What North Bay Regional Health Centre president Paul Heinrich calls a seismic shift to patient care starts on October 29th.

On that date, hospitals in North Bay, Sault Ste Marie and West Parry Sound will be sharing a health information system called the ONE initiative.

Heinrich says the system will get them up to speed on what is happening in over 60 % of acute care hospitals in Ontario.

“We’re actually going to the most modern, most current version of the technology which has so many features that will ensure that the quality of care is the highest possible for our patients and the community,” he says.

He says under this system physicians will have access to constantly updated information.

“Physicians when they’re ordering common admission diagnosis will be assisted by constantly updated best evidence templates that are embedded into the system,” Heinrich says.

Heinrich says there will be no impact on staff.

Heinrich admits there may be some growing pains.

“It’s not going to be perfect on day one. There’s many different interfaces that have to be hooked up to the new system. There’s a lot of training routines that are required,” he says.

He says in the near future the system will have a patient portal which will enable them to access records.

(photo by station staff)

Filed under: health information system, North Bay Regional Health Centre