E-Health Policy Symposium

A patient-centred approach

Annamarie Fuchs has experienced firsthand the consequences of non-integrated health records. A patient advocate, she spoke at the symposium about her experience as a patient, and about the urgent need for transparent processes that allow patients to have access to their health information.

“We’ve all been patients, at the bedside of patients, or advocating for patients, and I believe we all have opinions about how our health information should, or could, be shared,” said Fuchs, who represents the patient group IMAGINE Citizens Collaborating for Health. “I personally believe that information is power. It is the great equalizer, but only if it’s shared.”

Fuchs told the story of Greg Price, a 31-year-old Calgary man who died unexpectedly in 2012, three days after surgery for a treatable cancer. A study of Price’s experience with the province’s health-care system detailed multiple breaks in the continuity of Price’s care, such as lost information or poor communication between providers.

“Ultimately in sharing Greg’s story we learned that continuity of care, largely associated with multiple breakdowns in communication, was at the heart of that tragedy,” said Fuchs.

The Alberta advantage

Alberta has an opportunity to lead the country in health information sharing, according to Dr. William Ghali, scientific director of the O’Brien Institute for Public Health.

“There is a real commitment to changing paradigms of care in this province, and there is a real sense that Alberta is in a strong position to do so because of the significant achievements that have been reached in the domain of e-Health,” said Ghali, who is also a professor in the Departments of Medicine and Community Health Sciences at the Cumming School of Medicine. 

Alberta developed Canada’s first provincial electronic health record, and has recently announced the creation of an online portal that will permit patients to see their health data.

Integrated health records will take it one step further, allowing the secure exchange of health information, and improving health care delivery by ensuring patients get the right care, with the right providers, at the right time, said Ghali.

“Creating a province-wide integrated health record will ensure that patients and their care teams will have all the necessary information needed to make the best decisions possible.”