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After N.L. doctors raised concerns, Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services (NLHS) is backtracking on some aspects of an agreement that previously made a new health information system mandatory for all physicians.
“We’ve listened to those concerns. We’ve made adjustments on the contract,” interim NLHS CEO Ron Johnson told CBC Radio’s On The Go.
The new system called CorCare, aimed at replacing multiple outdated systems with a single province-wide digital record, will be launching on April 25.
But last month, hundreds of N.L. physicians signed a petition raising concern about the system launch and its 35-page agreement.
Physicians feared launching the system across the province all at once would create potential risk to patients, like missed or delayed testing.
“We’ve changed our stance. The system will not be mandatory,” said Johnson. “If they choose not to come, we’ll have systems in place to be able to deal with paper requisitions or the way that they currently send them.”
“So, we’re not forcing people to join. We’ve listened to the physicians’ concerns and we’ve adjusted,” he said.
The agreement also made them liable for any costs associated with breaches of health information. Physicians feared they would be on the hook for costs associated with potential cyberattacks.
Johnson said adjustments have also been made to those clauses.
“The original version of the contract … was protecting the Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services a little more than the people we were partnering with,” said Johnson.
Services reduced temporarily
Physicians had also raised concern about a temporary reduction in “patient access,” when the new system launches.
Vice-president of medical services Dr. Gena Bugden, and interim Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services CEO Ron Johnson said they made changes to the agreement for physicians associated with the new CorCare health information system. (CBC)
Johnson confirmed that services will be reduced.
“It’s gonna take a little period of time for people to get used to the system and learn the system. And in that time frame, while people are learning, we’ve reduced our services a little bit, not a lot … like 20 per cent in some areas,” said Johnson. “But in a couple of weeks they’ll come back up.”
However, emergency rooms services will “remain uninterrupted,” added NLHS medical services vice-president Dr. Gena Bugden.
Meanwhile, Johnson said they have been preparing for the system’s launch for three years.
He said computer systems have been replaced and upgraded and over 30,000 individual training sessions have taken place since February, with over 13,000 staff having already received training on the new system.
After launching, Johnson said there will also be command centers providing 24/7 support for a month.
“We have phone lines set up especially for physicians where they can call in and get help. And we have I think 2,700 super users that will be available to help people sort of learn and onboard the system,” he said.
Benefits for patients
In the meantime, Johnson said the new system will have some benefits for patients too.
He said patients will be able to view their entire medical record, view test results and book appointments through the system.
Bugden said it will mean health-care providers across the province will now be able to see a patient’s entire records, which will help avoid duplicate testing.
She also said the system will allow patients to see appointments across the province, which could help reduce wait times.
“Let’s say the wait time for a CAT scan was two months in one area of the province, but I could see it was one month in another area of the province. Then I could choose, if I was, you know, willing to do so, to go to the other area of the province to get my imaging quicker,” she said.
While there may be some learning curves at launch, Johnson said the new system will create many benefits for the province’s health-care system in the long run.
“This is a transformational change for the health-care system in the province. And there’s huge benefits for the patients. So just be patient with us as we’re learning the system.”