What’s an EHR?
An electronic health record (EHR) is a secure lifetime record of your health history. It gives your health care team, including family doctor, nurses, emergency room clinicians and specialists, real-time access to your relevant medical information, so they can provide the best care for you. eHealth Ontario has built the provincial system that gives thousands of health care providers at hospitals, family practices, long-term care homes, pharmacies and more access to their patients’ EHRs so they can quickly look up lab results, publicly funded dispensed medications, digital images (like x-rays and MRIs), hospital discharge summaries and more.
What are the benefits?
- With complete, up-to-date information, your health care team can make faster and more accurate treatment decisions
- You will experience more coordinated care between different members of your care team, and different settings, like a doctor's office or hospital
- There will be less need for you to repeat your medical history as you move from one health care setting to another
- Since your health care provider can access your lab results you'll experience fewer duplicate tests
What does eHealth Ontario do?
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Personal Health Information that may be available in your digital health record includes:
- Allergy information
- Cardiovascular reports
- Diagnostic imaging reports (e.g. X-rays)
- Emergency department visits
- Home care and long-term care information
- Hospital discharge summaries and reports
- Infection control information
- Lab reports
- Medical history
- Drug and Pharmacy Service Information
- Mental health information
- Neurophysiology reports
- Patient consultation reports
- Patient demographics
- Respiratory reports
- Visit or encounter details
eHealth In Your Circle of Care
Today, eHealth Ontario systems are being used by clinicians at hospitals, clinics, long-term care homes and community care access centres across the province to provide you with the best care experience.
Acute Care
Ontario hospitals are now contributing to and sharing important patient information and documents with health care professionals across the continuum of care using our systems such as ClinicalConnect and ConnectingOntario. Clinicians in hospitals are able to view consultation records, lab and diagnostic reports and other relevant patient health information - all in one place.
For example, when you visit an emergency ward, clinicians can get a comprehensive view of your health history instantly, and can focus on diagnosing and making treatment decisions without having to perform repeat tests or wait to receive additional information from other organizations.
Primary Care
Ontarians rely on primary care providers such as family doctors and nurse practitioners for their general health and well-being. Today, the majority of primary care providers use electronic medical record software to record patient information and access relevant test results and reports.
For example, when you visit your family doctor, he/she can record clinical notes and medications, check for allergies, view lab results, enter prescription orders make referrals to other physicians and specialists, all by accessing your file by computer.
Community Care
Electronic Health care records are enhancing the quality of care in community settings. They enable these caregivers to efficiently coordinate patient care. Organizations like Community Care Access Centres are using eHealth Ontario technology such as ConnectingOntario and Clinical Connect to look at patients' medical histories and ensure a smooth transition to community-based care settings.
For example, when a patient is sent home from a hospital, but requires home-based care, his/her physician can immediately connect to their digital health record to see what medications were prescribed and modify doses as needed. This saves time and enables the physician to help the patient recover more comfortably and quickly.