Vanguard Magazine

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT I The implementation of CFHIS has brought the Canadian Forces Health Services into the 21st century with respect to quality medical communication. It has signifi cantly enhanced the ability to provide 'continuity of care' for our members and clinicians. — LCdr Jan Prsala, Base Surgeon, CF Health Services Centre "I see how this works in the clinics. I've seen patients looking care providers on a need-to-know basis. The ability to provide collaborative multi-disciplinary health services is enhanced. All the patient information entered into the system is instantly and simultaneously accessible to all authorized users from all points of access. "We ensure health information is available when and where it is needed to confi rm that members are healthy before they deploy and to ensure that they receive the best possible care when they are wounded or injured, so that they can return to active service or be supported as they transition to civilian life," Puttaswamaiah said. The process of adopting the system was not without its chal- lenges. CFHIS has computerized a sector that had traditionally been paper-based, and users were confronted with a change in culture, not just a change in technology. "This is one of the last bastions of automation. It hit the bank- ing industry, the fi nancial sector and the manufacturing sector ages ago. There's an acceptance of technology in those environ- ments, but computerization in the delivery of healthcare is rela- tively new," Puttaswamaiah noted. She said they encountered some users who did not even know how to type, which made putting the initial patient information into the system somewhat onerous. But once these hurdles were overcome, the reaction to the system was "fantastic" and medi- cal professionals were clambering to have it implemented at their clinics. And it's not surprising – the benefi ts of CFHIS to the health care community are manifold. For healthcare managers and ad- ministrators, it allows population health data to be gathered and analysed to give health care providers an idea of the health of their patient community. It also helps with workload management in terms of tracking patient visits and managing scheduling. For the doctors providing care, CFHIS uses the concept of a cumulative patient profi le which summarizes all of a patient's in- formation into one view, thereby providing an "at a glance" over- view of their health status. But for Puttaswamaiah, it is the actual impact on the patient that she fi nds most rewarding. "This is the fi rst time in my career where I've actually seen the impact of what I do on the recipient, not just the user but the recipient of the services delivered by the users. We Care! Join The Royal Canadian Legion www.vanguardcanada.com OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2012 45 over their doctor's shoulders and say 'wow' because all of a sud- den they can see trending of their blood pressure or trending of blood sugar levels, for example. They can take a look at their diag- nosis and discuss it with the doctor. It gives a voice to the patient in his/her treatment and it's very gratifying to see how signifi cant an impact CFHIS has had." The Canadian Forces Health Information System project has been selected as an honouree for this year's Government Technology Exhibition and Conference (GTEC) Distinction Awards Program. The winners will be announced on November 5 at the Distinction Awards Gala. We Can Count On Them . . . They Can Count On Us

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