May 07, 2012
Shadow Colleagues Before Making EMR Decision
Investing time learning how an EMR performs for your colleagues is a good way to kick-start your own transition to an EMR explains a Calgary physician who recently went through the process. Dr. Chris Bockmuehl led Crowfoot Village Family Practice through a transition to a new EMR solution earlier this year.
April 23, 2012
EMR Facts Help Educate Population
Dr. Kanchana Sivalingam wants people to understand how leading a healthy lifestyle can have a direct impact on their quality of life. The Devon-based physician likes to deliver her message to high school assemblies, hoping students go away armed with tools necessary to live the healthiest possible life. Her presentations are always backed up with facts and statistics, pulled from her EMR.
April 02, 2012
EMR Statistics Back Weight Loss Program's Success
Paul McWilliams is 100 pounds lighter, no longer has Type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure and he has the statistics to prove it. His EMR documents his year-long journey on the OPTIFAST 900 medically supervised weight loss program through the Wood Buffalo Primary Care Network.
March 19, 2012
Why Electronic Medical Records Are Necessary
EMRs are the future of health care say several peer leaders with POSP. POSP is the provincial program that provides funding to physicians to enable them to adopt EMRs. The program’s peer leaders are experienced EMR users who mentor other physicians on getting the most out of the technology in a clinical setting.
March 05, 2012
Finding Time for EMR a Priority
As a busy rural physician, Dr. Riyaz Mohamed’s time is stretched to the maximum balancing the care of his 1,000 patients. So when he realized his EMR wasn’t meeting the needs of his Picture Butte clinic, Dr. Mohamed knew he would need support in the challenge to find a new EMR.
February 20, 2012
Pediatric Specialist Accesses EMR at Several Locations
Dr. Darcie Kiddoo needed a more dependable solution than computers housed in her home office to act as a backup mechanism to her Med Access EMR. The pediatric urologist, who practices out of the University of Alberta Hospital, Royal Alexandra Hospital and Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital, originally set up her computer servers in her home since the U of A would not permit them on its network.
February 07, 2012
EMR Upgrade Paves Way for Satellite clinic
When physicians and staff at Crowsnest Medical Clinic need patient data, it doesn’t matter whether they are in Bellevue or down the road in Coleman. They simply open the EMR at either site and information for the main clinic and its satellite is at their fingertips.
January 22, 2012
EMR Helps Track Patients’ Progress; Saves Office Space
The Calgary Weight Management Centre is slimming down—its paper files, that is. Karim Bhaloo, executive director, says the centre decided it was best to transition to an EMR solution with Wolf Medical Systems when they realized there were limitations with a paper filing system. The solution is one of three EMR solutions for which physicians can receive funding assistance under POSP.
January 06, 2012
Physicians Securely Review Charts 24/7 with EMR Solution
There is no more guessing where a patient chart can be found at Westgrove Medical Clinic. They are all just a few computer keystrokes away, neatly filed in the clinic’s electronic medical record.
December 14, 2011
No More Paper Chase for Clinics
Joyce Fehr doesn’t miss the stacks of paper charts and the endless filing of her pre-EMR days. “The best thing about having an EMR is not having to do paper filing,” says Fehr, clinic manager at La Crete Medical Clinic. Her clinic is located in a remote hamlet about 115 km southeast of High Level.
November 18, 2011
EMR Helps Identify University's Health Care Needs
Colds, influenzas and back pain used to be the top reasons students, staff and faculty sought a physician at Mount Royal University’s EnCana Wellness Centre.
November 10, 2011
Opportunities abound with new EMR
Dr. Padraic McCombe is excited about putting his EMR solution to the test. The Fort McMurray physician, along with two other physicians in the Signal Road Medical Clinic, recently switched from paper charts to an EMR solution offered by one of POSP qualified service providers (EMR vendors).
September 20, 2011
EMR Possible at Any Juncture
It’s never too late—or early—to think about adopting a new electronic medical record. Whether just out of medical school, well-settled professionally or close to retirement, physicians and clinic staff at Horizon Family Medicine in Red Deer are proving just that.
