Author: ontariomd

What Digital Health Means to Primary Care

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What do you think of when you hear the words digital health? Is it the latest medical health tracker app? Your electronic medical record? Robot doctors?  

Digital health includes all these tools, and many more. But the true essence of digital health – and the reason why it’s worth celebrating with its own Digital Health Week – is something much bigger than the technology itself.  

Digital health is a technology-led evolution aimed at empowering patients and clinicians. It allows us to better monitor, manage and improve our own health and well-being, while allowing clinicians to improve patient outcomes through more responsive technology and better use of patient data.  

In Canada and around the world, digital health is providing tremendous clinical value through improved  access to care for patients, reduced costs, cost avoidance, greater efficiencies, and better quality of care. 

The work we do at OntarioMD is guided by our aim to empower physician practices and enhance the care they and their teams provide patients using EMRs and digital health. We do this through focusing on innovation, and on forging strong relationships and collaborating with health care industry partners to offer products and services that deliver measurable value to the Ontario health care system.  By connecting clinicians with the right tools to meet their practice objectives and ensuring they understand how to effectively use those tools, we help them follow up faster with patients, ensure better coordination of care between all health care providers connected to a patient’s circle of care, reduce unnecessary hospital readmissions, lower wait times, and avoid administrative costs. 

Consider our award-winning Health Report Manager (HRM), for example.  Clinicians using an OntarioMD-certified EMR can use HRM to securely receive patient reports into their EMR from participating hospitals and specialty clinics. With HRM, primary care providers know when their patients get discharged from a hospital or specialty clinic, and all medical record and diagnostic imaging reports they need to ensure effective follow-up are transferred directly into the patient’s medical chart in their EMRs. This eliminates the need for mailed or faxed paper reports and time staff spend handling them.  Most importantly, it lets clinicians be more proactive and provide patients with the quality care they need, fast. 

We’re also helping clinicians use digital health to take action to combat Canada’s growing opioid crisis. According to Health Canada in 2017, there were 4,000 opioid related deaths, up 25% from the year before.  

Digital health offers the tools needed to better combat crises such as this. By tapping into the power of their EMR, clinicians can analyze their patient data to learning more about trends and demographics. Armed with this information, clinicians can identify those patients who are most at risk of opioid abuse, and monitor them to prevent addiction and overdoses.  

OntarioMD’s Peer Leaders and EMR Practice Enhancement Program (EPEP) staff provide clinicians with important hands-on support to help them optimize how they input and use EMR data. Our Peer Leaders and staff have helped primary care providers learn how to use their EMRs to quickly identify their patients taking opioids, the number of different drugs prescribed, and the length of time they’ve been taking the drugs. Clinicians can then create alerts within the EMR to monitor patients on high doses and create a narcotics contract between clinician and patient that can help reduce the risk of addiction and further harm by opioids.  

Whether you need help managing a high opioid risk population, or have other practice challenges and goals, OntarioMD Peer Leaders and staff are like a Geek Squad for clinicians. These clinical practice and technology experts can: 

  • Help you better understand your EMR’s functions and tools; 
  • Analyze your data entry and practice workflows, to improve the quality of patient data in your EMR;  
  • Proactively use EMR patient reminders, reports, population health informatics and more to improve your population health practices; 
  • Implement best data quality practices to access the most relevant patient information at the point of care 

Digital health has the power to improve patient outcomes and help us live longer and healthier lives. But like any technology, the impact depends on the user’s understanding of how to tap into its full potential. By working with patients, clinicians, health care stakeholders and technology vendors, OntarioMD is working to advance digital health care, for the benefit of clinicians and patients across Ontario and all of Canada.  

Keep up to date on digital health advances and our work by following OntarioMD on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Also, subscribe to our blog at www.ontariomd.blog and visit us online at www.ontariomd.ca for more info on all our products and services. If you have any questions or want to get connected to digital health products and services, please call us at 1-866-744-8668 or e-mail support@ontariomd.com.

