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November 30, 2010 - In the 12th in a series of articles on Electronic Health Records, author Paul Webster has gathered a range of opinions from across Canada regarding the focus on the current investment strategies and where effort should be focused to achieve successful adoption and use of health information technology (EMRs and EHRs).

"Canada’s health information strategy is overly focused on the development of a national infostructure and underserves the needs of physicians and patients, provincial administrators say following release of a major new study of electronic medical records (EMRs) in Ontario.

In focusing it efforts on electronic architecture, Canada Health Infoway, the federal agency working with the provinces on designing and financing the national health infostructure, hasn’t given physicians the tools they need to adopt and use EMR, says Brian Forster, chief executive officer of OntarioMD, a subsidiary of the Ontario Medical Association which manages the provincial government’s $386 million EMR Adoption Program. “If you look at Infoway’s blueprint, not much of it is available to physicians.”

David Ludwick, manager of the Sherwood Park Primary Care Network in Alberta adds that “there’s been a lot of time and money invested in a national infostructure.” But given that the bulk of patient demand is local in nature, the time has come to refocus on investing in delivering ehealth solutions “that help patients equip themselves,” he says...."

Click here to read the full article

Share your thoughts. Do you think that Canada needs to refocus in terms of national and/provincial strategies with respect to EMR adoption and use by frontline clinicians?

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Read More: http://blog.canadianemr.ca/canadianemr/2010/12/cmaj-national-electronic-health-information-strategy-needs-to-be-refocused-critics-say.html