Transforming Care Through Innovation at CCH
2024-11-16
Digital Health Week (Nov. 18-24, 2024) is an annual
celebration and recognition of how digital health is transforming the delivery
of care and improving outcomes across Canada. The focus this year is on
connected care and improved information sharing.
According to Canada Health Infoway, 4 in 5 Canadians agree
their health information should be electronically shared among all healthcare
practitioners, while 88% believe that accessing personal health information
online would enable them to better manage their health. Today, 95% of
physicians now use electronic tools for patient care. These statistics reflect
a nationwide shift toward digital health.
While these advancements may seem like common sense in
today’s digital age, they represent a dramatic transformation in how our
healthcare system has traditionally functioned. Healthcare delivery has often
been fragmented, with patient information stored in different systems that
don’t communicate with eachother. Getting copies of your medical records often
meant coming to the hospital and requesting them. However, in recent years, the
provincial government has been prioritizing a more connected, or interoperable,
digital health ecosystem to improve care coordination, access, experiences, and
outcomes for patients.
At Cornwall Community Hospital (CCH), we recognized this
shift early and have made innovation and integration a strategic priority. Our
state-of-the-art Electronic Health Record (EHR) system was introduced in 2016
to consolidate all patient records within a single, digital system that can be
accessed by doctors and healthcare staff as needed throughout the hospital. At
the time, CCH was just one of a few digitally integrated community hospitals in
Canada, foreseeing the system’s immediate and long-term potential.
For instance, earlier this year we expanded the EHR system to
our Community Addiction and Mental Health Centre, located across from the
hospital, along with several other offsite community programs. This milestone
integration brought together our acute care and community health records,
ensuring seamless, real-time access to health information across all sites.
This is particularly important for clients of our Community Addiction and
Mental Health Services, who may also require acute and/or inpatient care at the
hospital.
Another significant milestone came last year when we began
facilitating the secure two-way transfer of patient electronic health records
with local Long-Term Care (LTC) facilities throughout Cornwall, the SDG
Counties, and Akwesasne, thanks to Ontario’s new eHub health information
exchange initiative. This digital connection between facilities ensures that
important patient information is available to LTC staff within 30 minutes of
discharge from the hospital, and vice versa, despite these facilities using different
EHR systems. This is facilitating enhanced communication and safer and more
efficient transitions in care. More recently, regional acute care hospitals
have also started sharing electronic patient records through eHub, further
enhancing coordination between hospitals.
In addition to improving coordination among healthcare
providers, our EHR system has also empowered patients to take a more active
role in their own care. In 2021, we introduced the MyChart™ patient portal.
MyChart™ provides patients, families and caregivers with remote access to
hospital medical records, test results, and appointment reminders, all directly
from the EHR system. Today more than 30,000 users have registered for MyChart™
at CCH to better manage their health. CCH was also the first hospital in Canada
to integrate SeamlessMD within its EHR system to provide patients with tailored
pre- and post-operative care plans and resources at their fingertips.
It could be argued that our EHR system has been just as
critical to patient care as our capital redevelopment project. Not only has it
connected our teams to provide seamless, coordinated care, it has improved
interoperability and greater access to health information, paving the way for
more sustainable models of care.
None of this would be possible without the hard work and
dedication of our Clinical Informatics and Information Technology Teams. They
provide support, both behind the scenes and at-the-elbow, ensuring the system
runs smoothly, keeping staff trained, and managing system upgrades and
customizations to better meet our needs.
Looking ahead, the growth and interoperability of digital
health systems will be essential for furthering healthcare access,
coordination, and patient outcomes. CCH remains committed to advancing digital
health innovation to meet the evolving needs of our patients, clients, and
communities.