HSN, along with 23 hospitals in Northeastern Ontario, will achieve a major milestone by joining a shared Electronic Medical Record (EMR) on June 4 to make the healthcare experience better for patients, families and healthcare workers.
“Previously HSN, like most other hospitals in Northeastern Ontario, relied on paper charts and hand written notes for patient information. The new EMR will mean up to date patient information in one secure spot. It gives our teams access to patient health history at their finger tips, reduces the risk of medication errors, and give clinicians access to the latest evidence based care practices,” says Dr. Tyler Christie, an Emergency Room Physician and Chief Medical Information Officer for the EMR Project at HSN.
The EMR will help make health care delivery more efficient, reduce the need for repeat testing and going over patients’ medical histories multiple times. This system will also help prevent medical errors by providing clinicians with the information they need to make informed care decisions.
“One really positive thing about EMR is that when either of my parents, who are elderly, end up in the emergency department, they won’t have to re-tell their story every single time,” says Brenda Carr, a Patient and Family Advisor with HSN. “Teams won’t have to repeat tests as often or ask the same questions over and over. Their care team can look at the EMR and get a sense of their health history, past treatments and procedures to develop an informed care plan. And that medical history will follow patients to any hospital they visit for care in Northeastern Ontario.”
This has been a multi-year project with training for clinical teams beginning in January of 2024 and continuing through the coming weeks. HSN asks for everyone’s patience and understanding as our teams put their training into practice and learn the new system.
“We remain focussed on providing the very best care possible to our patients and families through innovation and the most up to date technologies. We also want to remind everyone to be kind to our teams as they learn this new system. You may experience longer wait times for some services or appointments as our teams become more familiar with this new technology,” said Kelli-Ann Lemieux, HSN’s Clinical Lead for the EMR Project and Vice President of Surgical and Clinical Services.
This technology represents a pivotal moment in our journey toward integrated patient care. This change will empower our teams with the tools they need to deliver high-quality care. We are so proud of the work they have put in over the last year to be trained on this system and improve patient experience at HSN and all hospitals across Northeastern Ontario,” said David McNeil, President, CEO, and HSN.
Launching a new EMR is an important outcome of being Digitally Enabled, one of the key goals in HSN and HSNRI’s 2019-2024 Strategic Plan.