Pressroom Article: Appletree Clinics go High-Tech

Appletree clinics go high-tech for patients' gain (Nepean/Barrhaven EMC)

EMC Business - Anyone who has had to navigate the Canadian medical system knows that long wait times are an almost unavoidable part of the experience. Appletree Medical Group, which runs 11 clinics in the Ottawa area, has recently adopted an electronic medical records system to shorten wait times and boost the efficiency of their operation.

The Electronic Health Record (EHR) system was developed in partnership with Canadian Health Systems so that the 300,000 patients Appletree physicians care for can go online to see real-time community wait times and have improved access to their doctors and referrals.

It also allows Appletree physicians to transfer medical files and test results to referrals (and vice versa) with the click of a mouse, meaning patients won't be kept waiting as a result of slow communication.

"The technology allows us to connect with some of the top opthamologists, neurologists, etc, directly," said Appletree Medical Group president Dr. Thom Tyson. "The patient's chart and information arrives at their doorstep in real time. Right now in Ottawa only 10% of doctors use that system."

Doctors will also be able to take photographs of visible injuries like burns, lacerations, possible melanomas and other surface ailments and send them online to a specialist for viewing and feedback.

Last month, Nepean-Carleton MPP Lisa MacLeod was on hand to tour Appletree's newest clinic, located at 900 Greenbank Rd. in Barrhaven. She was reportedly very impressed with the speed and efficiency of the new EHR system, as well as its inexpensive nature - something that Dr. Tyson said will undoubtedly make the system become widespread in the near future.
Ms. MacLeod was so impressed, in fact, that she had Ontario PC Party leader Tim Hudak take a look at the system himself, calling it a local solution to a national problem.

"My initial reaction, as vice-chair of the standing committee on government agencies, was surprise at how progressive and ahead of its time this [system] was," said Ms. MacLeod. "It is so user-friendly that someone who has been working in the medical field for 40 years can use it."
Ms. MacLeod said the new system would relieve patients and parents of sick and injured kids of the burden of having to remember and recount large amounts of medical information over and over again as they go from doctor to specialist. Being able to go online before leaving the house to see what the wait times are at various Appletree clinics is another benefit for people not wanting to wait too long to be seen.

"It's such a clean, easy way to assist patients," said Ms. MacLeod. "It puts doctors where they should be - in front of patients, not computers.
The fact that the system was created in Ottawa without the assistance of government funding is another thing that Dr. Tyson and Ms. MacLeod are proud of.

"We've championed this system over the last nine years," he explained. "We worked with [software] developers to produce a world-class system that everyone can benefit from. It has shaved the turnaround time for consultations by two weeks."

Dr. Tyson said that the biggest time cost to patients has always been consultations, due to the traditionally slow transfer of medical information.
With the EHR system in place, not only will the transfer be completed instantly, patients can check to see if their appointment has been made, and when.

Currently, Appletree is inviting patients to subscribe to the service on their website (www.appletreemedicalgroup.com). When a list of names and e-mails has been collected, the service will become available to them.

"We wanted to do this in measured steps, so everyone knows that it's available, and how to use it," said Dr. Tyson.

swillems@theemc.ca