Paramedics forced to switch e-record systems

SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. – A sudden shutdown of the PreHos electronic patient care record platform is forcing about 22 of Ontario’s paramedic services to rapidly switch vendors or revert to paper documentation, Sault Ste. Marie officials say.

A vendor providing digital patient records management is discontinuing operations, leaving some paramedic services in Ontario very little time to find an alternate solution.

PreHos is an electronic patient care record (ePCR) platform in place for many paramedic services across the province, including Sault Ste. Marie. It is used to document all patient encounters, record assessments and treatments, as well as maintaining patient records.

On June 8, Sault Ste. Marie Paramedic Services was notified that the Quebec-based company offering the platform is entering creditor protection and will cease operation, ending service availability by July 7 – leaving less than a month to find an alternate solution or transition to paper records.

Paramedic chief Katie Kirkham (pictured) said her organization used the PreHos platform for frontline paramedics, as well as those working in the Community Paramedicine program, at a cost of about $65,000 per year.

“The system has gotten to a point where it’s working quite well for us, so we’re disappointed that it’s not going to carry on,” said Kirkham.

During Thursday’s meeting of the District of Sault Ste. Marie Social Services Administration Board, Kirkham noted about $29,000 was prepaid to PreHos, meaning the board is among the list of creditors owed by the company.

“We don’t know where we stand on getting that back,” Kirkham told the board.

She said in total, about $10 million is owed to creditors by the company and about 22 paramedic services in the province are affected.

“So 22 people were told with very short notice that they had to change their system or go to paper?” asked board chair Stephanie Pagnucco.

“Yeah,” responded Kirkham.

“That’s pretty horrific,” said Pagnucco.

The Ministry of Health is assisting affected paramedic services with the transition to new platforms or paper records, a ministry spokesperson told SooToday via email.

“Some services have temporarily moved to paper records, and the ministry is assisting by sourcing additional paper patient care record forms and temporarily adjusting administrative reporting timelines where appropriate,” said the ministry spokesperson.

The spokesperson added: “There has been no disruption to 9-1-1 response or emergency patient care, and patient information continues to be managed in accordance with privacy requirements.”

After exploring their options, paramedic services in the Sault will now use Interdev Technologies for its land ambulance ePCR system and HGlobal for Community Paramedicine documentation and reporting.

Kirkham told the board the new solutions will cost about $63,000 per year – $2,000 less than they were under the PreHos platform. The service will have to lay out a one-time cost of about $33,000 for implementation of the new systems.

Kirkham said one of the costs of transitioning to another platform will include investing in laptop computers. The PreHos platform currently operates on iPad tablets.

Sault Ste. Marie Paramedic Services has used the Interdev Technologies platform in the past, said Kirkham.