Toronto-based OntarioMD recently announced a project that will integrate certified electronic medical records (EMRs) with the province’s drug and immunization repositories to allow clinicians easier access to patient information.
Clinicians will be able to view publicly funded drugs dispensed in Ontario, view all dispensed, monitored drugs, and submit and receive data.
OntarioMD is looking to integrate electronic drug and prescription records with the province’s Digital Health Drug Repository (DHDR) and Digital Health Immunization Repository (DHIR).
The DHDR provides information on dispensed drug data, including publicly-funded drugs and pharmacy services, and all dispensed narcotics and controlled substances. Additionally, the DHIR supplies clinicians and patients with real-time immunization information.
Through the integration of the EMRs clinicians will be able to view publicly funded drugs dispensed in Ontario, view all dispensed and monitored drugs, including opioids, as well as publicly funded pharmacy services such as the MedsCheck Program. They will also be able to submit and receive data related to patient immunization and see upcoming required immunizations according to the provincial immunization schedule in the DHIR.
“The DHDR and DHIR contribute to the Ministry’s goal to provide access to complete, accurate, and up-to-date patient information to Ontario clinicians,” Sarah Hutchison, CEO of OntarioMD said. “Clinicians strongly prefer to access this critical information from within their clinical workflow and through their EMRs to make more informed decisions at the point of care for better patient outcomes.”
OntarioMD is currently working with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, eHealth Ontario, clinicians and certified EMR vendors throughout 2019 and 2020 for this project.
A number of Canadian startups have already attempted to address the issue of digitizing patient and clinician records, including Dot Health and Medchart, which both offer Canadian apps that collect medical records for patients. CANImmunize is also a free app that stores users’ immunization records and helps them get vaccinated on time.
Featured image via Unsplash.
