Many Canadian hospitals are implementing a new Hospital Information System (HIS) - a centralized database where patient health data can be securely stored, accessed, and shared. By improving access to patient history and health information, a HIS aims to improve the quality and delivery of patient care. Some hospitals are coordinating these efforts in a joint system implementation. A HIS is crucial to the digital transformation of patient-centered care and can improve hospital efficiencies, reduce errors, and enhance patient outcomes. However, switching to a new HIS can be time consuming, taking hospital pharmacists away from frontline patient care, and if an error occurs in the cutover process, it can have devasting consequences.

Did you know?

For example, in a typical 500-bed hospital in Canada, there are likely 10,000 orders that need to be entered into the new system. A dedicated pharmacist can enter approximately 25 orders per hour, so you would need 15 – 25 pharmacists over three to four days to transfer records to a new HIS system.

Telepharmacy can help

Through the HealthPRO Telepharmacy and Professional Support contract with our partner North West Telepharmacy solutions, experienced hospital pharmacists of all specialties are able to support with the transition to a new HIS system. The pharmacists are fully trained and knowledgeable in the functionality of the key hospital enterprise HIS systems, as well as the processes, challenges and key success factors required for a successful transition of medical records.

In addition, support is available for the enterprise system build including building medication protocols, order sets, formularies, and dictionaries in the new HIS system.

If your hospital is planning a cutover to a new HIS, reach out to learn how HealthPRO Canada’s Telepharmacy and Professional Support can help.

Shelley Dorazio, former Director of Pharmacy at The Scarborough Health Network, said, “The addition of Telepharmacy Services during our recent CPOE (Computerized Provider Order Entry) implementation was extremely valuable. The team was extremely flexible, providing on-site and off-site support during our immediate pre-Go Live, during the cut over period, 4 days immediately before turning on the new system. The Telepharmacy team worked cohesively with our internal informatic leads ensuring the communication was up to date and in real time.” 

To learn more, contact Patricia Macgregor at pmacgregor@healthprocanada.com.