An electronic health record has been identified as one of the critical foundational elements of a modern, integrated, accessible and sustainable health care system. But what does this mean for you and your health care?

St. Joseph's Health Centre is undertaking one of the largest projects in our hospital's history - converting your paper health care record to an electronic version by 2013. Most people will know this as "eHealth". But as we continue to work towards our project's goal, we are realizing the word "eHealth" doesn't fully capture all the changes that need to take place right at your bedside and in the way we are going to provide care to you as you move through our hospital.

We have decided to rename our project eCare because it puts more of a focus on what we are in the business of doing - caring for our patients and their families.

eCare - We Care!

Last year we launched phase one of our eCare Strategy, with the goal of having an electronic health record for every single patient by 2013. This will give us a complete and accessible online document that will show the patient's entire journey through our organization.

Aligned with the Ministry of Health and Toronto Central LHIN's strategic priorities our eHealth strategy is broken into three multi-year phases. This is a major project that will completely change and transform the way we provide care for the 500,000 residents in southwest Toronto. It won't replace good clinical judgement, but instead provide a starting point for our clinicians to plan and deliever your care. It will mean safer, timelier and more coordinated patient care.

The systems we are using follow both government requirements and industry standards to ensure that your privacy will not be compromised. After we have achieved a fully electronic health record you will still have the same level of access to your information that you did with the paper version. We are excited about these new systems and the changes that they are allowing us to make are helping to put our patients first at St. Joseph's Health Centre. We hope you are also excited about what is coming! Watch for more information on our website and in our newsletters as we progress towards a fully electronic health record.

Related Articles

eCare – Enhancing Safe Care Through Innovation and Technology
By Michelle Tadique
February 4, 2010
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Delivering on our eCare Promise
By Dr. Paul Sullivan, Physician Lead of eCare, St. Joseph's Health Centre
December 12, 2009
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eCare: undertaking one of the largest projects in the hospital's history
By Gillian Brunning
November 11, 2009
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Page last updated: February 05, 2010