Unity Health launches new electronic patient records

TORONTO – Unity Health Toronto powered-up its new electronic patient record (EPR) system in the early hours of Nov. 30 – with the ringing of bells and an eruption of applause. Teams inside the command centre and across the organization were on hand to usher in the new system and with it, a new era of patient care.

The new network-wide EPR system, supplied by Epic Systems, is a crucial piece of this work and marks the largest clinical transformation project in Unity Health history.

“This is a historic moment for Unity Health Toronto and a testament to the months of hard work and dedication from our Project Connect team and staff across the network,” said Dr. Tim Rutledge (pictured), president and CEO of Unity Health Toronto.

“Our network-wide EPR will enhance quality of care and patient safety, coordination and continuity of care, improve clinical decision making, and provide a solid foundation to accelerate our AI innovation. With a very robust patient portal, our new system will also significantly advance the experience of the patients and families we serve.”

The two-year EPR project was named Project Connect, which represents the ways in which the new EPR system brings Unity Health together as a better-connected organization.

Prior to Nov. 30, Unity Health’s three hospital sites – St. Joseph’s Health Centre, St. Michael’s Hospital and Providence Healthcare – each had their own electronic or paper-based systems for clinical and corporate processes.

Bringing these sites – and many of Unity Health’s satellite clinics – onto one EPR system will improve communication, efficiency, clinical decision-making and quality of care.

“It’s a transformative time for Unity Health, and our new EPR system will allow us to elevate our care and patient experience, facilitate research and quality improvement and make us more efficient,“ said Damian Jankowicz, Unity Health Toronto’s executive vice president and chief information & AI officer.

“Our Project Connect team has worked tirelessly for 18 months to build the best possible system for Unity Health patients and teams, and to allow for a safe and smooth implementation,” said Giuseppe Cammisa, senior director, EPR at Unity Health.

“It’s been an incredible journey and while there’s lots left to do as we support our teams through the go-live period, I’m excited to see how the new system enables exemplary patient experience and quality of care.”

This implementation was no easy feat. Over 500 staff, physicians and patient and family partners supported the development of the new system, making roughly 10,000 decisions.

Thousands more staff, physicians and learners were involved in system testing, training, preparations and go-live support. Over 21,000 new Epic-compatible devices were deployed across the organization.

“This project took a village and I’m deeply grateful for everyone who’s contributed,” said Cammisa. “This includes patients, families and partners, who have shown us so much patience and kindness throughout the project.”

Unity Health’s new EPR system will help clinicians to do their jobs more easily, communicate more efficiently and devote more time to their patients. The new system also allows for better coordination of care as patients move across the organization.

“If a patient arrives at one of our acute care sites, receives treatment and then gets transferred to Providence for rehabilitation, their records will be accessible to everyone on their care team, at all three sites,” said Dr. Trevor Jamieson, chief medical information officer at Unity Health. “This saves clinicians time, reduces the opportunity for error and provides reassurance to patients that their team is aligned.”

Sara Salahub, an occupational therapist at Providence, says she’s excited about this change and looking forward to seeing more clients in her workweek, which will allow her to get clients the care they need more quickly.

“I’m glad to know that our inpatient teams will have immediate access to our notes, and vice versa,” she says. “This will save us time, lead to more appropriate referrals, avoid the doubling up of services and improve communication with families and patients.”

The launch of the new EPR system coincides with the release of a new patient portal called MyChart, originally developed by Epic.

With MyChart, Unity Health patients can manage various aspects of their healthcare journey, from tracking medical visits to viewing their health records and test results.

“Being a frontline staff, embracing change through Epic will have a positive impact and lead to a harmonious workflow,” said Emme Rose Villanueva, a registered nurse at St. Joseph’s, adding MyChart will foster more collaboration on patients’ treatment plans and goals.

“Patients and families will be more engaged and have more autonomy while getting treatment in hospital.”

The decision to work with Epic Systems was made following an engagement and procurement process, in which staff, physicians and patient and family partners felt that Epic would be best suited to meet Unity Health’s strategic objectives and clinical requirements.

“This new EPR system will allow us to deliver healthcare in a more integrated way, so that our teams of physicians, staff and learners can better share information and work closely together to ensure that each patient receives the best possible care experiences across the spectrum of their healthcare journey,” said Manson Locke, vice president of People and chief human resources officer.

There’s also lots of potential for configuration with Epic, which will allow Unity Health to boost its artificial intelligence (AI) efforts.

With a single EPR system, Unity Health will be able to more easily roll out various AI tools across its sites, bringing AI solutions to more teams and patients across the organization.

“We’re excited to see the AI tools we’ve created scale easily across our unified system and hospital network,” said Jankowicz.