Many of the IM projects underway, such as the Nova Scotia Hospital Information System (NShIS), the Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS), and the primary health care information management program are helping to move us closer to our goal of a portable electronic health record (EHR) for all Nova Scotians.
- Nova Scotia Hospital Information System
- Picture Archiving and Communications System
- Primary Health Care Information Management Program
Nova Scotia Hospital Information System
NShIS (RealPlayer 6:14‡)
The Nova Scotia Hospital Information System (NShIS) links health information within and between hospitals across the province, enabling fast, secure access to patient and administrative information by appropriate healthcare providers.
The NShIS system, scheduled to be in place by March 2006, allows doctors, nurses, and other healthcare staff in hospitals to have the up-to-date patient information they need to provide timely and safe quality care.
Benefits of NshIS
- Wait times for test results and x-rays will be decreased.
- Electronic prescription entry reduces the chance of clinical error due to transmission and interpretation errors.
- Electronic scheduling eliminates the chance of duplicate bookings, and allows cancellations to be quickly filled, both helping to reduce wait times.
- Remote access to patient hospital information will be available to physicians in their offices.
" I would often have a stack of over 1000 requisitions for CAT scans, and I couldn't possibly look through them all in a timely way to check if a particular patient was booked. With the new system, not only is it faster to look up, but patients are booked more quickly, so we receive fewer calls checking on the status."
Picture Archiving and Communications System
Nova Scotia's Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS) is state of the art. PACS makes it possible for X-rays, MRIs, CT scans and other diagnostic tests to be converted into digital images that can be sent instantly over the secure Health Network to authorized healthcare providers across the province. This patient information is also a key component in the development of an Electronic Health Record.
The PACS project is scheduled to be completed by summer 2006.
Benefits of PACS
- faster turnaround to get diagnostic results to physicians
- no lost or misplaced film
- multiple location access by authorized health providers eliminates the need for repeat procedures when consultations occur
"In the case of a hip injury, the X-ray will be instantly available to the orthopedic surgeon, regardless of whether the surgeon is in New Glasgow, Sydney or Halifax. This allows them to make quicker decisions about whether or not a patient requires surgery."
Dr. Mike Silver
Radiologist
St. Martha's Regional Hospital
Antigonish
Primary Health Care Information Management Program
PHIM (RealPlayer 4:37‡)
The Primary Healthcare Information Management (PHIM) program will allow healthcare providers in community settings to maintain patient records electronically with the use of electronic patient records.
Benefits of Primary Healthcare Information Management (PHIM) Program
- making quality health information readily available at all points of care
- reducing the number of medical errors by improving the accuracy and clarity of medical records
- enabling the sharing of health information to improve patient care within community health settings
- improving the accuracy of personal health records
"As a practitioner, if I can spend less time writing up my notes on patients, then I can spend more time providing care. The electronic patient record makes this possible."