Posted on: August 2, 2023
Do you have a question about IHealth? Ask away! The IHealth team will get you an answer. Send your questions to: IHealth@IslandHealth.ca
Here are answers to a few questions IHealth has received from staff:
Q. How does CPOE impact patients in our care?
A. Computerized provider order entry, or CPOE for short, is a transformative change at Island Health that directly impacts quality and safety for patients. CPOE allows care providers to enter medication orders and other instructions for their patients directly into the electronic health record (EHR). Benefits of CPOE include:
- Reduces medical errors by eliminating handwritten orders.
- Places orders in the patient's electronic health record, where they are immediately visible to nurses, pharmacists, technicians and other clinicians.
- Cuts down the time between ordering and administering a medication.
- Standardizes a high quality of care by making available pre-approved order sets for many common diagnoses.
- Streamlines workflow, which saves time and provides more opportunity for patient care.
- Allows orders to be placed remotely by medical staff, including from office or home computer.
- Gives access to real time clinical decision supports imbedded into the ordering process.
Q. Is there an opportunity to build on work done by other health systems that have implemented the Cerner electronic health record successfully?
A. Yes! We are already collaborating with our Lower Mainland colleagues on policy alignment, processes, and system build. In addition, we are asking for their support during our activations. The Island Health clinical informatics team have access to their Lower Mainland clinical informatics counterparts, as well as their EHR build and workflows.
We participate in collaboration forums at the provincial and national level as well.
Medical and clinical leaders and staff have also had opportunities to visit sites that have gone live, including Nanaimo Regional General Hospital and sites on the Lower Mainland.
Visit the IHealth website. And send us your IHealth questions by emailing IHealth@IslandHealth.ca