Physician IT

OntarioMD posts rankings of clinical IT systems

TORONTO – OntarioMD is now posting online comparisons of 20 different clinical management systems that are used by physicians in Ontario. According to the site, at www.emradvisor.ca/compare, the systems comprise 90% of the CMS solutions that are funded.

The site also ranks the vendors and their solutions by market share, according to the number of physicians who are funded to use them. For example, according to the OntarioMD web site, the top 7 vendors in Ontario are:

1. Practice Solutions Software Inc.
2. xwave
3. Healthscreen Solutions Inc.
4. CLINICARE Corporation
5. P & P Data Systems Inc.
6. Jonoke Software Development Inc.
7. Nightingale Informatix Corporation

The site says that physician ratings of the 20 system will soon be available. At the moment, various types of information are made available, such as whether the systems conform to OntarioMD’s technical standards.

On a different front, in May, OntarioMD will launch a Drug Information Pilot Project. Operating in conjunction with the Drug Information Research Centre (DIRC), the pilot project will give participating physicians access to DIRC’s medication advisory service, which is staffed by pharmacists.

DIRC medication advisory services provide information about:
• Medication therapy choices
• Adverse drug events
• Drug alerts, sales cessations and product recalls
• The Ontario Drug Benefit Formulary
• Medication therapy for chronic disease

The six-month-long pilot is being restricted to 200 physicians. They will be using OntarioMD secure email services.

In exchange for no cost access to the DIRC services, participants are required to complete three surveys during the course of the pilot.

Upon completion of the pilot, some physicians may also be invited to participate in a focus group and/or short interview.

About OntarioMD
OntarioMD was established to support physician adoption of information technology (IT) by connecting Ontario physicians to valuable products and services - and each other. Our primary goal is to help physicians implement efficiencies in their practice and deliver improved patient care by leveraging the value of IT.

OntarioMD.ca Physician Website
OntarioMD.ca is a comprehensive website connecting physicians and their healthcare teams to free online medical research, resources, tools and applications personalized by practice area. Working with a physician editorial team, OntarioMD culled thousands of sources to provide quick access to medical resources including forms, patient handouts, clinical practice guidelines, primary care renewal information and billing updates, as well as a knowledge bank of practice management questions and answers. See www.ontariomd.ca for more information.