

However, only 30 percent of patients sent in an electronic medical feedback form. (Inaccuracies included medications listed that had been discontinued and dosages different to what patients were taking). In one small study of the implementation of a patient health record, medication lists were frequently flagged as inaccurate by patients in a medical feedback form.
#PEDIATRIC MEDICAL RECORDS REVIEW JOBS UPDATE#
At Sick Kids Hospital, for example, patients and parents who use the patient health record “can input their allergies and the medications they’re taking.” Providers are then sent these additions so they can update the master record, where appropriate. In some cases, patients can also add information. As the person who has the most at stake to see their records, a patient might notice mistakes or omissions. Patient health records allow for a second set of eyes on the medical information-the patient’s. For one, their adoption could lead to more up-to-date and accurate records. Proponents of patient health records think patient access to records will have many other benefits.

When MyHealthNS evaluated the initial pilot of its patient health record, involving 30 doctors and 6,000 patients, 98 percent said they wanted to continue getting results online, and 85 percent said it made a positive difference in their health management, says Stewart Cameron, a family doctor in Halifax who is an adviser to Nova Scotia’s provincial health department on the MyHealthNS patient health record. Reviews have found that patient health records improve patient-provider communication and increase patient satisfaction. Whether or not it improves their health, patients appreciate having easy access to their medical records. But patient health records are new, and improvements that result from being able to access medical data could only become evident by studying very large populations over many years. Online patient health records are relatively new, and a review of 45 studies found “insufficient” evidence that patient health records improve health outcomes. Does access to online health records improve patient safety? The government expects it to be fully operational in five years. Last month, Sick Kids launched its own version of a patient health record, starting with four of the hospital’s clinics.Īlberta, meanwhile, is developing Connect Care, which will allow everyone in the province to access lab reports, prescription records and other medical information online. In addition, all hospitals in southwest Ontario are in the process of adopting M圜hart, according to Sarina Cheng, director of M圜hart at Sunnybrook.

And 19 hospitals are currently using M圜hart, a patient health record developed by Sunnybrook in 2006. In Ontario, LifeLabs now allows all Ontarians who get testing done in their clinics to access the results online. In Nova Scotia, around 25 percent of family physicians have signed on to MyHealthNS, a patient health record launched by the provincial government in 2012 that allows patients to see their medication list, specialist reports, lab tests, diagnostic imaging results and more. So patients might only be able to access information about medical care that took place at a specific centre. That’s because in many cases, patient health records are being adopted by individual institutions. All patients in Sweden and Finland can access their health records online, and in many other countries patient-accessible medical records are available to a limited degree.Ĭurrently, only a small percentage of Canadians have online access to their medical records and these records are incomplete. Generally, the way patient health records work is information on a patient’s electronic medical record (EMR) is copied over to a patient-facing, online version of that record, called a patient health record. Patients can understand more about their condition and medical history, and they can correct information that’s inaccurate. Proponents believe the access will lead to better patient care and empowerment. Patients can log into a secure online portal and see lab reports, doctors’ notes, imaging results, vaccination and allergy information, and more. In recent years, more and more patients around the world are logging into their health records online-but few Canadians have access to this service.
