Rural health

System enables transfer of EMR over cellular devices

VANCOUVER – Wolf Medical Systems, a leading national provider of electronic medical records (EMR) software, and Coalese Corporation, a healthcare data access and integration specialist, have announced the successful pilot of a solution that provides front-line healthcare workers – such as nurses and paramedics – with access to vital patient information while they are in the field.

This innovative solution provides secure, browser-based access to key portions of patient medical records stored in Wolf’s EMR system using the Raven Patient Access and Collaboration solution from Coalese. While tested using the Wolf EMR, the companies say the solution could be used with any electronic medical record system.

Raven has been in field trials for over a month in the Calgary Rural Primary Care Network, providing secure, role-based web browser access to key portions of patient medical records stored in Wolf’s EMR system. “The pilot project was in a rural one clinic town – which was part of the point of this pilot, to improve information exchange in a rural setting,” said Dr. Brendan Byrne, president of Wolf Medical Systems.

Raven allows authorized health professionals, such as nurses and paramedics, to access key information in the Wolf EMR using mobile devices – including smartphones, iPhones and Ultra MobilePCs (UMPCs). Access on the devices is available from any location with cellular connectivity.

“Currently the paramedic does a name search in Raven; if the patient belongs to our clinic (Foothills Family Medical Centre, in Black Diamond, Alberta), then the patient record is in the database. We have over 30,000 patient records for most patients in the area, so there’s a very high likelihood that the patient will be in the database,” said Dr. Jacques Branch, Medical Director, CRPCN and Foothills Family Medical Centre. “It’s certainly a practical solution for any paramedic in our area.”

Healthcare workers have responded to their new remote EMR access abilities with enthusiasm and have already seen an improvement in patient outcomes by having important data such as alerts, medications and allergies available to them from any browser-enabled device.

Nurses, paramedics and other health care professionals are better able to respond to patient needs and emergency situations using this collaborative approach. The solution is flexible and secure, allowing each individual physician to determine what information will be allowed to be accessed, and by whom.

The solution was developed and delivered at low cost in a period of just a few months, and plans are under way to deliver it to a wider number of users in the Calgary Rural area; it will then be rolled out to additional regions within Alberta, B.C., Ontario and other provinces.

Building on this successful initial field trial, Wolf and Coalese are embarking on a proof of concept implementation using Wolf’s EMR System and Coalese’s Raven Patient Access and Collaboration tool to deliver patient portal capabilities at a large multi-disciplinary clinic in West Vancouver BC.

Patients will be able to subscribe to the Patient Portal and obtain web-based, online access to key portions of their medical records. This capability will be available in a few months for a few dozen physicians and potentially thousands of patients.

The projects at Calgary Rural PCN and in West Vancouver BC are among the first such implementations of their kind in North America to provide allied healthcare workers and patients with access to EMR records from mobile and remote web-enabled devices. This solution has already proven that it can improve collaboration in primary care and enable patients to take a more active role in managing their own health.

About Wolf Medical Systems
Wolf Medical Systems is a leading national provider of electronic medical records (EMR) software for physician offices and medical clinics across Canada. Founded in 1998, the company has hundreds of installed sites and thousands of physicians and allied healthcare users across Canada. Wolf’s EMR software includes a complete set of physician-designed applications that automate the processes of billing, scheduling, workflow planning, chronic disease management and clinical practice for physician offices and medical clinics within the context o feach province’s unique regulatory environments. For more information on Wolf Medical Systems, visit www.wolfmedical.com.

About Coalese Corporation
Coalese Corporation is a Calgary-based company specializing in healthcare data access and integration solutions. Coalese provides products and services that enable mobile and remote access to select patient medical information in electronic medical record (EMR) solutions. Coalese also delivers solutions that provide seamless integration of multiple clinics/regions, lab results, lab ordering/requisitions, admission/discharge notifications, diagnostic imaging/notes(PACS), and other data directly into EMR systems. Coalese’s solutions are characterized by minimal or no IT support requirements, low cost and rapid implementation timeframes, typically measured in weeks through the utilitization of integration appliances. Coalese endeavors to make data and knowledge that is stored in EMR systems more valuable and actionable to promote more effective primary care team communications and thus improve patient outcomes. www.coalese.com.