Connecting the medical records of patients across the healthcare continuum to affect better, more efficient, and coordinated care has taken another significant step forward for hospitals and Long-Term Care (LTC) homes in the Erie St. Clair (ESC) and London region.
As of August 16, 2023, four hospitals – Windsor Regional Hospital, Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, Erie Shores Healthcare, and Chatham Kent Health Alliance – are now interconnected through the Ontario eHub Health Information Exchange (HIE) with 28 LTC homes in the ESC region, 29 LTC homes in London, and 12 London area hospitals as part of the Ontario eHub connection.
This development signifies a considerable enhancement in patient care.
Up-to-date health information will now follow patients across hospitals and LTC homes in Southwestern Ontario, eliminating the need to repeatedly share medical histories. Healthcare workers will have instant access to patient information, expediting care without unnecessary delays or redundant tests.
The initiative leverages the hospitals’ instance of the Oracle (Cerner) Health Information System (HIS). The overarching objective by the end of 2024 is to link all 63 hospitals in Ontario, utilizing the Oracle Health HIS, with LTC homes using PointClickCare for electronic health records (EHR) within their respective regions.
A prominent initiative, Project AMPLIFI, has successfully demonstrated the integration of those using the EPIC health information system. The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the necessity for robust healthcare integration to support vulnerable patients. Project AMPLIFI, led by St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton and backed by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, digitally integrates LTC homes’ EHR with acute care hospital information systems. The insights from this endeavor have steered the subsequent phase of integration, which involves hospitals using Oracle Health as their HIS in the Erie St. Clair region and LTC homes. The TransForm Shared Service Organization spearheads the implementation of the Ontario Oracle Health collaborative across the province.
“The two-way exchange of patient health information from both these platforms will provide improved visibility into the patient or resident’s clinical condition upon admission to the receiving healthcare facility,” stated Andriana Lukich, Program Director of Project AMPLIFI, in a media release.
“Clinical staff that access the patient’s chart will have an up-to-date electronic summary detailing the patient’s condition upon arrival.”
Through the Ontario eHub’s seamless, two-way connection, healthcare providers attending to patients from Long-Term Care homes and other hospitals in Southwestern Ontario can:
– Instantly access up-to-date and accurate patient health records
– Save time and resources typically spent on faxing and phoning for patient health records
– Efficiently reconcile allergies, medications, problem lists, and immunizations into the patient’s hospital chart
– Enhance patient safety by reducing transcription and medical errors during care transitions
– Immediately transmit digital documentation of the patient’s hospital visit back to care teams upon discharge, including encounter details, discharge instructions, key lab and procedure results, recent vital signs, and symptoms.
The overarching goal is to elevate patient care quality, decrease the need for redundant sharing of clinical history, and mitigate hospital readmissions. This is especially beneficial for patients from hospitals and LTC homes in smaller communities frequently referred to larger regional hospitals for specialized services like cancer care, dialysis, cardiology, and trauma care.
Furthermore, the benefits of patient information exchange between the ESC hospitals and LTC homes extend to patient transfers between ESC hospitals and London area hospitals for care.
With the Ontario eHub connecting the London area hospitals, acute care patients transferred for specialized treatments like dialysis, oncology, cardiology, and trauma care no longer need to carry physical files or remind their care teams to fax information after appointments.
“Ensuring our patients and those who care for them can exchange accurate health information quickly and efficiently, particularly those from long-term care homes who may have cognitive issues, is an important step forward in providing top-notch health care to our community,” said Chatham-Kent Health Alliance CEO Lori Marshall, in a press release.
“We have an aging population, often with complex medical needs, and being able to access up-to-date health information at the time a patient arrives helps provide the best care in the most efficient manner possible.”
TransForm Shared Service Organization manages IT/IM and supply chain services for Erie St. Clair region hospitals.
It serves as the Ontario eHub HIE project lead for all Ontario hospitals using the Oracle Health HIS. St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton is the delivery partner for Project AMPLIFI, leading a three-year effort to implement bi-directional data exchange between LTC homes and hospitals across Ontario.
Project AMPLIFI facilitated the implementation of the Ontario eHub for exchanging patient health data with Long-Term Care homes in the region.
More details are available at https://www.transformsso.ca/.
