Digital Health Resources

On-Line Appointment Booking


Register now to receive funding to cover license costs for 9 months and access support for implementation from tool selection to go-live.

Make an informed decision about which tool is best for your practice by reviewing this comparison chart and viewing the vendor information sessions below:

e-Referral

The OCEAN eReferral Network allows you to securely send electronic referrals in real-time directly from your EMR while keeping patients informed. The list of who accepts electronic referrals is constantly growing towards the vision of “axing the fax” and having all referrals coordinated through this shared electronic platform.

To get set-up and trained on the OCEAN eReferral Platform, contact the Ontario eServices Program or eReferral@ehealthce.ca

e-Consult

eConsult is a secure web-based tool that allows physicians and nurse practitioners timely access to specialist advice for all patients, and often eliminates the need for an in-person specialist visit. The OTNhub, in addition to eConsult, also provides you with other services, including eVisits (video conferencing, and a specialist directory).

eConsult Benefits for Primary Care Providers

  • Timely access to non-urgent questions (average response time of less than a day)
  • Improved care coordination and collaboration between clinicians
  • Opportunities to enhance learning and manage patient cases at the family practice level
  • Private and secure communication portal with a simple sign-in process
  • Supports delegate access within your practice to save you time
  • Family physicians can bill OHIP for eConsult referrals

To Sign up for OTNhub visit otnhub.ca.  For more information and ongoing support with eConsult contact eConsult@HITSeHealth.ca.

Evidence2Practice

Evidence2Practice Ontario (E2P) is working with hospital and primary care partners to improve clinician experience and enhance patient care.

E2P is focused on designing easy-to-use digital tools and implementation supports that seamlessly integrate the most up-to-date and relevant evidence and quality standards into front-line clinical systems across Ontario.

Kathy Irwin and Jeremy Howcroft from the eHealth Centre of Excellence attended the GHHN Primary Care Digital Caucus meeting on October 24th, 2023 to provide a demonstration of the E2P digital tool. This video also includes a short Q&A session. You can view the recording here.

Cybersecurity

The GHHN Primary Care Digital Health Caucus encourages all colleagues to increase awareness of, and actively protect against, cybersecurity threats.  The importance of strong cybersecurity practices cannot be overstated, given 85% of Canadian companies have experienced a cyber attack.

Cybersecurity Self-Assessment for Clinics

Download and complete this self-assessment (shared by COMPASS) to identify opportunities to strengthen your cybersecurity practices and/or systems.

Helpful Resources

With thanks to our colleagues at COMPASS, you can review cybersecurity information sessions prepared for clinic leaders or staff.

October is Cyber Security Awareness Month

Cyber Security Update (COMPASS Community Health)

3 Steps to Stop Employees Taking Cyber Bait

Cyber Security Community of Practice (Ministry of Public Service and Business Delivery, October 14, 2022)

Get Cyber Safe (Government of Canada)

Clinical Connect

ClinicalConnect is a secure, web-based portal that gives you real-time access to an integrated view of a patient’s electronic medical information aggregated from all acute care hospitals, Home & Community Care Services and Regional Cancer Programs in South West Ontario, plus various provincial data repositories. Work is currently being done to explore how to include data from primary care EMRs in the integrated view.

Learn more about ClinicalConnect here with additional information about the portal’s features and benefits.

For more information contact the ClinicalConnect Program Office by email: info@clinicalconnect.ca or phone: 905-577-8270 ext. 1

Health Report Manager (HRM)

HRM is an eHealth solution that enables you to securely receive patient reports electronically from participating hospitals and specialty clinics directly into your OntarioMD-certified EMR.

HRM electronically delivers text-based Medical Record reports, (e.g. Discharge Summary), and transcribed Diagnostic Imaging (excluding image) reports from sending facilities directly into patients’ chart within your EMR.

For more information, or to enable HRM with your OntarioMD-certified EMR, contact OntarioMD at report.manager@ontariomd.com.

Ontario Laboratories Information System (OLIS)

OLIS gives you access to lab test orders and results from hospitals, community labs and public health labs. You can access the latest lab results for your patients in OLIS or perform patient queries directly from your OntarioMD-certified EMR.

To connect OLIS to your EMR, contact your OntarioMD Practice Advisor or e-mail support@ontariomd.com.

Insights4Care (I4C) Dashboard

OntarioMD’s (OMD) Insights4Care (i4C) Dashboard offers an EMR-integrated practice solution that gives you the ability to easily view and interpret your OntarioMD-certified EMR data in real-time for better population health management, and to drill down to patient-level data to act on it at the point of care. I4C Dashboard:

  • gives you real-time visual representation of your EMR data using widely recognized primary care indicators, each representing different preventive care and chronic disease management focus points (diabetes test results, smoking status, etc.);
  • enables you to drill down to patient-level data for each indicator and take immediate proactive steps to improve patient care;
  • helps you standardize data entry to improve the quality of patient data in your EMR; and
  • allows you to trend your indicators over time.

To find out how to start using i4C Dashboard in your practice, contact support@ontariomd.com.

GHHN Digital Health Secretariat

The Greater Hamilton Health Network’s Digital Health Secretariat (DHS) is a committee made up of individuals from GHHN member organizations, contracted service providers, and patient advisors. The DHS was established to support:

  • alignment and promotion of GHHN digital health initiatives,
  • communication of digital health barriers and anticipated outcomes for patients, families, caregivers, providers, and systems at local, regional, and provincial levels, and
  • development of and adherence to the work plan to achieve our OHT’s digital health goals.

GHHN Primary Care Digital Health Caucus

The Primary Care Digital Health Caucus reports to the Primary Care Stakeholder Council (PCSC) and the Digital Health Secretariat (DHS). The Caucus is committed to creating a common, informed, accessible and influential primary care voice to advise the PCSC and DHS in decisions, as well as guide change management and adoption initiatives. Please feel free to reach out to Tracey Carr (tcarr@mcmaster.ca) with ideas, questions or concerns, or if you would like to join the Caucus.

Members:

  • Mohamad Alshurafa (Physician, Hamilton FHT)
  • Tracey Carr (Executive Director, McMaster Dept. Family Medicine)
  • Urslin Fevrier-Thomas (Quality Improvement Team)
  • Kati Ivanyi (Physician, McMaster FHT)
  • Barbara Klassen (Executive Director, Haldimand FHT)
  • Rachel Kott (Quality Improvement Team)
  • Ram Shankar (CIO, COMPASS Community Health)
  • Shelly House (Pharmacist, Hamilton FHT)
  • Vanessa Henry (Clinical Lead, Haldimand FHT)
  • Heather Shaw (Navigation and Digital Access Lead, GHHN)
  • Bernice King (Patient Advisor, GHHN)
  • Ursula Crouch (Manager of Professional Practice and Quality, HFHT)
  • Marijke Jurriaans (Manager of Primary Care, GHHN)