Clinical Transformation supercharged by Epic
The implementation of a new health information system (HIS) from Epic on June 4, 2022, marks the start of a new era of clinical transformation at UHN.
With Epic, healthcare providers and support teams are no longer dependent on a patchwork of systems and paper to see each patient's medical "picture" and journey. Patients only have to tell their story once and have greater access to their medical information from the comfort of home. Communication among care teams is faster. And, being able to complete workflows in one system creates more time for interacting with patients and applying knowledge and less time spent on paperwork and searching for information.
All that adds up to enhanced patient safety, greater security of information, and improved experiences for patients and TeamUHN.
Bringing UHN together in a new way
It has been many years since Toronto General, Toronto Western, Princess Margaret, and Toronto Rehab became UHN, but that unification didn't always translate when patients sought care and services across hospitals or sometimes areas within one hospital. Epic better enables UHN to provide patient-centric care no matter where the care happens. One patient, one chart.
Plus, throughout the nineteen months between project kickoff and go-live day, clinical teams from across UHN collaborated in new ways as they made decisions about how workflows would be configured into the system. This clinician-led approach helped increase understanding of others' work and increased the collective strength of TeamUHN.
Protecting data and privacy
One of the many benefits of having a robust health information system is better and faster access to data and information for making decisions.
Protecting that data and information is of top importance to UHN, and several measures are taken to keep data secure and ensure patients' privacy:
- Everyone who uses the health information system at UHN is required to successfully complete an integrated privacy and security training module and sign a confidentiality agreement before they gain access.
- All UHN agents are required to successfully complete an integrated privacy and security training module and sign a confidentiality agreement before they can get access to the health information system.
- UHN's new health information system is designed to steer users to the information they need, reducing the privacy risks of searching.
- Epic provides a detailed user audit log and options for restricting records in some situations, for compliance review purposes.
- UHN's Privacy Office team continues to work with patients, families and Team UHN to advise and respond to privacy concerns.
Our statement of privacy practices is here.
Unleashing the power of technology and knowledge
Implementing Epic is only the start. The modular nature of the system allows for growth and innovation that takes months, not years. Ongoing, rapid enhancements to patient care, medical education, and research will be the norm for years and decades.
UHN's purpose is to transform lives and communities through excellence in care, discovery and learning. Epic is one of our most powerful tools for continuing to fulfill that purpose and to realize our vision of A Healthier World.
Epic is the engine behind myUHN Patient Portal.
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