The use of fax machines for transmitting patient medical records will likely be a fixture on P.E.I. into 2022.
During capital budget estimates, Finance Minister Darlene Compton admitted the implementation of an Island-wide electronic medical record (EMR) system will be delayed until the fiscal year 2021-22. The lack of a provincewide EMR system on P.E.I. has been a frustration for physicians and other staff within the health system on the Island for years.
It has been a common feature of many family doctor’s offices to transmit medical records via fax machine, as different digital medical record systems used for various medical professions are often incompatible.
Health Minister James Aylward has previously said he expected an implementation of an electronic medical record system by the end of 2020.
“We know that some of it is going to be pushed to the next year because it did not happen,” Compton said in response to questions from the Opposition.
In an interview, Aylward said the roll-out of the EMR system was delayed due to COVID-19.
“The vendor that we were negotiating with, they weren't looking at bringing on any new customers during the period," Aylward said. "There's a lot of technicians that have to travel, move around, back and forth."
Aylward said the province plans to “start rolling out the EMR” in January 2021. This would involve beginning to install the medical record system with primary care physicians.
The full implementation, however, is not slated until March 2022.
Aylward said the contract with this vendor, which he did not name, is still being finalized.
The province’s recently tabled capital budget included an allocation of $10.5 million for "technology upgrades," the lion's share of which will be spent on the implementation of electronic medical records system.
However, the province had allocated $9.5 million for the same item in last year’s capital budget. Close to $5.3 million of this is forecast to remain unspent by March.
This admission prompted statements of overt frustration from members of the Green and Liberal opposition.
Green Opposition leader Peter Bevan-Baker said there are six separate EMR systems being used in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital alone. He said the lack of a functional EMR system linking the various components of P.E.I.’s health care system has made it more difficult to recruit doctors and physicians.
"We’re hiring people and paying money to hire individuals within the medical community. And yet we're not doing something which the minister himself understands himself is a clear barrier, huge barrier to those new doctors that are coming out of medical school," Bevan-Baker said. “If we look at any part of the medical system, it’s suffering because we have not got this file done and we really need to make this a priority right now.”
Compton said physicians have provided detailed input on what they would like to see in an Island-wide medical record system.
"We also have to be very cognizant of what would be an integrated system across the entire Atlantic Canada because we have a lot of patients that go off Island," Compton said.
Compton also alluded to past efforts to establish an electronic medical record system in the province.
"We want to make sure we get this right. There have been two or three runs at this now - more than that," Compton said. "We defer to the people that are invested in making sure that it's done right. I'm disappointed that it hasn't happened. We're all disappointed that we're in COVID."
Stu Neatby is the political reporter for The Guardian.
