New Public Health Information System Helps Provide Better Services to Saskatchewan Residents
Released on May 5, 2015
Saskatchewan patients and health providers are now benefitting from a new, electronic integrated public health information system. “Panorama” allows public health care providers to manage vaccine inventories and immunizations, and enhances their ability to deliver services to residents.
Rural and Remote Health Minister Greg Ottenbreit today joined representatives from eHealth Saskatchewan and Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region for the official launch of Panorama.
“Panorama is a standardized, accurate and confidential system now available to public health professionals to do their day-to-day work and to provide improved services to our residents,” Ottenbreit said. “Introducing this modern system is part of our ongoing efforts to deliver health services to our residents in a more efficient, streamlined and co-ordinated manner.”
The vaccine inventory module of Panorama was implemented in March 2014 and the immunizations module in February 2015. The new system offers a series of enhancements that are directly benefitting patients. For example, each person who receives public health services in Saskatchewan will now have a single, confidential client record, no matter where they receive those services in the province.
In the future, Panorama will have three additional modules: communicable disease investigations, communicable disease outbreaks, and family health. When fully implemented, Panorama will replace two aging provincial public health systems (the Saskatchewan Immunization Management System and the integrated Public Health Information System).
“Immunization is safe and important and saves lives by preventing serious diseases,” Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region Medical Health Officer, Population and Public Health Services Dr. Tania Diener said. “Panorama is a tool that helps public health do their job by providing a complete record of vaccines provided in Saskatchewan.”
“Panorama can be accessed by public health wherever a client presents and allows for more timely care,” Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region Population and Public Health Services, Public Health Nursing Manager Morag Granger said. “It also assists staff in determining immunizations the clients are due for, as well as future immunizations.”
The Ministry of Health partnered with e-Health Saskatchewan to develop and implement Panorama throughout the province.
“We were pleased to lead the information technology portion of this project,” eHealth Saskatchewan CEO Susan Antosh said. “The immunization and vaccine inventory modules help support improved patient care by making patient and vaccine information available electronically to the health care team.”
Saskatchewan’s Panorama is part of the pan-Canadian Panorama initiative funded through Canada Health Infoway. Five other jurisdictions are in the process of implementing Panorama: Quebec, British Columbia, Yukon, Ontario and Manitoba.
More information on the province’s Panorama is available at www.ehealthsask.ca/panorama.
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For more information, contact:
Tyler McMurchy
Health
Regina
Phone: 306-787-4083
Email: tmcmurchy@health.gov.sk.ca
Anne Lindemann
Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region
Regina
Phone: 306-766-0889
Email: Anne.Lindemann@rqhealth.ca
Lisa Adam
eHealth Saskatchewan
Regina
Phone: 306-337-0976
Email: lisa.adam@ehealthsask.ca
Most Popular Baby Names in Saskatchewan in 2014
Released on February 11, 2015
eHealth Saskatchewan released the top 20 baby names for 2014 today. Liam was the most popular baby name for the fifth year in a row for baby boys and Emma was the most popular girl’s name for the last six years for babies born in Saskatchewan. The second most popular names were William and Olivia.
There were 79 baby boys named Liam in 2014, followed by William, Noah, Mason and Jacob. There were 75 baby girls named Emma, followed by Olivia, Sophia, Emily and Ava.
To date there are 15,773 live births registered in Saskatchewan in 2014, which is an increase from 15,222 births in 2013. These numbers do not include Saskatchewan mothers who gave birth outside of the province.
The 15,773 live births of 2014 is the highest since 1990, when 16,094 were registered.
For more information on the most popular baby names and to see the list of popular names from previous years, visit the eHealth Saskatchewan’s website at www.eHealthSask.ca.
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For more information, contact:
Lisa Adam
eHealth Saskatchewan
Regina
Phone: 306-337-0976
Email: Lisa.Adam@ehealthsask.ca
Cell: 306-540-5816
Core Electronic Health Record for Saskatchewan Complete
Released on January 20, 2015
Access to Electronic Information Benefits Patients A comprehensive provincial electronic health record (EHR) for Saskatchewan residents is complete. Health providers with access to the EHR Viewer can now see their patients’ diagnostic imaging results, completing the core components of an EHR for Saskatchewan residents.
The EHR Viewer is a secure website developed for Saskatchewan health care providers to give access to patient information regardless of where an individual goes for care or where they live in the province.
“The EHR Viewer will allow seamless sharing of health information, something residents and providers told us we needed to better co-ordinate patients’ health care,” Health Minister Dustin Duncan said. “Patients benefit when their providers have timely access to information when making health care decisions.”
The EHR Viewer also includes access to:
- patient prescription and allergy information from community pharmacies;
- more than 90 per cent of laboratory results from health regions and the Saskatchewan Disease Control Laboratory;
- immunization histories;
- supports to help physicians better manage their patients with chronic disease, including diabetes and coronary artery disease;
- standardized operative reporting for breast cancer surgeries;
- hospital admission, discharge and transfer summaries, providing family physicians with valuable patient information; and
- discharge summaries from hospitals in the Saskatoon Health Region, allowing doctors to view the instructions their patients receive following release from hospital.
“We are pleased with this achievement and will continue to work with our partners to expand the patient information that is available in the EHR,” eHealth CEO Susan Antosh said. “We want to thank our many partners for their collaboration and dedication in reaching this key milestone which better supports Saskatchewan patients.”
About 3,300 health care providers have access to the EHR Viewer, including physicians, pharmacists, and nurse practitioners.
“Saskatchewan has clearly demonstrated its commitment to transforming health care for its residents by ensuring vital patient information is available in a timely and secure manner when and where it matters most,” Canada Health Infoway President and CEO Michael Green said.
The EHR project cost $32.5 million in total with approximately 75 per cent of the funding contributed by Canada Health Infoway. The Government of Saskatchewan contributed the remaining $10 million. An additional $39 million was spent on the development of additional components (provider registry, client registry, pharmacy, diagnostic imaging) that were necessary to have the information available to distribute using the EHR. Of this, $31 million was funded by Canada Health Infoway, while the province funded $8 million.
The privacy and security of personal health information is a high priority for eHealth Saskatchewan and a variety of safeguards are in place. Patients who are concerned about access to their personal health information can request their information be masked and only be viewed with patient authorization.
eHealth Saskatchewan is responsible for planning, developing and implementing the provincial electronic health record for Saskatchewan. eHealth is also responsible for Vital Statistics and Health Registries.
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For more information, contact:
Lisa Adam
eHealth Saskatchewan
Regina
Phone: 306-337-0976
Email:
Lisa.Adam@eHealthSask.ca Cell: 306-540-5816
