HSN expands e-health record use, earns national award

Health Sciences North on May 1 announced that it was being “recognized as a national leader for its use of electronic health records.”

HSN is one of seven health-care providers across Canada to receive the LEADing Practice Award from Canada Health Infoway (Infoway), in partnership with Accreditation Canada. The hospital's Ambulatory (Outpatient) Care Clinics earned the LEADing Practice Award for developing a system of electronic patient scheduling, documentation, decision support and record sharing that enabled staff to work collaboratively with local and regional team members.

“Our team is very excited to receive this award because it demonstrates the value of using digital health technology,“ said Joanne Guizzo, clinical manager of Ambulatory Care Clinics at HSN. “We can work more collaboratively, and that means better care for our patients.”

Canada Health Infoway recently invested $7.4 million to enable HSN’s Outpatient Care Clinics and several other outpatient programs and affiliates to join the Northeastern Ontario Network (NEON), an electronic health records sharing network based at HSN and including 22 hospitals and three independent health facilities across the northeast.

By sharing standardized patient records electronically, members of NEON can provide their clinicians with instant, secure access to patient information, which leads to better co-ordinated care and less duplication of services.