eHealth Saskatchewan is inviting residents of Saskatchewan to visit a website to learn more about electronic health records and participate in a short survey to answer questions about what type of electronic services would be useful to them.
"We are emerging into a world of huge possibilities in technology allowing people access and information to empower them to be an active partner and decision maker in care options with their health provider or in managing the care of a loved one," eHealth Saskatchewan CEO Susan Antosh said. "This survey will help us determine what's important to Saskatchewan residents and if they even desire things like access to their own medical test results, for example."
"We have made a great effort to ensure we are putting the patient first in our health care system, and that includes their electronic health information," Health Minister Dustin Duncan said. "It's important that we know what the patient or caregiver needs and wants in that technology and that will be of the most value to them."
Eventually every person in Saskatchewan will have an electronic health record (EHR) that is a private, lifetime record of their medical information, which will provide authorized health care professionals with immediate access to test results, past treatments and medication profiles.
Currently, some of the infrastructure is already in place, or under development, which will feed into the information for the EHR includes a Radiology Information System and Picture Archiving Communication System (RIS/PACS). RIS/PACS is a data system that captures diagnostic images such as x-rays, CTs, ultrasounds, MRIs and Mammography that can be accessed by clinicians from anywhere in the province. The Pharmacy Information Program includes information about prescriptions filled within Saskatchewan community pharmacies, and more recently, the Saskatchewan Lab Results Repository was created to allow health care providers to view lab test results for patients.
Information collected through the surveys, combined with feedback being gathered through health sector workshops taking place over the summer, will help shape the future of electronic health records in Saskatchewan.
The survey can be found at the eHealth Saskatchewan public engagement website at ehealth-sk.ca and will be available until midnight on September 7.
eHealth Saskatchewan is the Treasury Board Crown Corporation responsible for planning and building a provincial EHR and supporting and maintaining electronic systems that make up the electronic network for the all health regions and health stakeholders in the province.
