Hamilton Health Sciences launching new $175M patient data system

Next Saturday, Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) is launching a $175-million holistic electronic hospital information platform called EPIC, replacing its existing system by Meditech.

The new system would help capture a patient's journey through multiple care units as well as subspecialty care across the network of hospitals. EPIC would also offer a mobile application for patients to track their test results, and check bookings among others.

Dave McCaig, chief financial officer at HHS, told The Spectator the purpose of replacing the existing system with the electronic health record is to provide much better, safer care."

He added that the system would improve the workflow which is an important concept." For instance, he added, the system would analyze and determine the kind of standard orders required for a particular condition or the kinds of tests needed, which are preprogrammed into the system.

There's artificial intelligence built into the system that looks for things like medication or dosing, and helps catch or prevent errors," McCaig said.

The system is being launched weeks after news on breach of patients' medical files in the recent years. Between 2018 and 2020, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton hospital reported 2,183 privacy breaches.

McCaig assured that the system is very secure" and provides rigorous security" for data protection.

Access ... is role-based, so that users may see clinical data appropriate to their role," McCaig said. Robust audit trails are available for any access to any patient record, and HHS has conducted a thorough and formal privacy impact assessment and threat risk assessment as part of the project to ensure compliance with provincial privacy laws."

He noted the project is a massive transmission" that would transform the way data for health care is maintained.

What will change for patients?

EPIC is coming up as a system that isn't only a repository of information, but also documents the care and the path a patient follows throughout the investigation," said Dr. Barry Lumb, executive lead for EPIC implementation.

MyChart, a mobile application to be launched as a part of the EPIC platform, would allow patients to access their electronic medical records (EMR) any time, as well as maintain their health information and access telehealth appointments.

Lumb told The Spectator that patients will not have to repeat their medical history every time they would switch departments of care. Paper charts will go away."

In addition, he said, patients will be able to connect with doctors and physicians, helping (patients) to stay healthy, and get answers to their questions ... which is a very powerful, huge opportunity."

Down the road, McCaig said, there will be an opportunity to explore patient education" on finding more information about their health conditions, managing appointments and communicating with their health-care professionals.

Who will work with the new system?

McCaig said the process of establishing the system began more than two and a half years ago, with a team of 170 HHS staff and physicians.

The staff has been undergoing training to use the new sophisticated system for the months of May and April, which includes all health-care providers, like nutritionists, pharmacists, nurses and physicians.

Almost the entire organization in one way or another will interact with this system, which is upwards of 12,000 people," said McCaig said.

The time frame for training professionals depended on their role, Lumb explained. Nurses are undergoing training for a total of six hours, while physicians are requiring six hours on their first day, and another four hours on the second day.

What about the social determinants of collecting health care data?

McCaig said the system has the ability to collect a variety of determinants of health, and there are tools built into the system" to identify various aspects, for example, history of food insecurity for a patient and how the health-care professional needs to be careful to not miss the opportunity of intervention."

He noted that there's a tremendous monitoring and predicting opportunity."

Ritika Dubey is a reporter at The Spectator. rdubey@thespec.com