National Envelope- Tools for Transition - Federal/Provincial/Territorial Component Initiatives
Supporting Implementation of Electronic Medical
Records in Multi-disciplinary Primary Health Care Settings
$455,000
Health Canada's Primary Health Care Policy Unit (Primary and Continuing Health Care Division) is the focal point for federal government policy research and knowledge development with regard to primary health care.
Partners:
An advisory committee has been created with representation from FPT governments and stakeholders (e.g. provider organizations, health care professionals, and health regions).
Activities:
Electronic record keeping has great potential to support health care delivery but uptake to date has been relatively slow, particularly in the primary health care sector. Costs are a barrier, but perhaps more significant is the scope of change management required to integrate electronic records into health care settings. Through this initiative Health Canada will develop and disseminate resource materials to support the implementation of electronic medical records in primary health care settings.
The main activities will be:
- Assessment of the needs of primary health care providers with regard to implementation of electronic medical records;
- Development of a toolkit to address those needs (materials could include, for example, success stories that demonstrate the value of electronic medical records and a how-to manual for selecting and implementing a system);
- Dissemination activities to provide the toolkit to key target audiences; and
- An evaluation of the initiative.
Expected Results:
The outputs of this initiative will be the production of the toolkit and various dissemination activities to share it with health care system providers and planners. The longer-term goal is to support primary health care renewal by encouraging the implementation of information technology in practice settings. This technology has the potential to support information sharing among team members; improve quality and continuity of care (particularly with regard to chronic disease management); support planning and accountability activities; and provide decision-support tools.
Contact:
Sandra Tomkins
Senior Policy Analyst
Primary and Continuing Health Care Division
Health Canada
1918B, Jeanne Mance Building
Tunney's Pasture
Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9
Tel: (613) 954-8226
Fax: (613) 954-0704
Email: sandra_tomkins@hc-sc.gc.ca
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