"The combination of a highly mobile device like the iPad, and comprehensive patient data spanning many hospitals through ClinicalConnect, brings effective, fast, secure and safe decision-making ability right to the bedside at any time, day or night," said Dr. Rafi Setrak, emergency physician, Niagara Health System.
ClinicalConnect, a secure, online portal that connects the hospital information systems of the 28 hospitals and two Community Care Access Centres (CCACs) in the HNHB and Waterloo Wellington LHINs can now be accessed using mobile devices. These devices will soon receive diagnostic test results in real time, allowing clinicians to make quicker decisions and provide care sooner.
eHealth Ontario recently funded ClinicalConnect's $5.3 million expansion as part of its provincial strategy to leverage existing regional systems connecting local hospitals and clinicians.
"Every day we are making progress in the implementation and acceptance of electronic health records. It's all about making patient information available quickly and cost effectively to health care providers. We do that at eHealth Ontario by working with local hospitals and LHINs. We are funding existing programs and building new systems that will allow doctors to share information across a provincial network of hospitals, family health clinics and individual physician's offices," said Greg Reed President and CEO of eHealth Ontario.
Canada Health Infoway (Infoway) invested $1 million in the project. Part of the funding was used to enable authorized care providers to have secure mobile access to patient health information from other care facilities such as hospitals, CCACs and cancer centres.
"When health providers have ready access to vital patient information such as lab results and diagnostic tests, care decisions can be made sooner, leading to quicker treatment for patients," said Richard Alvarez, President and CEO, Infoway.
About ClinicalConnect
Authorized physicians and other health care professionals across two LHINs serving more than 2.2 million patients have secure, real time, anytime & anywhere access to their patients' electronically stored records. ClinicalConnect is the clinical provider portal that presents information that is integrated from 28 hospitals plus the Community Care Access Centres (CCACs) and Cancer Centre that are within the regions of Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant (HNHB) and the Waterloo Wellington (WW) LHINs.
- HNHB LHIN and WW LHIN hospitals and Community Care Access Centres have all contributed time, energy and resources to make ClinicalConnect a reality.
- In the HNHB LHIN, 22 hospital sites, including the Juravinski Cancer Centre and the HNHB Community Care Access Centre (CCAC) can share information through ClinicalConnect.
- In the WW LHIN, six hospitals, the WW Community Care Access Centre and eight Family Health Teams have access to ClinicalConnect. Work is underway to add data from the Grand River Hospital and Grand River Regional Cancer Centre.
- Hamilton Health Sciences is the hosting and support agent for ClinicalConnect and the HNHB LHIN eHealth office and Project Management Office provide project resources
- eHealth Ontario is now rolling out the provincial Ontario Lab Information System (OLIS).
For more information about ClinicalConnect, visit http://info.clinicalconnect.ca.
About eHealth Ontario
eHealth Ontario is a Crown agency that plays the leading role in harnessing technology and innovation to improve patient care, safety and access in support of the government's health strategy. The agency is responsible for implementing the government's ehealth agenda and creating electronic health records for all Ontarians.
About Canada Health Infoway
Canada Health Infoway is an independent, not-for-profit organization funded by the federal government. Infoway jointly invests with every province and territory to accelerate the development and adoption of information and communications technology projects in Canada. Fully respecting patient confidentiality, these secure systems will provide clinicians and patients with the information they need to better support safe care decisions and manage their own health. Accessing this vital information quickly will help foster a more modern and sustainable health care system for all Canadians.
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For more information:
Trish Nelson
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HNHB LHIN
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(866) 363-5446
Haley Armstrong
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647-713-9459
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Connie MacDonald
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WW LHIN
(519) 650-4472, ext. 235
(866) 306-5446
Dale Anderson
Senior Consultant, Stakeholder Engagement
HNHB LHIN eHealth
905-577-8270 x2
Meredith Sjögren
Communications Advisor
eHealth Ontario
416-591-8100