eHealth is about technology improving health care. B.C. has
seven eHealth projects underway that will use modern telecommunications to make
patient care better, safer and faster by placing medical information in the
right hands at the right time. The seven projects are:
- Provincial
Laboratory Information Solution Project (PLIS) – consolidated lab results;
- interoperable
Electronic Health Record (iEHR) – infrastructure to enable secure and
authorized access to heath records from anywhere in the province;
- eDrug
Project (eDrug) – enhancing PharmaNet;
- Provincial
Diagnostic Imaging Project (Connecting DI) – sharing patient diagnostic
text reports and images;
- Public
Health Information Project (PHIP) – public health information management;
- Electronic
Medical Record (EMR) – to give physicians better access to patient
records; and
- Telehealth
– services over distance, in rural and remote areas and for First Nations.
Currently, patient information is
stored as paper records or electronically in isolated computers or a patchwork
of local systems. eHealth will make possible the secure and immediate transfer
of patient information to authorized caregivers anywhere in B.C.
Benefits for Patients
- Fewer
delays in treatment and less duplicate testing.
- Improved
care with patient information available where health services are
delivered.
- Patient
information will be protected and accessed only by those with a need to
know.
For Health Authorities
- Reductions
in laboratory operating costs estimated at $3 million to $6 million per
year.
- More
efficient emergency room operation, because physicians can immediately
access the patient’s complete laboratory results from anywhere in the
province.
For Physicians
- Easy
access to complete laboratory information to inform diagnosis and
treatment, regardless of who originally ordered the test or where the test
was performed.
- Reduction
and elimination of duplicated calls to laboratories or other physicians.
Privacy
- Health-care
providers will only be permitted to access patient information in order to
provide health care.
- All
access to patient information will be electronically tracked and recorded,
and records of access will be carefully monitored.
-30-
