A province-wide Electronic Medical Record solution (EMR) has been announced for PEI, which will give healthcare providers a powerful new tool to help manage how they care for their patients. This technological solution will facilitate the secure sharing of patient information between physician offices, hospitals, laboratories, and pharmacies providing a comprehensive digital view of a patient’s health history.

“By modernizing how we collect, share and use patient information in our physician and nurse practitioners’ offices, we can transform how we provide care to Islanders,” said Ernie Hudson, Minister of Health and Wellness. “I am very pleased to see the provincial EMR solution move ahead and I look forward to seeing how it streamlines and enhances patient care in the province.”

According to TELUS Health, who are providing the technology, EMRs have become a standard tool used across the country and have be shown to reduce medical errors, improve communication between care providers and improve patient care in areas such as managing chronic diseases. EMRs also support modern care models giving patients more consultation options, such as virtual care.

“Having access to a province-wide electronic medical record solution will be of immense value to us as physicians and the patients we care for,” said Dr. Kristy Newson, physician lead for the EMR project. “We’re looking forward to partnering with TELUS Health for this necessary evolution in how we deliver care. Not only is it an essential step to help modernize how we provide care, it is also a necessary recruitment tool as we know early career physicians expect to move to a digital practice.”

Dr. Damon Ramsey, Chief Medical Information Officer and Vice-president, Collaborative Health, TELUS Health stated, “We enjoy strong collaborative relationships with policy and decision makers to deliver digital solutions, such as electronic medical records, that not only meet the reliability, interoperability and security requirements of the future, but also facilitate better continuity of care and improved health outcomes for the patient.”

“These digital tools,” added Dr. Ramsey, “also increase efficiency for healthcare professionals, allow them to better organize and maintain patients’ medical records all in one place, and allows them to measure quality of care by reporting on evidence-based population health and patient outcomes thanks to built-in, advanced data analytics capabilities.”

The province will provide community-based clinicians with more information in the coming weeks, with a plan to begin implementing the TELUS solution in physician offices this summer.

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