Seven Acute Hospitals in Central East Ontario Partner to Expand PrescribeIT Access Across Their Region

TORONTO, Jan. 28, 2025 /CNW/ - PrescribeIT^®, Canada's national e-prescribing service, will be integrated into a single shared instance of Epic, an electronic Clinical Information System (CIS) used by a collective of seven acute hospitals in Central East Ontario. This integration will empower 4,100 prescribers across the collective to securely and efficiently transmit electronic prescriptions to patients' pharmacies of choice, enhancing the safety and quality of medication management.

The agreement, signed on December 4, 2024, includes the following hospitals: Campbellford Memorial Hospital, Haliburton Highlands Health Services, Lakeridge Health, Northumberland Hills Hospital, Peterborough Regional Health Centre, Ross Memorial Hospital, and Scarborough Health Network. Deployment is planned for Spring 2025.

According to Andrew Kelly, Chief Digital Officer for the Regional Operations Team providing centralized IT support to the seven hospitals, "This opportunity to partner with Canada Health Infoway was timely as it aligned with an identified goal to implement technological solutions to reduce friction within the health system."

PrescribeIT^® will be seamlessly integrated into the hospitals' Epic HIS, enabling prescribers to send prescriptions electronically and facilitating better communication between healthcare providers across the region. This initiative will reduce errors, improve patient outcomes, and streamline workflows for prescribers and pharmacists.

"Integrating PrescribeIT^® into our Epic platform is a major step forward in improving medication management for patients across our hospitals" said Dr. Ilan Lenga, Regional Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO) for the centralized team providing IT service delivery to the seven-member hospital partnership. "This initiative will enhance safety, efficiency, and communication among care teams, ensuring that patients receive the best possible care. Central East is excited to be a provincial leader in this space."

"We are excited to collaborate with the partnership of seven hospitals in the Central East to bring the benefits of PrescribeIT^® to more Ontarians. This partnership underscores our commitment to making e-prescribing a cornerstone of modern, patient-centered healthcare," said Ian Lording, Executive Vice President, Infoway Health Solutions and Operations.

PrescribeIT^® is Canada's national e-prescribing service. Developed by Canada Health Infoway in collaboration with Health Canada, provinces, territories, and industry stakeholders, it enables prescribers and pharmacists to securely exchange prescription information, fostering better health outcomes and improving care delivery.

About PrescribeIT^® 
Canada Health Infoway is working with Health Canada, the provinces and territories, and industry stakeholders to develop, operate and maintain the national e-prescribing service known as PrescribeIT^®. PrescribeIT^® will serve all Canadians, pharmacies and prescribers and provide safer and more effective medication management by enabling prescribers to transmit a prescription electronically between a prescriber's electronic medical record (EMR) and the pharmacy management system (PMS) of a patient's pharmacy of choice. PrescribeIT^® will protect Canadians' personal health information from being sold or used for commercial activities. Visit www.PrescribeIT.ca. 

About Canada Health Infoway 
At Canada Health Infoway (Infoway) we believe a more connected and collaborative system is a healthier system, and one that leads to better health outcomes for all Canadians. By leveraging digital technologies and innovations, we're working with governments, healthcare organizations, clinicians, and patients to advance connected care across the country. This improves care coordination, empowers patients to have a more active role in managing their health, and equips care providers with information and insights to support better care both at the point of care and throughout their patients' health journey. Most importantly, it modernizes our healthcare system towards a future with patient-centered care at its heart. We're an independent, not-for-profit organization funded by the federal government and accountable to our Board of Directors and Members of the Corporation (Canada's 14 federal, provincial and territorial deputy ministers of health). Infoway is led by a team of seasoned professionals who are specialists in their respective fields, including healthcare, administration, information technology and privacy. Visit us online at www.infoway-inforoute.ca.

About Regional Partnership in Central East Ontario
This regional partnership of seven acute care hospital organizations across 14 sites delivers high quality and safe patient care to over 1.5 million patients residing in both rural and urban communities throughout Central East Ontario. The partnership includes a Regional Operations Team that provides centralized IT services to the member hospitals for managing shared digital assets and a single Clinical Information System (CIS). Built on Epic, one of the largest providers of electronic health record management, the CIS went live in December 2021 and has since created a single, comprehensive digital health record for every patient, substantially improving the quality of patient information and delivery of healthcare across the region.

MEDIA INQUIRIES ABOUT CANADA HEALTH INFOWAY
Haley Armstrong
Senior Director, Communications and Public Affairs
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MEDIA INQUIRIES ABOUT REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP IN CENTRAL EAST ONTARIO
Sophie Zikmanis
Senior Director, Clinical Information System
Central East Regional Operations Team
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SOURCE Canada Health Infoway