Health and Community Services Minister Ottenheimer on Tuesday
announced that a contribution of $10.5 million by Canada Health
Infoway, combined with government's investment of $4 million in
Budget 2005, would support the development of a province-wide
Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS) by 2007.
It will make Newfoundland and Labrador the first province in
Canada to have such a system. Mike Sheridan, COO of Infoway,
confirmed the Infoway funding at a news conference in Corner
Brook.
PACS is a computer system that allows diagnostic images -
including x-rays, MRI, ultrasounds and CT scans to be digitally
captured, viewed, stored and transmitted electronically from one
site to another. It replaces conventional x-ray film and greatly
improves access to patient information by enabling referring
clinicians to review patient images on computers anywhere in the
province.B
"Government is committed to investing in electronic information
systems for storing and managing patient records, which will result
in a seamless flow of patient care information across delivery
systems," said Minister Ottenheimer. "PACS will benefit patients,
health care providers and managers through improved access to
diagnostic imaging services in rural areas, reduced wait times, and
improve access to specialist consultations."
Prevention of some patient transfers by being able to take and
read images in one location and have them reviewed by a physician
in another, and increased test-to-results time are also benefits,
he said.
A combined investment of $14.5 million by government and Infoway
will result in the implementation of the PACS project in the
western and Labrador-Grenfell regions, allowing these regions to
link into existing sites in central and eastern regions.
Once completed, the integrated PACS will provide consistent and
virtually seamless, province-wide access to a patient's complete
diagnostic record by their health care provider.
By 2007 there will be 27 PACS sites in the province.
"Newfoundland and Labrador has already made significant progress
in the area of electronic health records (EHR) and today's
$10.5-million investment by Infoway will make this province one of
the first completely filmless provinces when it comes to diagnostic
imaging," said Richard Alvarez, president and CEO of Infoway. "This
project will be an example to other provinces and is the first step
toward our goal of making diagnostic images available for 50 per
cent of all Canadians by 2009."
The PACS project, an initiative of the Department of Health and
Community Services, in collaboration with Infoway and managed by
the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Health Information, will
allow for primary reporting, on-call coverage, and immediate remote
consultation allowing both the clinician and the referring
radiologist to review the same images at the same time. It also
means fewer exams are repeated when patients are sent to secondary
and/or tertiary sites for consultation.
All diagnostic images will be stored in a central repository
managed by Eastern Health.
All necessary provincial privacy and security requirements will be
adhered to in the management and use of personal information as it
pertains to this central repository.
While acknowledging the importance of both the province's
contribution and Infoway's investment, Centre for Health
Information CEO, Steve O'Reilly, emphasized that "the greatest
investment in this project has been made by dedicated health
professionals who have readily come together, collaborating with
one another to build a single shared provincial PACS network."
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