This third edition of Connections brings you the latest updates on the HITS eHealth Office's digital health project work.
As you may be aware, since 2018, the HITS eHealth Office at Hamilton Health Sciences, in partnership with Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, has supported the deployment of Sunnybrook's "MyChart" patient portal within South West Ontario. This chapter is coming to a close though, and registration for new [Sunnybrook] MyChart patient portal accounts, for the purpose of viewing health records from hospitals located in South West Ontario, will be ending September 14, 2022 at 12:00pm (noon).
As of September 30, 2022, existing users of Sunnybrook's MyChart patient portal will no longer be able to view their health records from hospitals located in South West Ontario using MyChart. If you already have a MyChart patient portal account, please note it is not being closed; you will still be able to use MyChart's "Personal Records" section and, if you have health records from other MyChart Partner hospitals - hospitals located in other parts of Ontario - you will still be able to see that information. To re-gain access to view your health records from hospitals in South West Ontario, soon you will be able to register for a replacement solution which is called ConnectMyHealth. More information about this transition is available at https://info.connectmyhealth.ca/transition-from-mychart, and if you'd like to be notified when registration opens, please email info@connectmyhealth.ca. Please be reminded that the information above only applies to the "MyChart" patient portal operated by Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre which is unrelated to another "MyChart" solution that is being made available through certain hospitals in this region.
Please keep reading for more important updates about digital health solutions operated or supported by the HITS eHealth Office. If you have any questions about our work, you’re welcome to email us at info@HITSeHealth.ca, call us at 905-577-8270, or check out our website to see how we can support your organization’s use of digital health tools: https://HITSeHealth.ca.
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Helping Healthcare Providers Deliver Care More Efficiently |
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Latest news:
In June, Hamilton Health Sciences went live with its new Hospital Information System (HIS) called Epic. In order for HHS' patients' health records entered into this new system to be viewable in ClinicalConnect, the HITS eHealth Office completed a new integration with Epic which resulted in some changes to how the hospital's data displays in the portal. Complete details are available by clicking here, but here are some of the highlights:
1. The “Source” of Hamilton Health Sciences’ data from June 4 onwards, entered into Epic, is “HHSC”. The “Source” of Hamilton Health Sciences' historical (pre-June 3, 2022) data, from the legacy HIS, is “HHS”. In addition, a subset of Hamilton Health Sciences' clinical patient data was transferred into the hospital's Epic system.
2. Currently, for the HHSC Epic-to-ClinicalConnect integration, Census views, Frequent ED Visits/Microform/VIP Indicator flags, and Mom/Baby link are not supported/available.
3. Pathology reports generated at Hamilton Health Sciences (starting Jan 1, 2017) are currently only displayed in ClinicalConnect via the portal's integration with the Ontario Laboratories Information System (OLIS). If you are not authorized to view data from OLIS using ClinicalConnect, consider using your EMR’s OLIS PQ if available, or contact the ClinicalConnect Program Office by email to info@clinicalconnect.ca for more information. In the meantime, work continues to have these types of reports viewable by all ClinicalConnect users.
4. All sites that are part of the HNHB Regional Oncology program, other than Niagara Health's Walker Family Cancer Centre, are now using Hamilton Health Sciences' Epic for oncology documentation and visits. This data now displays with "HHSC" as the "Source" in ClinicalConnect.
ClinicalConnect users are encouraged to set their "Encounter Filter" to "All Regional Encounters" to ensure they're seeing all available data for their patients.
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Helping Patients Empower
Their Health Journey
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The HITS eHealth Office, operating as the ConnectMyHealth Program Office, has been finalizing its operational processes that have been designed to support smooth onboarding and customer service for the new regional patient portal called ConnectMyHealth. While general registration for ConnectMyHealth accounts isn't open just yet, these preparations are an important part of our role as solution provider for Ontario Health West Region's new patient portal. Key areas include Identity & Access Management, as well as Customer Support once account requests have been processed by the ConnectMyHealth Program Office.
Latest news:
• Registration for ConnectMyHealth accounts will be available online. Information about ConnectMyHealth itself, and about how to register for your account, will be posted to the "ConnectMyHealth information website" so please check back often for updates: https://info.connectmyhealth.ca.
• ConnectMyHealth users will be able to contact the ConnectMyHealth Support Desk in a few easy ways if they experience technical or access issues - phone, email or via an online request form.
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Improving Access to
Specialist Advice
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eConsult, a service that is part of the broader Ontario eServices Program, allows primary care providers to seek specialist advice through a secure, web-based platform and receive a response within days. There are over 123 specialties and sub-specialties available on eConsult and the service is available to physicians and nurse practitioners free of charge. Using eConsult often eliminates the need for a patient to wait to see a specialist in person.
Latest news:
• While eConsult is typically accessed via the OTNhub, the Ontario eServices Program has recently launched a new one-way integration which enables clinicians to send eConsults directly from their integrated EMR via Ocean eReferral. This streamlined workflow allows clinicians to submit eConsults easily, quickly and independently using the same efficient and reliable EMR integrated workflow they use for sending Ocean eReferrals. *Note: Receiving eConsult responses from the specialist, and any additional correspondence, will still occur directly on the OTNhub web platform. Furthermore, delegates cannot send eConsults on behalf of a clinician using this integration.
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Tips & Tricks: It's As Easy as 1-2-3! |
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For Referring Providers using eConsult, don’t forget to ‘Complete’ your eConsults! After you are satisfied with the response to your eConsult, be sure to click ‘Complete’. This action:
• Triggers the release of the two-question survey about your eConsult experience that helps us improve the service for all providers.
• Removes the case from both the Referring Provider and Specialist’s ‘Needs Attention’ folder.
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Name: Joslyn Sinclair
Role: Summer Co-op Student
Joslyn joined the HITS eHealth Office full-time this summer as part of her co-op at the University of Waterloo, where she is completing her undergraduate degree. Before her co-op, Joslyn has worked part-time with our team for the last two years, helping to fulfill patients’ applications to gain access to Sunnybrook Health Sciences' MyChart patient portal. Working with our team has provided her with excellent 'real-world' work experience and she's been enjoying contributing to patients being able to view their own health records and empowering their own health journey. The HITS eHealth Office has been glad to have her onboard to help with additional operational aspects of our work to bring digital health solutions to providers and patients.
Joslyn enjoys watching movies and going antique shopping with family and friends, where she hopes to find new vinyl records to add to her collection.
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The views expressed are those of the HITS eHealth Office at Hamilton Health Sciences and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Government of Ontario or any of its personnel or entities, including Ontario Health. |
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