Seven acute hospitals in Central East Ontario, Canada, are set to integrate the national e-prescribing service, PrescribeIT, with their shared instance of the Epic electronic clinical information system (CIS).
PrescribeIT is developed by Canada Health Infoway, in partnership with Health Canada, territories, provinces, and industry stakeholders.
It facilitates the secure exchange of information between prescribers and pharmacists, thereby enhancing health outcomes and improving the delivery of care.
Deployment of this service at Campbellford Memorial Hospital, Lakeridge Health, Haliburton Highlands Health Services, Northumberland Hills Hospital, Ross Memorial Hospital, Peterborough Regional Health Centre, and Scarborough Health Network is scheduled for 2025.
This strategic move aims to improve safety and medication management by enabling 4,100 prescribers to transmit electronic prescriptions directly to pharmacies.
The regional operations team is providing centralised IT support to the hospitals for the management of shared digital assets, as well as a unified clinical information system.
Central East's chief digital officer for regional operations Andrew Kelly said: “This opportunity to partner with Canada Health Infoway was timely, as it aligned with an identified goal to implement technological solutions to reduce friction within the health system.”
The integration of PrescribeIT into Epic HIS will allow prescribers to send prescriptions electronically, which is expected to enhance communication between healthcare providers and reduce potential errors.
This initiative is predicted to improve patient outcomes and streamline workflows for both pharmacists and prescribers.
Canada Health Infoway health solutions and operations executive vice-president Ian Lording said: "We are excited to collaborate with the partnership of seven hospitals in the Central East to bring the benefits of PrescribeIT to more Ontarians. This partnership underscores our commitment to making e-prescribing a cornerstone of modern, patient-centred healthcare."
