|
|
||
                   
|
|||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Brockville General Hospital |
|
   
|
|
|
News Release |
|
|
|
|||
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Eastern Ontario—Brockville General Hospital (BGH) has successfully hosted an electronic health records pilot project that will significantly improve timely physician access to medical records—from days to minutes—for patients in both the South East (SE) and Champlain Local Health Integration Networks (LHIN), with a clinical trial success rate of over 10,000 health record documents processed in the first six months. “In partnership with the SE LHIN and eHealth Ontario, we’ve developed a Clinical Document Repository with the Champlain LHIN,” says BGH Information Management/Information Technology (IM/IT) Manager Rene Melchers. “The Champlain LHIN was looking to partner with our SE LHIN for development of this project. Brockville General responded to a call for interest process to be the host organization, making that possible.” “We’re happy to say,” he adds, “that the first six months’ trial period has seen over 10,000 reports exported among just the initial health care partners we began with. That’s a qualified success.” The Clinical Document Repository (CDR) is a regional repository of primary patient records—and a key component toward developing an electronic health record (EHR) for citizens of Eastern Ontario. With CDR, the primary document is the Discharge Summary, based on eHealth Ontario’s Discharge Summary specification. Once a patient is discharged, the discharge summary and diagnostic imaging reports are immediately downloaded and directly integrated into the patient record. This makes information automatically available in the physician’s office records, allowing health care professionals to be better informed…and faster. “The old system of paper reports sent by courier or fax that took from five days to two weeks has been replaced with an immediate electronic data transfer,” says Melchers. “The report is generated, goes to the physician’s office and is automatically integrated into the patient’s record. Brockville doctors regularly refer patients to Ottawa. This will enhance information flow for thousands of patients over time.” Partners in the Champlain LHIN to date include The Ottawa Hospital and the Osgoode Family Health Team. In the SE LHIN, the Upper Canada Family Health Team has been the second partner with BGH. With this pilot, the Champlain LHIN is focusing on discharge only; however, the SE LHIN is including Diagnostic Imaging Reports with the CDR as well. It is a pivotal role for BGH in relation to the continued SE LHIN regional and eHealth provincial initiatives—one that builds on the Eastern Ontario hospital’s mission to provide an excellent patient experience for the people of Leeds and Grenville. “The CDR project we continue to develop is essential to the operating principle of both the SE LHIN and eHealth Ontario,” says BGH President and CEO Ray Marshall, “which is improving patient care. Brockville General Hospital,” he adds, “is proud to be leading the development of this important project.” The development of the CDR is fundamental to one of eHealth Ontario’s newest projects—the Clinical Document Specification (CDS), which targets the standards-based exchange of clinical documents. eHealth Ontario is developing the standards-based CDS to facilitate the wider electronic availability and transfer of clinical documents among hospitals, physicians, Community Care Access Centres and other health care organizations in Ontario. Brockville General Hospital is the first hospital in Ontario to implement the discharge summary and clinical document specification based on pan-Canadian specifications. The CDR is identified as a primary enabler of the SE LHIN’s Clinical Services Roadmap ongoing regional review of healthcare services. “The CDR project is an important example of how innovation and shared expertise can contribute to—as well as be a result of—the building of a truly regional system of integrated care that, ultimately, best serves patients across this region,” says SE LHIN CEO Paul Huras.  Brockville General Hospital CDR Project Manager Rowland Taylor (left) and BGH Manager of IM/IT Rene Melchers display a working page of the new CDR program. For more information, please contact:
Healthy people – Outstanding Care
|
