Celebrating our achievement in patient information sharing

September 27, 2013

Celebrating our landmark achievement in patient information sharing

The Canterbury Health System has celebrated a major milestone in enhancing patient care this week.

Graeme Osborne from the National Health IT Board, Canterbury Health System leaders and technical teams came together to acknowledge and celebrate the completion of phase one of the Shared Care View project.

Shared Care View (eSCRV) was born in the aftermath of the devastating February 22, 2011, earthquake which highlighted the need for health professionals to be able to access key patient information electronically at the point of care. Today, Shared Care View makes that possible. Only clinicians with a clinical role in a patient’s care can access patient information over a secure connection in their workplace. The project has been developed through a collaborative effort by Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB), Pegasus Health, Nurse Maude, Canterbury Community Pharmacy Group, and Orion Health.

David Meates, CDHB chief executive, says General Practice data became available to other clinicians earlier this month, adding the final piece to a patient information picture that is no longer a puzzle.

“This success is a remarkable tribute the health community in Canterbury,” Mr Meates says.

“This includes the many people who work, sometimes without visibility, to make the whole system work. For the success story that is Shared Care View, we are heavily indebted to the IT professionals from Pegasus, CDHB and Orion Health who have changed the way they work and collaborated in a stunning way across Canterbury.

“It now means that when a person attends a hospital, an after hours General Practice service, a pharmacy, a doctor or is seen by a district nurse – their clinician will be equipped with a fuller set of information that will undoubtedly improve the safety and quality of care we can provide.”

Vince Barry, Pegasus Health chief executive, says this is yet another piece in the puzzle of integrated care across our health system firmly in place.

“The patients and their communities are now in a better place due to the vision, passion and commitment of many people and organisations in Canterbury,” Mr Barry says.

John Gale, Orion Health Delivery Manager, says while the system has been operational for about a year, it was only recently that patient history data and community nursing were added to the system.

“Shared Care View provides an environment where General Practice, Pharmacy and Community Health care data can be viewed by both primary and secondary care clinicians. The challenge was to be able to provide this level of access whilst protecting patient privacy and ensuring the data was in a secure environment,” he says.

Mr Gale says the February Christchurch earthquake was the catalyst for the project.

“The earthquake forced the closure of many Canterbury medical practices and many Cantabrians from their homes. There was movement across the city. The result was people found it difficult to get to see a General Practice and practices did not have access their patients’ records.

“CDHB Chief Medical Officer Dr Nigel Millar stated at the time that such an event should not stand in the way of providing quality patient care.”

Mr Gale says without all parties pulling together the solution would not be where it is today.

“We look forward to the further development of Shared Care View and implementing it across the South Island and New Zealand,” he says.

ENDS

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