EMR Quality Dashboard: Data Quality and Analytics

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In this fourth entry in our video series on the EMR Quality Dashboard, OntarioMD CMO Dr. Darren Larsen discusses the importance of good data quality and how analytics can help patient care through population health management.

How EPEP Helps You Reach Your Practice Goals

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OntarioMD’s EMR Practice Enhancement Program (EPEP) helps you realize even more value for your patients and your practice by tapping into more of the benefits of your EMR. EPEP staff will work with you and your staff to achieve your unique practice goals, at a time that’s convenient for you. We will analyze your EMR workflow and data quality, and identify quick wins that achieve tangible results or save your valuable time. EPEP emphasizes hands-on support as you move beyond basic data capture to use your EMR for enhanced patient care and improved practice efficiency. 

Watch the latest EPEP Success Story to find out how EPEP helped one practice focus on population health through better prevention and screening management. For more information on EPEP, visit https://www.ontariomd.ca/products-and-services/emr-practice-enhancement-program

Don’t Miss Your Chance to Attend the Toronto EMR: Every Step Conference!

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By Peter Hamer, Executive Director, Ottawa Valley Family Health Team and OntarioMD Clinic Manager Peer Leader

There are less than two weeks left until Canada’s largest EMR conference series comes back to Toronto. If you’re a clinician who is using EMRs and digital health solutions, or you’re interested in learning more about the value of the technology for your practice, you need to register now to attend OntarioMD’s EMR: Every Step Conference on Thursday, September 27.

I’ve attended and presented at the EMR: Every Step Conference since the first one back in 2012, and I’ve connected with thousands of clinicians and other health care professionals and digital health stakeholders who have agreed that there are many good reasons to make time in their schedule for this annual event. The conference offers a full day of CME-accredited content across 20 educational sessions, EMR workshops, a vendor showcase and two keynote addresses. The ability to access this much practical knowledge and CME credits for a registration fee of just $160 ($100 for students) is virtually unmatched anywhere else.

EMR: Every Step Conference content is provided by clinicians, for clinicians. The conference abstract process for this event began in the spring, when a clinician review committee analyzed and evaluated dozens of submitted abstracts to select the ones they knew would offer the best clinical value to their colleagues.

 The Conference Agenda 

You can view the full agenda for our Toronto EMR: Every Step Conference agenda here, including session summaries and speaker details. The content falls into four streams:  

  • Clinical Enhancements (Opioid Management, Optimizing EMR for cancer screenings, etc.) 
  • Digital Health (ebooking, eConsult, etc.) 
  • EMR Management (Clinic Manager Perspective on EMR, Practical Quality Improvements, etc.) 
  • OntarioMD Products and Services (EMR Dashboard, Privacy and Security, etc.) 

In addition to the great knowledge-building educational sessions, we’re proud to offer clinicians and their staff a variety of training opportunities to learn more about how their EMR can work for their unique practice needs:  

  • Learn tips and tricks from your EMR vendor in the EMR Workshops 
  • Get EMR-focused mentorship from Physician, Clinic Manager and Nurse Peer Leaders by signing up for one-on-one Peer Leader Engagements 
  • Take the opportunity to complete an EMR Progress Assessment to see what level of EMR use you’re currently at 
  • Learn about OntarioMD’s Privacy and Security Training Module, and why successful completion of this online training module is one of the necessary requirements for access to some of Ontario’s digital health assets, including the electronic health record systems. 

For the first time ever, the upcoming OntarioMD EMR: Every Step Conference will feature two keynote addresses. 

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Our morning keynote will feature Julie Drury, Chair of the Minister’s Patient and Family Advisory Council, She will deliver an address on the importance of including the patient perspective in digital health. 

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Our closing keynote will be delivered by Dr. Julielynn Wong, internationally recognized as a 3D printing, drone, robotics, telemedicine and digital health pioneer who uses cutting-edge technology to deliver healthcare solutions across diverse environments. Her presentation is titled “From Fax Machine to 3D Printers: Digital Health at Warp Speed.” 

