In researching tonight’s interview with eHealth CEO Greg Reed, I came across an example of an electronic health system already in use in Ontario that I’m already well acquainted with: the Emergency Neurosurgery Image Transfer System. Sounds like something out of a sci-fi drama. But it’s a protocol Emergency Rooms across the province use to access neurologists 24/7 when a head injury has to be assessed.
My father presented with headaches and vomiting early on the Saturday morning last Labour Day weekend. He was lucky to have the same ER doctor who had seen him earlier in the month for similar symptoms. It had been determined dad’s blood pressure was abnormally low and that his blood thinners would have to be adjusted. Still, the headaches never quite went away and the source hadn’t been found.
With dad’s symptoms being more acute this time, a CT was ordered and sent out across the Emergency Neurosurgery Image Transfer System, based out of McMaster in Hamilton. It’s a secure, web-based system which transfers 3D CT scans and other images to neurologists on call to diagnose, assess the severity and find a specialist to treat the case. Within hours we knew we were dealing with a subdural hematoma and Dr. Michael Tymianski, a neurologist at Toronto Western, ordered that my father be sent there so that the blood in my father’s cranial cavity could be drained. To this day, we don’t know for sure what caused it.
The ER doctor showed me the CT scan (truly amazing!) and there was so much blood, it was starting to seep into the brain. With dad taken off blood thinners, time was of the essence before the blood might clot and cause a stroke.
Though improvements in eHealth helped to diagnose my father, waiting for a hospital bed posed a huge risk. By the time he got to Western, clotting had indeed begun. But his surgeon was waiting and knew exactly what he was dealing with and saved the patient in time.
We’ve been waiting for electronic health records in Ontario with much confusion, controversy and exasperation. Something that we do every day with our bank accounts, our commerce, and our government records seems to be so elusive when it comes to our health records. I hope tonight’s interview sheds some light on what is happening and what eHealth will look like in the years to come.
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