Ontario Smart Systems for Health Moving Forward

Ontario's Smart Systems for Health Agency (SSHA) has welcomed a new framework for coordinating the province's electronic health activities. The SSHA, established in 2003 as an operational agency accountable to the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (Ministry), aims to create a secure and integrated information infrastructure province-wide to allow electronic communication among Ontario's health service providers, such as hospitals, clinics and long-term treatment facilities. The new framework moves the SSHA's activities from what was a "loosely managed" structure into a formal e-health program, led by an e-health council. While the Ministry will continue to oversee policies and planning, the SSHA will become responsible for e-health and development work and will have more flexibility than it has enjoyed in the past. Under previous regulations, for example, SSHA was not able to host information in its data centres at the request of health care providers. Fewer restrictions are expected to result in improved governance in the way that SSHA manages the needs of the various providers in Ontario. The implementation of e-health has been described as pivotal for improving the timeliness and quality of health care for individuals. A recent report by the Health Council of Canada urges governments and providers to accelerate the use of information technology in health systems. Canada Health Infoway plans to enable half of Canada to access patient health records electronically by the end of 2009. Providers in Ontario and B.C. are sharing digital pictures of X-rays, MRIs and CTs over computer networks to maximize scarce radiology resources. As for the SSHA, priorities this year include launching an integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) which will manage information about outbreaks like SARS, and implementing a system which can send information contained in the Ontario Drug Benefit database electronically to emergency room doctors. For more information about Ontario's new e-health framework, see: http://www.itbusiness.ca/index.asp?theaction=61&sid=57969. For related stories on electronic health care systems, see: http://makeashorterlink.com/?W28745E6A; or http://makeashorterlink.com/?K19725E6A. Summary by: Rosa Kim