Ontario looking to create interconnected primary care medical record system
· Toronto Sun
The Ontario government is looking into creating a provincewide primary care medical record system that it says will enable a patient’s family doctor to share their medical information with clinicians seamlessly.
Health Minister Sylvia Jones made the announcement at a news conference at Humber River Health on Thursday, alongside Ontario’s Primary Care Action Team chair Dr. Jane Philpott.
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“As a family physician myself, I have seen first-hand how frustrating it can be for patients when their medical information that’s been collected over a lifetime in their family medicine chart isn’t easily accessible in the rest of the health system when it’s needed most,” Philpott said.
Province wants to eliminate ‘safety risks’
She said that for a patient in the emergency room, not having their medical history — such as their allergies, their medications, their vaccinations and test results — readily accessible can create challenges in their treatment.
“When that information is missing, it can not only lead to safety risks, but it can also lead to unnecessary repeat tests and delays to care, Philpott said.
“I also know how difficult it is for family doctors to manage IT systems and keep the electronic medical records up to date with all the latest digital tools. That administrative burden takes away time from doing what matters most: Caring for patients,” Philpott said.
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Most primary care providers are already using electronic records, but their systems are isolated, Jones said.
“What we need to do next is expand it so that those lab results, so that those hospital visits, so those conversations with Ontario Health at home and home-care workers can all be part of that record because, frankly, that is the entire person,” she said.
Jones said the plan is still in the early stages as the government is working with Supply Ontario on a “call for proposal” to see what vendors are interested in developing a primary care medical record system for the province.
Concerns raised over another eHealth scandal
When pressed by reporters about how the government would ensure the new system wouldn’t be a repeat of the Liberals’ eHealth scandal, Jones said that the government is taking a “multi-step process” that will ensure “vendors” understand their roles and responsibilities.
In 2009, the Ontario auditor general found $1 billion had been wasted by the eHealth agency, which was launched by then-premier Dalton McGuinty. The report led to the resignation of David Caplan as health minister.
A follow-up report from the auditor general in 2016 said $8 billion had been spent to that point on various electronic health record initiatives.
— With files from The Canadian Press