Getting a complete, unified picture of a patient’s care trajectory can sometimes be a real headache. But now, these challenges are fast disappearing for Dr. Roland Grad, a family physician in the Goldman Herzl Family Practice Centre at the JGH.
The key to this major improvement? The Connected Health Record (CHR), a next generation electronic health record, built by CIUSSS West-Central Montreal for its own staff.
“In a single view, I can check on my patient, read the most recent progress notes and follow that person’s trajectory back into the community,” he says.
Recognizing the significance of this advancement, Dr. Grad emphasizes, “I started using the CHR while supervising residents at Herzl and, quite frankly, it provides a unique window into the health services that are being delivered to my patient.”
And that’s just the beginning. Last November the CHR launched its first module, the Patient Timeline, and more is on the way. When the multi-year CHR project reaches its conclusion, this innovative digital platform will give staff prompt access to updated health information about any healthcare user served by the CIUSSS.
This will be possible because the CHR will simplify and streamline the way health data is recorded, stored, retrieved, displayed and shared in various facilities across the CIUSSS.
Healthcare providers will find information that’s been centralized, fully updated and available on a single platform, rather than the numerous applications that staff have had to consult until now.
Nurse Meg Hoodspith, a Clinical Activities Specialist in the JGH Emergency Department, uses the CHR for tasks such as analyzing case files and helping find and return lost belongings to users.
“When reviewing cases for quality care, the CHR helps me see the patient’s timeline in a user-friendly, global way that is quick and easy to navigate,” Ms. Hoodspith says. “At a quick glance, I can get an idea of the user’s trajectory.”
She recommends using the CHR because it will become the CIUSSS’s new documentation platform.
“The CHR places vital information about our users at our fingertips,” she says. “Communication is vital to caring safely and efficiently for our users, and the CHR is the best communication tool that we will have.”
The CHR is also one of the key pillars of Care Everywhere, the CIUSSS’s broad-based, user-centric approach to care. The ultimate goal of Care Everywhere is to achieve the right outcomes by delivering the right care at the right time in the location that’s most appropriate, safest and most convenient for healthcare users.
“I realize these are still early days for me as a new user,” Dr. Grad says, “but I can see the CHR becoming an indispensable tool. The ease with which I can absorb any patient’s larger story is unparalleled in any application to date.”