2. Developing performance management and public reporting capabilities, implementing LHIN-wide standardization initiatives, and
3. Building a regional data warehouse infrastructure.
Decision Support Capacity and Needs in Champlain: Findings from a survey of health service providers
The Decision Support Capacity and Needs in Champlain report was designed to help focus the Champlain Decision Support Network’s (CDSN) plan to increase decision support (DS) capacity in the region. The study helps to:
Provide an understanding of the resources that Champlain healthcare service providers (HSP) have and need in relation to DS
Identify human resource requirements, training needs and strategies.
Diagnostic Imaging repository (DI-r)
Champlain is one of three LHINs collaborating on the Northern and Eastern Ontario Diagnostic Imaging Network (NEODIN) to develop one of four shared repositories across Ontario for medical images and associated diagnostic reports. The DI-r project facilitates electronic transfer of images and reports between more than 60 diagnostic imaging departments in Northern and Eastern Ontario. This eliminates the need for patients to transport images and reports between doctors on CDs, films, or by fax. It also allows specialists at one facility to access the reports for images acquired at other hospitals, allowing for faster and more convenient information sharing between clinicians. As of the March 2011, 14 sites have been integrated, with the final 7 expected to go live by Summer 2011.
Regional Central Intake for outpatient CT and MRI
This initiative is in planning and focuses on the implementation and automation of a common process for handling CT and MRI requisitions in the Champlain Region to 1) simplify the out-patient exam booking process, 2) reduce the variability in wait times for MR and CT across the region, 3) minimize unnecessary requests in the system (eg, duplication, appropriateness, etc.).
Regional Collaboration Space
One of the goals of the Champlain LHIN eHealth Strategic Plan is to build an electronic infrastructure that allows information sharing, collaboration, and communication to occur effectively and efficiently. A key component for achieving this objective is the Champlain LHIN Collaboration Space which was launched in April 2009 (hosted by Winchester District Memorial Hospital). Health care workers are first and foremost knowledge workers. As such, they need to be able to share information, consult with one another, and help others navigate the health care system. However, health organizations are typically separate enterprises with internal systems that are not readily accessible to external collaborators. The Champlain LHIN Collaboration Space provides a secure and easy-to-use environment that addresses this need for a variety of scenarios and applications. Currently, it has more than 1700 registered users from 200+ healthcare organizations.
Integration and access to provincial lab results and drugs databases through regional “portal”
Another goal of the Champlain LHIN eHealth Strategic Plan is to build a regionally shared electronic health record using eHealth Ontario’s defined datasets as its foundation. A key component of this strategy is the establishment of a Regional Portal to provide healthcare workers a simple, reliable, and secure means of access to a comprehensive range of clinical data and tools. eHealth Ontario (eHO) selected Champlain and The Ottawa Hospital, where the Portal is hosted, as a lead “Channel Partner” for a limited production roll-out to help eHO and Champlain LHIN test and validate the strategy and associated approaches/frameworks. The first stage of the this project is now near completion and has provided access to provincial lab results and drug benefits claims history through the portal to a group of users based at The Ottawa Hospital. The next phases will extend this capability to clinicians at other sites in Champlain as well as those practicing in the community.
eConsultation
Leveraging the Champlain Collaboration Space, “BASE” (Building Access to Specialists through eConsultation) is a pilot project to improve patient care across Champlain. Currently, 200 family doctors and nurse practitioner have been provided with secure web-based access to specialists from 21 different disciplines (including dermatology, nephrology, endocrinology, cardiology, paediatric oncology, neurology, diabetes educator, internal medicine, thrombosis) in order to address patient needs sooner and more effectively, in some cases eliminating the need for formal referrals that often involve long waits, inconvenience for patients, and more systemic costs.
Diabetes Registry
Champlain LHIN has been selected as one of the two early adopter regions for the deployment of the provincial Diabetes Registry solution by Summer 2011. This will provide 1) early access to some of our residents and their care providers to better manage their needs, 2) the opportunity for our region to provide feedback on improvements in advance of the provincial rollout.
Hospital Systems convergence and consolidation
One of the Hospital Information Systems most commonly used in Champlain is Meditech. To drive efficiencies and savings in both capital and operational costs, Champlain LHIN is working with 6 hospitals in the region that currently use Meditech to converge their separate systems into a consolidated common one. The project is currently in its planning phase. Once complete, it would also result in the use of common data standards across the region, as well as simplification of shared access to patient records across the participating sites.
Doorways & OCAN
This project enables secure electronic sharing of community mental health assessment information (Ontario Common Assessment of Needs – OCAN) along with inpatient mental health assessment, the Resident Assessment Instrument - Mental Health (RAI_MH), through integration with a regional portal (The Ottawa Hospital). The data can then be accessed amongst a pilot group of authorized users across the continuum of care, including community mental health and addictions services, hospitals/ERs/in-patient psychiatric services and community physicians. This project is currently live across 5 sites in Champlain, as well as participating site from 3 other LHIN regions that are working together on this initiative.
Building on the Doorways project, Champlain region is also rolling out OCAN to other sites in Champlain. OCAN is a standardized, consumer-led decision making tool that allows key information to be electronically gathered in a secure and efficient manner:
- Assists client-led decision-making at an individual level
- Identifies individual needs and helps match these to existing services and identifies service gaps
- Provides aggregate data to inform organizational, regional and provincial level planning and decision making that is consistent with a recovery approach
- Further facilitates inter-agency communication through common data standards assessment and care planning to improve resident care outcomes
Regional Clinical Document Repository
The Champlain LHIN and the South East LHIN are collaborating on a project to create a Clinical Document Repository (CDR) for Eastern Ontario. The CDR will be a regional repository of the key patient records that are most commonly shared among healthcare providers across the continuum of care for those patients. This is a key component in the development of an electronic health record for citizens of Eastern Ontario.
Fact Sheets:
Diagnostic Imaging / Picture Archiving and Communications System (DI/PACS)
Diabetes Management
Drug Profile Viewer
ePrescribing Demonstration Project
Ontario Laboratories Information System
Physician eHealth
Champlain eHealth Strategic Plan (pdf) - November 2009
The eHealth Strategic Plan sets guidelines which will be followed during the rollout of the various initiatives envisioned as part of this plan.
eHealth Lead Council Newsletters
Connections Community Care Information Management Newsletter - Winter 2009 (pdf)
LHIN eHealth Leads Council Newsletter May 2008 (pdf)
LHIN eHealth Leads Council Newsletter December 2007 (pdf)
DI-PACS
The DI-PACS (Diagnostic Imaging - Picture Archiving and Communication System) project made good progress in 2007/08. Its goals are to move the Champlain LHIN to a filmless environment, create a central repository of medical images, and develop a central intake system for scheduling CT and MRI exams.
DI-r Initiative News
NEODIN - Champlain Diagnostic Imaging Network Newsletter September 2010
NEODIN - Champlain Diagnostic Imaging Network Newsletter April 1, 2010 (pdf)
NEODIN - Champlain Diagnostic Imaging Network Newsletter June 2009 (pdf)
NEODIN - Champlain Diagnostic Imaging Network Newsletter March 2009 (pdf)
Champlain Diagnostic Imaging Repository Initiative
Central Intake Project Backgrounder June 2008 (pdf)
The Champlain LHIN, in partnership with the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, has commissioned a study to explore the possibility of implementing a Central Intake System (CIS) for CT and MRI exams in the Champlain Region.