A short course on Ontario’s electronic health strategy

E-HEALTH: An umbrella term for any communications and information technology initiative that seeks to improve health care by encouraging the electronic flow of information, including patient records, medical information and administrative data. Smart Systems for Health and the ePhysician Project are two of the largest initiatives associated with Ontario’s ehealth strategy. ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS: A systematic and historic digital record of every interaction a person has with the healthcare system. Electronic software that collects and manages patient information can exist in a silo, such as a doctor’s office, or be part of a larger system that encourages the sharing of information between physicians, hospitals, labs and other healthcare providers. SMART SYSTEMS FOR HEALTH AGENCY: Officially recognized as an agency three years ago, Smart Systems’ mandate is to be the backbone of Ontario’s e-health infrastructure and support the move toward province-wide electronic health records. It has essentially built its own private health Internet and is considered the glue that connects different health-care providers, as well as the future guardian of Ontarians’ health data. While its public profile is low, Smart Systems employs 300 people and has spent $260 million in public funds over the past four years. EPHYSICIAN PROJECT: An ambitious government initiative being overseen by the Ontario Medical Association to get more doctors online and using electronic systems. Its initial budget of $150 million, announced back in April 2000, has been dedicated to the creation of a password-protected information portal for doctors, the testing of clinical management software that can handle electronic records, and a subsidy program to help doctors purchase needed hardware and software. ONTARIOMD. CA: A Web portal for doctors that’s hosted on the Smart Systems network and a component of the ePhysician Project. Its aim is to provide secure email and access to a drug database, medical journals, studies, and other educational material to support a doctor’s practice. The Web site has gone through two redesigns, and while it was supposed to be widely available in June 2004 it isn’t expected to be ready until 2006. CLINICAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: Another component of the ePhysician Project, it’s the software that will support the doctor’s move toward digital records. This software, which can be purchased and installed in a doctor’s office or be used as a part of an Internet-based pay-per-use service offered through Smart Systems, helps physicians create and manage electronic records and patient scheduling and billing information. GE Healthcare, through Halifax-based xwave Inc., is providing software.