Canada Health Infoway
Inforoute Santé du Canada

Authorized access to essential information

Imagine working with a new patient who you have never met. When she arrives, she authorizes you to access her electronic health record (EHR) and review her essential medical information: medication history, laboratory results, ultrasounds, past contact with other health care providers and other important information.

You have on hand the information you need to ask informed questions about her current condition. You understand the effect of the medications listed in her file, and can quickly identify issues and take the best possible course of action.

Canada's electronic health record (EHR) will bring it all together, consolidating a patient's essential health information and making it accessible where and when authorized nurses need it. Region by region, these EHRs are being woven into a secure, pan-Canadian network of interoperable EHR systems.

This will be the future of health care in Canada.

Canada Health Infoway (Infoway) is at the heart of Canada's conversion to EHRs, investing with the territories and provinces to accelerate the use of EHRs across Canada. Learn more about Infoway and the projects underway across the country.

EHRs will:

• Improve quality of care: Time saved on administration will enable nurses to streamline processes and devote more time to patients.
• Allow faster response times: Immediate access to patient information means nurses will be able to respond quickly and appropriately to emergencies.
• Provide comprehensive information: EHRs will provide secure, authorized access to a patient's complete medical history, consolidated in a single record.
• Encourage a consistent approach: One comprehensive system will foster consistency and a "best practices" approach to managing clinical problems.
• Enable collaborative care: One network will allow seamless communication and referrals between nurses and other professionals.
• Highlight essential information: Automated reminders will highlight vital patient information such as chronic illnesses or new conditions.
• Provide support to practitioners: Access to comprehensive health data will enable nurses to identify trends and analyze data to support decision-making.
• Allow seamless transfer of information: An electronic file, accessible at any point of care, will eliminate the need to transfer paper files.
• Enable efficiencies that save time: EHRs streamline nurses' workflow and will eliminate repetition, giving nurses more time to focus on the patient.
• Make patient information legible: Up-to-date, on-screen patient information will ensure consistency and eliminate handwritten data.