Regional hospital partnership represents largest number of Ontario organizations joining on Epic; once implemented, clinical information system will enable seamless access to health information across seven hospital organizations, enhancing patient safety and quality

Peterborough (June 7, 2021) – Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC), along with six other hospital organizations representing 14 hospitals in Ontario’s central east region, are partnering to deliver a new, digital clinical information system (CIS). Once implemented, each of the 1.5 million people in the central east region who receive hospital care will have a single, unified personal health record across the partner hospitals.

This collaboration represents the largest number of individual organizations joining together on Epic in Ontario and will transform the way health care is delivered for generations to come.

“The implementation of a clinical information system is one of the most important transformations a hospital can make, and it has been nearly a decade in the making here at PRHC,” said Dr. Lynn Mikula, EVP, Chief of Staff and Chief Medical Executive at PRHC. “I am so pleased and privileged to be able to participate in the planning, collaboration and hard work being done at PRHC and with our partners across the region to prepare for this significant change later this year. Once implemented, the CIS will provide every hospital patient and their care team with real-time access to the patient’s health information in one place, which will support clinicians in making the best possible decisions about every individual’s treatment and care.”

As hospitals across Ontario have faced the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic together over the last 16 months, our partner hospitals have gained an even greater understanding of the importance of having a shared CIS in place to support the best possible care for our 1.5 million patients across the region.

The seven partner hospital organizations participating in this major health care initiative are: Campbellford Memorial Hospital, Haliburton Highlands Health Services, Lakeridge Health, Northumberland Hills Hospital, Peterborough Regional Health Centre, Ross Memorial Hospital and Scarborough Health Network.

The new regional CIS means:

  • One digital record for each patient across seven hospital organizations in the central east region
  • Patient access to a user-friendly and secure portal called MyChart to view their health information and upcoming appointments.
  • Implementation of evidence-based best practices across the care continuum
  • Timely access to information to support clinical decision-making, including test results, medication information and other essential health information
  • Improvements in patient safety features, including barcode identity validation at the patient’s bedside
  • Less duplication and more efficient processes, contributing to a more sustainable health system

Epic is one of the world’s largest electronic health records software companies, and their system has been adopted by hundreds of leading hospitals in North America and Europe, including Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, The Ottawa Hospital, SickKids, and Mackenzie Health.

Epic will go live for all seven partner organizations in December 2021.

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For more information:

Michelene Ough
Director, Communications
mough@prhc.on.ca