July 27, 2023
London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) is partnering to break down barriers between hospitals and community care providers with a first-of-its-kind and state-of-the-art health information exchange system. The system will allow LHSC to share health information so that patient care needs are available within 30 minutes of discharge from the hospital to alternative care sites.
In collaboration with a network of Ontario hospitals, Ontario Health, TransForm Shared Service Organization and Oracle Health, LHSC is one of the first hospitals to successfully implement the Ontario eHub Health Information Exchange (HIE). The initial phase of the eHub focuses on supporting patients transitioning from acute hospital care to long-term care by ensuring their health information is available to long-term care staff.
In the past, long-term care staff would often have to call LHSC for more information about a patient because they could not access the patient’s health information. This was due to the organizations using different electronic health record systems. Sometimes, patients and families would be responsible for relaying their own health information.
eHub allows the different electronic health record systems to share information, making a patient’s health record available when they arrive at long-term care. LHSC can share patient information such as medication, health history, allergies and care plans with long-term care providers across Southwestern Ontario – all within 30 minutes of a patient being discharged. There are currently 29 long-term care homes participating in the initial phase of this project, with plans for more to join this year.
“By enabling seamless coordination of care and information, patients and their loved ones will no longer be responsible for relaying their medical history to health care professionals as they transition to long-term care,” says Andrew Mes, Digital Health Executive and Corporate Information Officer, LHSC. “We are using the latest technology to streamline the exchange of health information with our long-term care partners.”
The project is a significant step forward in bringing LHSC’s 2023-2027 Strategic Plan to life, simplifying and expediting the data sharing process between the hospital and other health care organizations.
“The eHub initiative is an inspiring example of how we are putting our new Strategic Plan into action by advancing integrated care through digital transformation,” says Jackie Schleifer Taylor, President and CEO of LHSC. “We have a clear vision for the future, which includes collaborating with system partners, fostering a culture of innovation, and investing in technology to enhance the patient experience.”
While the Ontario eHub system integration is still in its early stages, there are many milestones to look forward to later this year. Long-term care facilities will be able to use the eHub to share resident health information with LHSC, providing clinicians with a comprehensive understanding of each patient's needs if they return to hospital for care. In addition, future phases will allow hospital sites to exchange patient information with one another.
The Ontario eHub HIE is being funded by the Ministry of Health through Project AMPLIFI.
Watch the video below to learn more about how Ontario eHub is improving the patient experience:
About LHSC’s Strategic Plan
Driven by the tagline 'Great people. Great care.,' LHSC’s 2023-2027 Strategic Plan is our roadmap for how we will evolve alongside a changing health-care system as we advance excellence in care, teaching and innovation.
The Strategic Plan signifies LHSC’s unwavering commitment to providing leading-edge health-care services that are responsive to the changing needs of our patients and community. With a shared vision, purpose and fundamental commitments, we are dedicated to transforming health, together.
For more information about LHSC’s 2023-2027 Strategic Plan, please visit our website.
About London Health Sciences Centre
With roots going back a century and a half, London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC), is an award-winning, research-intensive acute tertiary and quaternary teaching hospital, one of only 14 such hospitals in Ontario. LHSC is also home to Children’s Hospital, one of just four acute tertiary care paediatric hospitals in the province. Our unique place in the health system positions us well to inform and advise on provincial, national and international health policy. We are the cornerstone of care for many specialized programs and services in Western Ontario. And, as a major provider of emergency care and through our community hospital mission, we also care for the more than 400,000 people who call London home as well as many in surrounding communities.
With Ontario’s health system continuing its transformation, LHSC has an opportunity to inform it and to place itself at the locus of the regionalized health system of its size, specialized capabilities, research and education capacity and its current regional footprint. LHSC’s formal relationship and strong bond with Western University provides a mechanism for collaboration to enable the delivery of high-quality care through a process of continuous learning and research. At its core, the affiliation is a reciprocal relationship that leverages the learning, teaching and care environments of both Western University and LHSC. London Health Sciences Centre is a 15,000-person strong team of physicians, staff and volunteers – collaborators, innovators and pioneers, meeting the care needs of those we serve and charting a course for the future.
For media inquiries, please email media@lhsc.on.ca