People who need bloodwork are being asked to make appointments elsewhere,<\/a> due to problems with the IWK\u2019s online booking system related to OPOR.<\/p>\nMullen said it\u2019s been a stressful time for everyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor example, when you require that medication and you put in for it and it doesn\u2019t show up in five minutes and it\u2019s over an hour getting to you, that can cause serious issues,\u201d she said in an interview.<\/p>\n
Nixon said such a major shift in technology is bound to have challenges, and they are being worked through. Some of those challenges are related to people becoming more comfortable with the new system, while others are related to technology.<\/p>\n
For example, one of the things that\u2019s created problems with the routing of information at the IWK is that the physician dictionary, a list of key information about physicians and other providers within the clinical information system, was not built in the way it was expected to be used, said Nixon.<\/p>\n
Challenges were to be expected<\/p>\n
Despite the problems people are experiencing, Nixon said officials with the IWK, Nova Scotia Health and the Health Department collectively decided things were ready to go in December following a \u201crigorous 90-60-30-day assessment process.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe technological challenges that we\u2019re experiencing are not out of the realm of what would be expected,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd as the issues are being identified, they\u2019re being responded to in a timely way.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the process plays out at the IWK, Nixon said it\u2019s also informing preparations for when OPOR goes live in the central health zone on May 9.<\/p>\n
Changes to learning process<\/p>\n
One of the direct changes being applied based on the IWK experience is to education and learning.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe heard from our IWK colleagues that simulation and practice labs were really essential for readiness and we\u2019ve implemented those and have a strategy for central zone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Simulation labs will create an experience where people training will be able to practise providing care with the clinical information system in advance of going live, providing a degree of realism that was not part of the IWK training.<\/p>\n
Nixon could not say why such an approach was not used at the children\u2019s hospital because those decisions were made before she joined the project. But she said the point of a staggered rollout across the province is so each zone can benefit from the lessons learned in areas that went live before them.<\/p>\n
To that end, there is also more integrated planning happening now with regards to clinical workflow and technology.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose conversations were not as in depth as they probably should have been with the IWK,\u201d said Nixon.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe realize there was an opportunity that was missed, and we are working together with our central zone colleagues to ensure that it\u2019s not replicated and\/or duplicated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Assuming things go according to plan, OPOR will be rolled out in the eastern, northern and western health zones through autumn and winter of this year.<\/p>\n
Nixon said people working in other jurisdictions that have undergone similar transformations have warned that it\u2019s difficult in the beginning because it changes almost every aspect of the clinical workflow. People need to remain patient, she said, adding that it can take three to six months for things to stabilize at a site following rollout.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, however, she said the province will have a system that\u2019s been shown to reduce patient safety incidents and duplication, while providing \u201ca full picture of the patient\u2019s care experience\u201d for everyone who interacts with the patient.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the benefits associated with that are second to none.\u201d<\/p>\n
WATCH | Health officials say changes already happening with electronic medical record rollout:![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770908890_875_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
One Person One Record growing pains anticipated: exec<\/p>\n
One of the executives tasked with overseeing the rollout of a new electronic medical record system in Nova Scotia says adjustments are being made based on the experiences of employees at the IWK Health Centre. The IWK went live with the system in December and the program will launch in Nova Scotia Health’s central zone in May. The CBC’s Michael Gorman has the story.<\/p>\n
MORE TOP STORIES<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 5 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":470401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[49,48,84,392],"class_list":["post-470400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Text](\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/a\/assets\/texttospeech.svg\")
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1762816151_939_default.jpg\")
Sandra Mullen is president of the NSGEU. She says everyone agrees OPOR will be a good thing for the province, but the early days of the system have been stressful for front-line workers. (Patrick Callaghan\/CBC)<\/p>\n