Whether you’re a new EMR user, or your practice has been connected for many years, the Toronto EMR: Every Step Conference will help you understand the latest trends and innovations in digital health and determine how this game-changing technology and support from OntarioMD can help you meet your unique practice needs.

 Limited conference registration spots remain. Register Today!  

Digital health helped me breathe again!

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Contributed by Surya Qarin, OntarioMD Practice Management Assistant 

Anyone that has known me long enough knows I have spent much of my life in and out of hospitals – and that’s not because the doctors are cute. As a matter of fact, Etobicoke General’s nurses and I are on a first name basis now, and they know exactly which vein works best when drawing blood, and which ones “hide.”

As a child, I was hospitalized every other week for severe asthma. It seemed to subside after I turned 12… at least I thought it did. I didn’t even think asthma was a real issue for adults. I’d always been told people outgrow it. But this is not the case: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 9.7% of women aged 18 or older have asthma and are more likely to die of asthma than men. Adults are also four times more likely to die of asthma than children. Asthma Canada stats show that up to 250,000 Canadians are living with severe asthma.

Asthma returned to my life a few years ago, as a moderate condition. I had become more active, believing it would help with my other health issues (which it did). As long as I took my puffers before and after working out, I would not have any issues with breathing.

Then flu season hit, and I got sick a few times between December 2016 and February 2017. Those who know me understand my strong belief that I am super woman and do not like to complain about being sick or having “a little cold.” Unfortunately, this was not just a small cold: it had turned from a cold, to bronchitis, to full blown pneumonia by April 2017. Even then, I still refused to see a doctor. One day, on my drive home from work, I felt a sharp chest pain, and something didn’t seem right. I was not just having a little difficulty while breathing as I had been the last few months. I actually could not breathe.

Gasping for air, I pulled over, sent a quick text to my sister and drove to Humber River Hospital. There, I realized how difficult it would be for me to get my medical records: My family doctor was not affiliated with the hospital, nor was Etobicoke General. They were, however, able to pull my past drug history from my pharmacy and go based off that information. I was stabilized and discharged.

A few days later, my breathing difficulties returned. I went into Etobicoke General, and they were able to pull my history right away and admit me to hospital within the hour. Turns out my lungs had started shutting down due to the pneumonia and asthma, and as it was high-humidity and high-allergy season, being outside did not help me. During my stay in the hospital, my family doctor received hospital reports via Health Report Manager (HRM) and he was kept updated on my condition, as were my respirologist and cardiologist.

After a few weeks of recovery, I thought all was well. However, I caught a “cold” again in October, and this time things deteriorated fast! I ended up in hospital yet again. My respirologist was made aware of my condition in real time via the hospital’s EMR and was able to work with the other respirologist on duty and doctors working on my case to provide the best course of treatment given my history. My current spirometry test results were easily available for the clinicians, and the instant connectivity between those on my medical team helped improve my care and recovery process.

Once again, my family doctor’s ability to receive hospital reports to his EMR through HRM enabled him to follow-up accordingly, ensure I had the contacts I needed for my health, schedule regular testing, and most importantly, help ensure that I didn’t end up in the hospital again. I’m happy to say that I have not been hospitalized overnight since November of 2017.

As a member of the team at OntarioMD, I help clinicians across the province understand the value that EMRs and digital health tools such as HRM can bring to their practice and the quality of patient care they’re able to provide. But being a patient in the health care system has really demonstrated the importance of these tools to me first-hand. If you’re a clinician who has questions about optimizing your EMR use, or you want to connect to HRM or the wide range of other digital health tools in Ontario, contact OntarioMD at support@ontariomd.com.