September 06, 2011
Data Migration Keeps Information Accessible, Current
Keeping up-to-date in a high-tech world can be challenging, time consuming and somewhat frustrating. It can also reap rewards down the line. For physicians and clinics transitioning from an existing electronic medical record (EMR), in most cases it makes sense to transfer data to the new EMR solution to support continuity of patient care as well as clinic operations.
August 22, 2011
EMR graphs help track health care progress
A picture is worth a thousand words. In Dr. Gloria Mok’s case, her use of computerized graphs paints a clear picture of the impact of health care for her chronic care patients. “I like graphing functions,” says Dr. Mok. “I am able to graph weight, blood pressure measurements and lab results such as hemoglobin A1c for diabetes management.
July 14, 2011
Harvest helps fund rural clinic’s EMR
By harvesting their grain, a remote Northern Alberta farming community is growing better health care in a unique partnership with a local clinic. La Crete, a hamlet 115 km southeast of High Level, opened its first medical clinic less than one year ago. The La Crete Medical Clinic transitioned from paper files to a Physician Office System Program (POSP) qualified electronic medical record (EMR) solution with Med Access just six months later. That move was made possible through a partnership with the local chamber of commerce and Great Northern Grain, explains Joyce Fehr, clinic manager.
June 21, 2011
Billing Streamlined with EMR
Eleven years ago, Dr. Fraser Armstrong began the switch from a paper-based clinic to an EMR. Today, patient care and billing are streamlined at his community-based family medicine teaching practice thanks to his EMR.
June 07, 2011
EMR Upgrade Eases IT Headaches
Dr. Jakes Dekker switched to an EMR system seven years ago and thought his days of paper charts were over. Unfortunately for his Cold Lake Medical Clinic, it didn't work out that way. Glitches ranging from hardware troubles to poor IT support often saw his clinic pulling paper charts once again when his local server in the office crashed.
May 24, 2011
Mentoring Program Helps Fill in Gaps
For clinics considering transitioning to an electronic medical record (EMR) solution, upgrading their current system or migrating data, there is help available from those who have been through it themselves. A Peer to Peer mentoring program is offered through POSP to those POSP-enrolled clinics contemplating an EMR or who have already started the process.
May 09, 2011
POSP Guides Clinic Through EMR Upgrade
The Drayton Valley clinic had worked with POSP on an earlier electronic medical record (EMR) system upgrade in 2003 with Wolf Medical Systems. Now, they wanted to upgrade to a new POSP-qualified EMR solution.
April 19, 2011
Accuracy and Efficiency at Forefront in EMR Transition
Dr. Akadri Alarape and staff at Tofield Medical Centre wanted to improve accuracy and efficiency for their 3,000 patients when they opted for an electronic medical record (EMR) solution in April 2010.
April 05, 2011
Breast Cancer Discovered Thanks to EMR Alert
Five years ago, a female patient came to see Dr. Heidi Fell. As the Calgary physician opened her EMR chart, she noted a message on her computer screen indicating the woman had not had a recent mammogram.
March 21, 2011
EMR Helps Pinpoint Life Threatening Conditions
The EMR at Associate Medical Centre in Taber isn't just another office management tool. It is helping physicians and staff diagnose potentially life threatening conditions.
March 08, 2011
Working Together Brings EMR Implementation Success
When Shawnessy Medical Clinic recently upgraded their electronic medical record (EMR) to the new Physician Office System Program (POSP) qualified standard, it had the support of its Primary Care Network (PCN) Information Technology (IT) department, its EMR provider and the POSP. Following the transition, the clinic is completely satisfied with how smoothly the transition went.
February 22, 2011
Three Hills Medical Clinic Every Clinic Has Different EMR Needs
Just as every patient's needs are different, so too are the needs of medical clinics. Sharon Peters, business manager at Three Hills Medical Clinic, found that out firsthand when the clinic started to upgrade their electronic medical record system in April 2010.
February 07, 2011
Journeying Through an EMR Upgrade
Capitol Hill Family Medicine Clinic in Calgary looked at upgrading its EMR software so that it would be VCUR 2008 compatible. Wanting a user-friendly system from a provider it could trust, the decision to switch from Med Tech to Med Access was simple.
