A study in collaboration: 24 hospitals, one health record

Photo: Helen King/Getty Images

The ONE initiative in northeastern Ontario ties 24 acute-care hospitals to a single and shared electronic health information system. 

ONE – One Person, One Record, One System – uses standardized, evidence-based clinical best practices across two dozen organizations that have unique cultures, patient populations, clinical workflows and governance philosophies.

How the hospitals accomplished this is the focus of a HIMSS21 session, "24 Hospitals, ONE Record: A Study in Collaboration," on Tuesday, August 10, from 2:45 to 3:45 p.m. in the Venetian Lando Room 4301 in Las Vegas.

The work was guided by an Executive Steering Committee of CEOs. All 24 acute care Northeast Ontario hospital boards committed to working together to achieve EMR and clinical standardization, according to Dr. Derek Garniss, chief medical Information officer and the ER medical director for Sault Area Hospital in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. 

Garniss is speaking with Chantal Gagne, a registered nurse and director of Inpatient and Surgical Services for North Bay Regional Health Centre in Ontario. 

The ONE regional partnership benefits clinicians through a more efficient workflow, real-time notifications and complete and timely access to a patient's story. Care decisions are made based on the most up-to-date and accurate information available through the use of evidence-informed standards.

Unified health records reduce the likelihood of duplicate work and unnecessary tests.

Patients benefit through an improved and safer care experience due to the shared information. Patients transferred from one hospital to another won't have to undergo duplicate tests or tell their story over and over, Garniss said. Their record will be complete and understood by all through technology that's aligned with the rest of the province.

ONE allows for an accurate record that moves with them within and between hospitals, Garniss said.

The first phase of the project, WAVE 1, began in 2017 and involved North Bay Regional Health Centre, West Parry Sound Health Centre and the Sault Area Hospital.  

WAVE 1 was a tremendous undertaking, Garniss said, involving complex, integrated collaboration over large distances. Physicians and departmental teams from these three sites worked together for two years to plan and build the system and to develop and deliver training for physicians and staff to support the transition to the new technology and new workflows, he said. 

In October 2019, each of the WAVE 1 hospitals connected to the new shared system, resulting in an enormous transformation from the aging and separate health information systems, which were a mix of paper and older technology previously operated by these hospitals, according to Garniss. 

The result is a single Northeastern, Ontario hospital information system for data collection and management that links medical professionals. This single system will also facilitate a platform for further participation across providers, as well as population health planning.

The initiative is supported by the Health Information System Roadmap, including the installation of MEDITECH Expanse, which serves as the regional HIS for all 24 acute hospitals. 
           
Twitter: @SusanJMorse
Email the writer: susan.morse@himssmedia.com