The
future of health information technology in Alberta is bright says
Todd Herron, the assistant deputy minister and the CIO for Alberta
Health and Wellness.
“Even
though we are in the early stages of deployment, Alberta is leading
the way in developing a functional province-wide Electronic Health
Record system, and it is already enhancing the quality of health
care,” he said.
More
than 6,000 health care providers have voluntarily registered to
use the Alberta EHR. Herron is confident that more providers will
follow suit. “I’d like to see all community physicians in the province
on the system within three years,” he said.
Even
remote rural communities across the province will be able to connect
to the Alberta EHR as the province’s SuperNet broadband Internet
initiative deploys.
“The
tremendous benefits of an EHR are widely known, and the vision of
implementing one is shared by health systems around the world, but
to some it can become a Holy Grail with people expecting it to be
all things to all people. Alberta is delivering on this vision”
Alberta
Health and Wellness is leading the nation in the field because of
its unique approach. It started by working with stakeholders to
create something that works and plans to add more functionality
over time. The patient directory, lab test results and the prescription
drug profiles will be joined in the future by new services such
as a province-wide booking system for specialized health services.
