CHEO rolls out digital medical records project

A $7.7-million endeavour to digitize patient files has begun at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.

So far, the upgraded system is in CHEO’s labs and 10 of its 80 clinics, the hospital’s chief executive, Alex Munter, said Wednesday. Epic, the system’s name, will be rolled out across the hospital over four years.

“Epic is an absolutely integral piece of the puzzle for us to be able to continually improve the quality of care, but also use the data and evidence that this platform will generate to be able to improve care,” Munter said after Minister of Health Rona Ambrose toured the hospital and was given an overview of the new system.

Sandra Wallace, mother of eight-year-old CHEO patient Camryn, got her first look at the system Wednesday. Being able to see her daughter’s charts and information all on one screen was reassuring, she said.

Camryn, who had a heart defect and was diagnosed with Down’s syndrome at birth, has a lot of appointments with different clinics, Wallace said. Eventually she should be able to log in at home and access information about her daughter securely, co-ordinate appointments and ask doctors questions.

“I’m very excited to just sit there and have it pop up on the screen,” Wallace said.

Patients, including Camryn, will have both a digital and a paper file until the rollout is finished.

Dr. Jim King, the medical director of informatics, said the electronic system can save time and alert doctors to potential issues, including too many tests being ordered or patient allergies. Printouts are also given to parents to take home.

Canada Health Infoway, the federally-funded corporation that oversees health information technology, gave CHEO $2.8 million for its project.

Ambrose said there has been “a lot of progress” going digital across the country.

“We’re absolutely in a lot of hospitals,” Infoway’s CEO Richard Alvarez said, ”although most of them are not as far (along) as CHEO.”