EMIS activates H1N1 influenza pandemic surveillance
Edmonton, AB - 20 October 2009
Physicians can automatically report in real-time to Public Health Agency
EMIS Inc. announced that it has enabled the automated reporting of influenza-like-illness (ILI) as defined by a pilot project managed by the Public Health Agency of Canada for its clients. Participation by physicians is voluntary through their use of their EMIS EMR, and no patientidentifying information is being shared. Exploiting the standardized coding system in their Patient Care System (PCS), a physician can opt to have their EMIS EMR automatically provide data to the Agency in order to support this clinically relevant initiative.
Dr. Norman Yee, Family Physician in Calgary piloting the capability commented, “The future of healthcare necessarily depends on physicians shifting to structured, coded and shared patient data. Simply recording information to be hidden away within a chart will not enable the collaboration we require to advance the care we deliver. The ILI reporting feature is yet another example of how PCS gives us the tools to actively use our collected information for enhanced patient care.”
Data being reported includes the specific indicator values as defined by the project’s organizers such as fever, cough, and other flu-like symptoms (all of which can be coded by PCS against the standard) even in advance of a laboratory diagnosis of H1N1 pandemic influenza by the physician. This means that rather than having to wait for specific laboratory result for the H1N1 virus to be returned as positive, EMIS EMR based practices can be proactively contributing to the efforts to monitor the spread of such outbreaks in their communities.
“While the project coordinators have struggled to find ways of obtaining this information from practices with paper-based records and/or non-codified EMRs, this is something we’ve already been doing for some time in the UK based on the search ability and integrity of the data in our PCS system. We’re excited to be able to enable it here in Canada in support of the public’s well-being,” said Audrey Bliss, B.Sc. Pharmacy, Coding and Drug Manager for EMIS in Canada.
Next, EMIS will explore with its users the benefit of having PCS automatically trigger alerts to physicians in real-time based on the capturing of such symptoms through templates with the aim of assuring such patients are tested for H1N1, and that such information is taken into account when considering inoculating patients with the H1N1 vaccine.
About EMIS Inc.
EMIS Inc. is the Canadian subsidiary of The Egton Group based in Leeds, United Kingdom. EMIS Inc. launched its Canadian operations
in 2005, expanding on its success as the number one provider of EMR solutions in the UK and other countries. Since this time, EMIS
Inc., headquartered in Edmonton, has become recognized in Canada as one of the pre-eminent solutions able to improve the health of
Canadians and the daily activities of their providers through the use of a physician-centric, clinically based electronic medical record.
EMIS supports its’ corporate principals of improving the health of individual patients, and the population as a whole through advanced
knowledge garnered by empowering physicians to collaborate.
For More Information Please Contact:
Emis Inc.
Ron Hughes
Director, Sales & Marketing
(866) 443-3647
ron.hughes@emis.ca