New 10-year agreement to provide more
efficient, secure, timely access to patient information
HALIFAX, NS,
Feb. 1, 2023 /CNW/
-- The province of Nova
Scotia, in collaboration with Nova Scotia Health Authority
(NSHA) and IWK Health (IWK), announced today a new 10-year
agreement has been signed with Oracle Cerner to implement an
integrated electronic care record across the province for the more
than one million Nova Scotians. This technology can help improve
the way health professionals use and share patient information.
The new modernization known in Nova
Scotia as "One Person One
Record" (OPOR), is intended to provide clinicians easier
access to real-time health information anywhere and allow
healthcare workers to spend less time at the computer and more time
with their patients.
Like much of the world, Nova
Scotia has dealt with health care challenges such as
emergency department long wait times and provider waitlists.
Real-time digital charting in Oracle Cerner's technology at the
point of care can help clinicians more quickly and more easily
access important patient information including the most recent and
historical laboratory data and diagnostic imaging results as they
are making decisions on the next steps for care.
"The availability of a single information system that supports
our care providers in delivering safe, more timely, and connected
services should improve the quality of care received by patients
and families while making their journeys more seamless," said Dr.
Krista Jangaard, president and CEO,
IWK Health.
Health professionals in acute care facilities in Nova Scotia can use a digital closed-loop
medication management process to help reduce prescribing errors,
ensure allergy information is available, enable electronic
prescription verification with pharmacy, and better documentation
for auditing. This improvement to patient safety helps providers
make sure the right medication is prescribed and given to the right
patient, in the right dose, at the right time, and with the right
documentation.
"The approval of OPOR is a great day for healthcare in
Nova Scotia," said Dr.
Matthew Clarke, emergency physician,
Central Zone. "This legacy project will help ensure an integrated
and standardized healthcare experience regardless of where patients
are in the province. As a provider, it will give me immediate
access to the information and support I need, so I can focus on
providing safe, high-quality care for my patients."
Dr. Christy Bussey, medical
executive director and hospitalist, Central Zone, added, "OPOR will
provide the foundation of digitally enabled health care in
Nova Scotia. OPOR will connect our
clinicians and patients across the province as we have not done
before, improving patient safety, access, efficiency, and flow. It
will foster health care system transformation and help propel us
forward as a magnet for health care providers."
Population health solutions provided by Oracle Cerner will help
provide a continued focus on proactive health maintenance. The
tools can help the health system know and predict what will happen
within a population, engage the person, their family, and the care
team to take action, and manage outcomes to improve health and
care. Once fully implemented, Cerner's patient portal will be
available, allowing Nova Scotians easier access to their own health
information and the ability to connect directly with their
caregivers.
"Hospitals and health systems across the globe are facing many
challenges that more intuitive and predictive technology can assist
with," said Brian Sandager, vice
president, Oracle Health, Canada.
"We are excited for this opportunity to help Nova Scotia improve health care across their
region. Our work together will help clinicians use a more open,
intelligent, interoperable platform to care for the population of
Nova Scotia and provide a more
holistic approach to health care for patients."
Oracle Cerner has been a trusted partner of Nova Scotia's health system for 30 years,
providing laboratory and radiology information systems. Oracle
Cerner will integrate biomedical devices from across the province
into the patient's record – including vitals monitors, IV pumps,
and fetal monitoring devices, as well as use voice recognition
software to improve physician workflows and allow for fully
integrated voice recognition across multiple devices and
platforms.
About Oracle Cerner
Oracle Cerner's health technologies connect people and
information systems at thousands of contracted provider facilities
worldwide dedicated to creating smarter and better care for
individuals and communities. Recognized globally for innovation,
Oracle Cerner assists clinicians in making care decisions and
assists organizations in managing the health of their populations.
The company also offers a connected clinical and financial
ecosystem to help manage day-to-day revenue functions, as well as a
wide range of services to support clinical, financial, and
operational needs, focused on people. For more information,
visit Cerner.com, Oracle Cerner Perspectives, connect on
Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter or join
the discussion on Oracle Cerner's podcast Perspectives on Health
& Tech.
About Oracle
Oracle offers integrated suites of applications plus secure,
autonomous infrastructure in the Oracle Cloud. For more information
about Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), please visit us at oracle.com.
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SOURCE Cerner Corp.