Every time a child in Ontario is admitted to an emergency room, discharged from a hospital, administered a treatment or tested for any condition or disease, an individual record is created. To obtain access to the results, physicians have had to learn of the activity, request the file, and wait for it to be mailed, faxed, or called in. Now, there is a new way for health care providers to gain access to such vital results - via an Ontario-wide fully integrated electronic health record system called the electronic Child Health Network or eCHN.

"Before eCHN, I would wait days and weeks to have access to the information," said Dr. Alan Hudak, former Chief of Paediatrics and Neonatal Medicine, Orillia Solders' Memorial Hospital. "Using eCHN, I can access each test and result with a click of a button as soon as the report is filed."

The program reaches over 100 hospital sites including all Tertiary Care Centres in Ontario as well as Community, Children's treatment and independent Medical Centres. Independent paediatricans and family doctors are also members of the system. eCHN contains the health records of more than one million of Ontario's children. Health care providers on the system have access to secure, accurate and up-to-date patient information in real-time.

eCHN is especially important in the treatment of children suffering from such chronic conditions or diseases as cancer, diabetes, cerebral palsy, acquired brain injury, muscular dystrophy, amputation, epilepsy, spina bifida, arthritis, cleft-lip and palate, autism and other developmental disabilities.

"eCHN reduces the chances of a record being illegible, lost or unavailable," said Dr. Hudak. "It also diminishes the need for repeat diagnostic testing."

"eCHN has made the dream of e-Health a reality," said Ontario Health Minister David Caplan. "My goal is to have an electronic health system for all residents of Ontario fully in place by 2015. eCHN serves as an inspiration as we continue down the path of modernizing the entire healthcare system."

Following its 10 year Anniversary, eCHN hopes to expand even further in Ontario to more independent medical clinics, paediatricans and family doctors.

"Over the last 10 years, eCHN has grown organically in the way physicians, therapists and nurses felt it was most useful," said Andrew Szende, president and CEO, eCHN. "As more health care practitioners continue to adopt the system, we look forward to the day when every person can have their own electronic medical chart."

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Jeannie Tsang
416-504-8464
jeannie@mediaprofile.com

Allison Stokes
416-504-8464
stokes@mediaprofile.com