EMRS debate report

Using EMRs to fuel quality improvement.

Increasingly, FPs and primary care teams are using electronic medical records (EMRs). There is growing consensus that EMRs facilitate research and epidemiologic surveillance but little evidence yet that they improve patient care or health outcomes.1 Data from EMRs can provide feedback, a core activity for quality improvement (QI). Feedback is effective if it is local (reflecting actions of a ph...

EMRs for specialists: physicians take the helm.

E822 CMAJ, December 10, 2013, 185(18) © 2013 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors The invitation extended to Dr. Vandana Ahluwalia to purchase an electronic medical records system for her Brampton, Ontario, rheumatology practice was both welcome and challenging. On the one hand, the offer came with a tantalizing cash incentive — up to $28 000 in free money from the Ontario and federal ...

Estimating the prevalence of depression from EMRs.

Depression is one of the most prevalent chronic conditions in Canada. It costs an estimated $14 billion each year in health care expenditures and productivity losses,1 and it causes substantial suffering, greater vulnerability to physical illness,2,3 and increased risk of suicide.4 Addressing the societal burden of depression requires public health surveillance (PHS) data, which can be used to ...

Identifying new referrals from FPs using EMRs.

Genetic Counseling Using Workflow-based EMRs

Widespread use of genetic tests for medical treatment and clinical genetic counseling–as a cost-effective treatment for an increasing number of hereditary disorders–has led to study of privacy and disclosure issues, and has compelled governments to limit disclosure of test results. To the best of our knowledge, no clinical workflows for genetic counseling apply applicable information disclosure...