January 24, 2011
Planning Pays Off for Schuster and Associates
Stepping into uncharted territory can be a stressful experience. For physicians and staff at Schuster and Associates, migrating their electronic medical record (EMR) data to a Physician Office System Program (POSP) qualified Wolf Medical Systems EMR solution was worth the effort.
January 10, 2011
New EMR Improves Time Management for Physicians at Raymond Medical Clinic
Before an EMR upgrade
3:45 p.m. – your last patient leaves
5:15 p.m. – you leave
Your last patient leaves at 3:45 p.m. but it is 5:15 p.m. and you are still there, typing up your notes, and researching care for your patients. Reviewing lab results is taking much longer than it should as you wait for each one to load. You are nearly finished and you glance at the clock remembering that you have to be off the computer so the local server backup can take place. With a sigh, you log off, knowing you will have to come in early tomorrow to complete the unfinished work.
December 09, 2010
Making the Jump to an EMR from Paper Charts
How do you approach moving from a paper-based practice to one with an electronic medical record (EMR)? In addressing the trepidation that many physician’s feel in taking the final leap after selecting their EMR, Dr. Sidney Harrison, a family practitioner in Medicine Hat advises to just pick a date and go.
November 10, 2010
Village Park Medical Moves from Paper to EMR
Making the move from a paper-based record environment to an electronic medical record (EMR) can seem like an enormous undertaking. Village Park Medical Clinic in Sherwood Park gathered the courage and took up the challenge earlier this year, choosing Med Access’ vendor conformance and usability requirements (VCUR) 2008 EMR solution from the Physician Office System Program’s (POSP’s) three qualified service providers.
October 28, 2010
Bonavista Medical Clinic: New EMR Helps Focus on Patient Care
Hoping to improve their clinical and administrative processes, and ultimately patient care, Bonavista Medical Clinic in Calgary recently upgraded their existing electronic medical record (EMR) to the Wolf Medical Systems complete EMR solution from one of the three Physician Office System Program’s (POSP’s) qualified services providers.
October 12, 2010
The Super-users
When a clinic focuses more about their going-forward strategy than where they have been, you know they are on the right track. Meridian Medical Clinic in Stony Plain has been using the Med Access electronic medical record (EMR) system since 2004 but recently upgraded to this vendor's VCUR (vendor conformance and usability requirements) 2008 solution. As part of this upgrade, the clinic is taking-user training to get the most out of their new solution for staff and their patients
August 18, 2010
Hinton Excited About the Future with Their New EMR
Dr. J. Bradford Armstrong of Hinton Medical Clinic felt they were making groundbreaking changes when they adopted an electronic medical record (EMR) system over 15 years ago. There weren’t many other clinics they could turn to for advice or to demonstrate the systems they were using.
June 18, 2010
Volcanic Ash and the Advantages of an ASP EMR: The Bowmont Otolaryngology Clinic Experience
When Calgary specialist Dr. Anita Hui opened her new clinic in October 2009, she was eager to transition to a new qualified service provider (QSP). “I was impressed with the turnkey proposal and how efficient the new EMR system seemed compared to my old one,” said Dr. Hui. “The fact that the new EMR would be compliant with VCUR 2008 standards made me feel that it was a positive step towards the future of my practice.”
July 15, 2010
It Takes a "Clinic" to Migrate Data
There are many reasons why a clinic chooses to transition to a new electronic medical record (EMR) – and impending hardware failure is a compelling one. When Neurology Clinic in Red Deer saw that their server was nearing failure in the fall of 2009, they looked to one of the three Physician Office System Program’s (POSP’s) qualified service provider (QSP) EMR solutions to ensure continuity of operations.
June 02, 2010
Success in Stettler—One Clinic's EMR Journey
For many physicians, using an electronic medical record (EMR) has become an integral part of their practice. Dr. Charles Heaven has been using an EMR in his Stettler practice since 2005. When the new VCUR 2008 solutions became available, Dr. Heaven and his clinic staff were eager to see how these new solutions could support the needs of his clinic.