Health care leaders today are faced with new
and increasingly complex challenges, as organizations strive
to meet government mandates, while staying financially viable.
All are seeking creative solutions for dealing with
consolidation, industry standards, technology requirements,
and privacy hurdles. Within this challenging environment, the
timing for rolling out initiatives is key. For instance, one
of Canada Health Infoway's major initiatives—providing
50% of Canadians with access to a secure electronic health
record (EHR) by the end of 2010is fast approaching.
To discuss the implications of these and other issues
affecting their long-term strategies, MEDITECH recently
brought together several customers from Western Canada for a
special roundtable discussion. Participants Interior Health
Authority (Kelowna, BC), Fraser Health Authority (Surrey, BC),
and Yukon Hospital Corporation (Whitehorse, YT) focused on
the some of the technology challenges they are facing, as
well as the ways in which the MEDITECH system and customer
communities are supporting their initiatives.
Collaborating
for Widespread Integration
Highlights of the roundtable included a discussion led by
Interior Health Authority's CIO Mal Griffin and Clinical
Informatics Director Brent Kruschel on the organization's
MEDITECH migration from MAGIC to 6.1. The first of six full
implementations is expected to be complete by Fall 2010.
Kruschel noted that Interior is using a geographically-phased
approach to implementation throughout the health authority,
as opposed to adding on stages of functionally at each site.
"We have a lot on our plate," he says. "But,
what's really made a difference for us is the great deal of
support we've received from MEDITECH throughout this whole
process."
Interior is also now working in collaboration with Northern
Health Authority to bring MEDITECH's 6.1 Business platform to
British Columbia's health care system.
"Interior and Northern have joint teams working on the
implementation, focusing primarily on collaborating and
adopting standards," Griffin says. "We are pleased
to demonstrate the progress that can be made when willing
partners come to the table to share each other's strengths."
Standardized
Systems and Reliable Communications
Also taking part in the roundtable was Fraser Health
Authority's Director of Health Informatics and Knowledge
Management Corey Tillyer, RN, BSN. She discussed Fraser's
process of undertaking a 12-hospital HCIS consolidation into
a single standardized client server database, which is laying
the foundation for Fraser Health to roll out MEDITECH's
Advanced Clinical system.
"Seeing some of the hurdles of 'best of breed' systems,
we feel fortunate that we chose a single integrated system
with MEDITECH," she says. "For example, we already
use one standard provider dictionary, instead of several
different dictionaries. Standardizing nomenclature and
methodologies such as order sets and care plans will also put
HIMSS Stage 7 EMR adoption well within our reach for the
future."
Delivering care to a large geographic area was another major
concern for roundtable participants, particularly Yukon
Hospital Corporation's I.T Director Brian Pierson. The
hospital corporation delivers acute care to Yukon, parts of
Alaska and northern British Columbia. "Our hospital-local
I.T. infrastructure is strong, but there are significant
network challenges dealing with the large geography of our
region," he says.
"Yukon is a very large remote area, and there are
physical network challenges simply due to the weather and the
terrain," Pierson says. "As a result, we need very
reliable applications, especially those that support critical
care functions. That's why we are looking at the robust
architecture of MEDITECH's latest platform, to help us move
forward with our quality initiatives, such as the Advanced
Clinicals," he states.
The
Power of Networking
Greg Hoeft, MEDITECH's director of sales in Canada, believes
that this event provided a great opportunity for members of
our Canadian community to network and explore different
approaches to I.T. initiatives.
"Whether a customer hails from a busy urban setting or
the most remote, rural location, they can always benefit from
collaborating with MEDITECH as well as with their peers. This
event was a perfect example," he says.
"As our customers are increasingly affected by
government mandates and technology hurdles, MEDITECH will
always be here to help them as they continue to strive for
excellence."
MEDITECH
Medical
Information Technology, Inc.
MEDITECH Circle
Westwood, MA 02090
781-821-3000
www.meditech.com