What these provinces are getting right on healthcare interoperability

How can provincial policymakers build more digitally integrated health systems to improve the patient experience?During one of the panel discussions at the IHE North America Connectation in Toronto last week, policy leaders from British Columbia, Alberta and New Brunswick came together to share success stories and challenges when it came to digital health interoperability.From online patient portals to e-referral systems, here’s what was discussed:New Brunswick: leading the way in patient summariesStarting off the discussion, Emmanuel Tackie, executive director of digital health for the government of New Brunswick, spoke about the incremental steps that his province has been taking towards allowing patients to access their own health data.In 2018, the province first started with an online platform for patients to access their lab results. However, after COVID-19 hit, that platform evolved into MyHealthNB, a mobile and web app where patients could download their vaccination certificate.The province added the ability for New Brunswickers to access their own medical records through MyHealthNB in 2023. The following year, New Brunswick became the first jurisdiction in Canada to launch a patient summary feature through the MyHealthNB app, which automatically generates a summary of the patient’s key health information that can be easily shared with healthcare providers who do not have access to the province’s electronic health records system.Tackie said the uptake rates on both the web and mobile versions of MyHealthNB are at around 50%.“It’s really giving our citizens access to some of that key information on both of those platforms,” Tackie said.“Ultimately, New Brunswick is going through an evolution,” he added. “One of the things on my plate right now is to formally establish an office of digital health, which would give us an opportunity to do some really great things.”Alberta: reducing wait times through e-referralsMeanwhile, Alberta has a comprehensive electronic referral system that can assign the next available specialist for a patient through a centralized pool, reducing wait times and improving efficiency.“The Alberta Surgical Initiative has ambitious goals, including reducing the number of Albertans waiting longer than three months for surgery by 75%, meaning clinically appropriate wait times for priority specialties. And so, a key to this is a modern efficient referral process, and that's where an electronic referral solution comes in,” said Duncan Worden, executive director of strategic information management and technology services at Alberta Health Services. Read: Bridging the fax gap: The push for a seamless referral systemCurrently, the project is in its second phase. Recently, the province added the ability for status updates to be sent for urological care and consults to be sent to patients through the province’s MyHealth Records platform. The province is also working on further integrating e-referrals with Connect Care, Alberta Health Service’s clinical information system. “Alberta ERS journey is a complex but vital undertaking. The solution will transform the surgical referral process leading to shorter weight times and better patient care. And we are committed to working with our partners to overcome the challenges and deliver their successful implementation,” Worden said.British Columbia: harmonizing health data through the HALO standardAmanda Gray, senior executive director of enterprise architecture, strategic platforms and solutions at British Columbia’s Provincial Health Services Authority, discussed her province’s journey in adopting the HALO standard.HALO, which stands for Health Application Lightweight Protocol, is a framework developed by Canada Health Infoway that enables electronic medical record systems (EMRs) to communicate seamlessly with third-party apps.One of the challenges that B.C. has faced, Gray explained, is the plethora of “fragmented and disconnected” health agencies that operate across the province, including the Health Services Authority, regional health authorities, First Nations Health Authority, healthcare providers, the Ministry of Health and more.Read: Axe the silos and the fax will axe itself“HALO, particularly, and other standards, are providing the opportunity for us to address the challenges that typically accompany such a diverse and fragmented ecosystem,” Gray said.In collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Doctors of BC, Gray says her team has been working to incentivize the province’s EMR vendors to adopt the HALO standard and enable more seamless integration across EMRs and health organizations.“There are a lot of moving parts to this . . . there's a lot of excitement in B.C. right now about the emerging opportunities,” Gray said. “The way we're positioning HALO in B.C. is the means to a connected health experience, essentially an integrated workplace for B.C. healthcare providers.”

What these provinces are getting right on healthcare interoperability

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