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Premier Tim Houston is dispelling any theories that the province would face financial penalties if the rollout of its new electronic medical records system doesn’t expand on Saturday.
Several health-care workers have told CBC News a rumour is circulating that the province will be penalized if the new system doesn’t launch on schedule.
Houston said the rumour that One Person One Record (OPOR) is linked to mandatory timelines is “categorically” false.
“We would never put patients at risk because of a clause in a contract. Ever.”
Houston’s comments come as the NSGEU, one of the biggest health-care unions in the province, called for a delay of the May 9 launch in the central zone, saying staff aren’t properly trained.
A number of front-line employees who spoke confidentially to CBC said they fear there will be patient harms because the system isn’t fully built and they haven’t had the time to test their specific job functions.
“My dad used to say if you’re not nervous, you’re not ready,” said Houston.
“It’s time to move forward. This is a project that has been in the making for over 10 years, I guess. Thousands and thousands of hours of preparation.”
OPOR is a fundamental change in Nova Scotia’s health-care system, merging over 80 different workflows. Everything from blood work to food services will be run through the program when it’s fully implemented across the province. (Carolyn Ray/CBC)
Tanya Nixon, the vice-president at Nova Scotia Health in charge of OPOR, also told CBC she is not aware of any financial penalties written in the contract associated with the rollout dates.
“We’re live on May 9 because implementing an integrated clinical information system in Nova Scotia is the right thing to do for patients inside Nova Scotia,” Nixon said.
“There’s been an abundance of readiness work and what we’re hearing from the majority of our providers and end users is we’re ready to go.”
The OPOR system was launched at the IWK Health Centre in December, and is scheduled to launch this weekend at all hospitals in the province’s central zone, which includes the Halifax area, the Eastern Shore and West Hants.
Interim Liberal Leader Iain Rankin said there are still too many unanswered questions about the province’s deal with Oracle Health Canada.
He’s asked the auditor general to conduct an audit of the $365-million contract, which spans 10 years.
Rankin said other provinces have more advanced systems in place.
“It’s not user-friendly,” he said.
“I’d like to know a full analysis of the decision-making, a full analysis of the jurisdictional scan across the country and why we ended up with such a bare-bones, bottom-of-the-barrel system.”
Rankin said the goal of modernizing the system is widely supported, but he questions why the decision was made to buy a baseline product.
“So far this system has been adding administrative burden and slowing down patient care in the hospitals,” Rankin said.
‘It has to happen right’
Nova Scotia Health and the IWK both say slowdowns are necessary and only temporary as staff work to adjust to a significant change to their workflow.
NDP Leader Claudia Chender reiterated her call for a delay of the rollout after hearing the premier speak.
“Everyone knows we need electronic medical records, it should’ve happened 10 years ago, it should’ve happened 15 years ago, it’s time for it to happen now, but it has to happen right,” she said.
“This is an enormously complex system, and what we are hearing from front-line workers and physicians is that it is not working well yet. The training has not allowed [health-care staff] to do things in real time.”
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