HGH and Atlas Alliance take inaugural step towards new digital hospital network

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Six Eastern Ontario health care organizations are partnering to implement a new regional digital Health Information System (HIS). This new network will give care providers and patients real-time access to vital health information and allow them to make informed decisions based on the most comprehensive data. Atlas Alliance includes Hawkesbury and District General Hospital (HGH), The Ottawa Hospital, the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Renfrew Victoria Hospital, St. Francis Memorial Hospital and The Ottawa Hospital Family Health Team.

“This new HIS is an integrated system that focuses on the patient, rather than institutions, offices or departments. Healthcare providers will be connected to the patients’ electronic medical records leading to more efficient collaboration and improved patient outcomes. We are entering a new era of patient care with this platform. The implementation of a new HIS is also complementing the expansion of our hospital and brings us closer to becoming a model hospital in Ontario by 2020,” explains Marc LeBoutillier, Chief Executive Officer at HGH.

“Epic, an international provider of health information technology, is the supplier for this major regionally shared project. The Epic platform will allow partners to access, organize, securely store and share electronic patient medical records. The application supports workflows for patient care, including registration and scheduling; clinical systems for doctors, nurses, emergency personnel and other care providers; systems for lab technologists, pharmacists and radiologists; and billing systems for insurers,” adds Marcel Leclair, Vice-President of Finance and Corporate Services at HGH.

The new system will definitely improve the patient experience. Epic includes MyChart, an online tool for patients that will connect them to their health-care providers and ensure timely access to their up-to-date medical records including diagnostic test results.

The system will go live at all six partner organizations simultaneously in June 2019. Then, the Atlas Alliance will join hundreds of hospitals in Epic’s global network, giving partners access to the knowledge, research and best practices of physicians and clinicians from hospitals such as CHEO in Ottawa, St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton and many others in Canada and worldwide.

Implementing the Epic system supports the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care’s mandate to have a more interoperable health care system that improves patient outcomes.

 

Media contact
Julie Leroux
Communications Coordinator
Telephone: 613-632-1111, extension 61013
Email: jleroux@hgh.ca