 

 

Women in Digital Health – Sarah Hutchison

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As 2018’s graduates enter the workforce, OntarioMD would like to congratulate everyone and provide a perspective to women considering a career in digital health and health informatics. Our new Women in Digital Health vlog (video blog posts) series highlights women leaders at OntarioMD who chose a career dedicated to digital health with the ultimate goals of improving patient care and making Ontario’s health care system more efficient. They talk about their passion, career paths and provide advice to new grads and women already in the health care sector. Watch the first vlog featuring OntarioMD Chief Executive Officer, Sarah Hutchison.

I hate paperwork!

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Submitted by Dr. John Crosby 

I am a family physician in Cambridge with 1,400 patients serving 2 nursing homes in an 18-physician family health team with 30,000 patients in total. I have spent 26 years as a physician, with 20 years’ experience as an emergency physician.

A recent survey in the Medical Post listed paperwork as the biggest stressor for physicians. Luckily for me, paperwork is a thing of the past as we have eliminated paper coming from hospitals and specialty clinics and gone digital using Health Report Manager (HRM). It was easy to implement, and both my office manager and I have found that it saves us time to focus on delivering better patient care.

HRM is simple to implement as OntarioMD does all the work in helping to get your practice set up. OntarioMD came into my practice to sign subscription and user agreements and TELUS helped with the set-up of the system. Report types such as imaging, emergency, specialist and other hospital reports automatically downloaded into our EMR system. This eliminated the need to store paper reports. If I were to get an MRI report showing a brain tumour, I can quickly call the patient in and refer them to a specialist.

I can also access lab results through my EMR via the Ontario Laboratories Information System (OLIS). I simply login into my computer and click on lab reports to view any abnormal patient results. If a patient’s potassium level comes back low, I can simply tell my office manager to tell they will need to change their diet or take certain medications.
One of the newer digital health tools I’ve connected to is eConsult. I can send a message and documentation to a specialist anywhere in Ontario without having to send my patient for an in-person visit. This means faster advice, usually within a couple of days, I can use for my patient who doesn’t have to wait months to benefit from a specialist’s advice.
These tasks are all done without paper. Prior to using an EMR, HRM, OLIS and eConsult, receiving, sending and viewing patient health information was tedious and time consuming. In the past, all my reports were mailed or faxed. We would have to physically travel to the hospital and pick up the paper reports daily. Then the paper report was scanned, the patient’s file had to be opened and the report dragged there. Then my office manager would mark it as seen by me.
With HRM, I see a patient’s report as soon as it downloads. With a couple of clicks, the information is posted into the patient’s chart. I no longer need to go to the hospital and wait for mail and faxes. Now I can receive specialist reports the same day of the patient’s visit all thanks to HRM. HRM also sends me eNotifications so I know when my patients were in the hospital and know that I can expect hospital reports to follow.
My practice is more efficient all thanks to my EMR and other digital health tools like HRM. They have benefitted my practice by:

  • Enabling me to find patient information quickly
  • Allowing me to spot trends and abnormalities
  • Providing faster patient follow-ups
  • Accessing specialist advice and getting responses sooner
  • Enabling more time spent on patient care
  • Creating workflow efficiencies
  • Less time spent on administrative and operational tasks

Physicians and other clinicians need digital health tools to practice medicine today. They really need the services of OntarioMD to advise them on how to go digital. You can start with one digital service and OntarioMD will help you integrate it into your workflow. Or, you can start with multiple digital health tools. OntarioMD can connect you to all of them and help you understand how to use them effectively to care for patients and to manage your practice. If you hate paperwork like I do, contact OntarioMD to get HRM, eNotifications, OLIS, eConsult or any other available provincial digital health tools (e.g., ONE® ID, ONE Mail, ConnectingOntario Clinical Viewer and more). Call 1-866-744-8668 or e-mail support@ontariomd.com.

EMR Quality Dashboard and Change Management

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Today’s Digital Health Shift vlog is the third in a video series of OntarioMD CMO, Dr. Darren Larsen, speaking about the EMR Quality Dashboard. In this segment, Dr. Larsen discusses how leadership and collaboration amongst health care organizations are driving change to benefit patient care.