
As hospitals across Ontario faced the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic together over the last 16 months, these Central East partner hospitals gained an even greater understanding of the importance of having a shared CIS in place to support the best possible patient care.
Along with NHH, the six other partner hospital organizations participating in this major health care initiative are Campbellford Memorial Hospital, Haliburton Highlands Health Services, Lakeridge Health, Peterborough Regional Health Centre, Ross Memorial Hospital and Scarborough Health Network.
“This unprecedented partnership will substantially improve the patient experience by supporting patients throughout their transitions between organizations and services,” Davis added.
“For physicians and other clinicians, the entire care process will be more seamless, from patient referrals to placing orders to medication management.”
The new regional CIS means:
- One digital record for each patient across seven hospital organizations in the Central East region
- Patient access to a user-friendly and secure portal called MyChart to view their health information and upcoming appointments.
- Implementation of evidence-based best practices across the care continuum
- Timely access to information to support clinical decision-making, including test results, medication information and other essential health information
- Improvements in patient safety features, including barcode identity validation at the patient’s bedside
- Less duplication and more efficient processes, contributing to a more sustainable health system
Epic is one of the world’s largest electronic health records software companies, and their system has been adopted by hundreds of leading hospitals in North America and Europe, including Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, The Ottawa Hospital, SickKids, and Mackenzie Health.
Epic will go live for all seven partner organizations in December 2021.
