Nova Scotia goes digital
An EHR success story
In Eastern Canada, similarly advanced technology is making an enormous difference in patient outcomes and treatments costs. Mike Silver, a radiologist at St. Martha's Regional Hospital in Antigonish, says, "As technology evolved, we had the ability to ensure that all of our images were digital, but the real challenge was to store and distribute all that information to wherever it was needed in a secure manner."
"In Nova Scotia, the tele-health community put together a province wide Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS). Every hospital is linked via a fibre optic network within one firewall, and we have security officers in Halifax protecting the entire network. That approach made it easier to have a central archive. Now no matter where you are in the province, you're able to access the required images."
While all of that sounds very technical in nature, the impact it has had in human terms is immeasurable. "A week after the system was set up, I was on call and my coverage included rural Cape Breton," says Dr. Silver. Near Neal's Harbour, a rugged area that is often impassable during winter storms, there was a car accident. A young girl of about six was involved, and the physician in Neil's Harbour identified what might have been a neck fracture. But in kids, there are growth centres that can look like fractures."
Dr. Silver was able to examine the digital image of the girl's neck and reassure the physician that the finding was normal. "Prior to the implementation of the system, she would have been put on a backboard in a cervical collar and transferred by air ambulance to Sydney or Halifax. It would have cost the province somewhere in the range of $10,000 — and cost her parents a lot of anguish and worry. It all happened during a terrible snow storm, so there is also always the chance of potential disaster — losing the air ambulance. With the system in place, the referring physician got the information he needed in a timely manner, they took the cervical collar off and sent her home. She was fine."
A recently-conducted study indicates Canada’s investments in PACS will generate up to $1 billion in annual cost savings and efficiencies when fully implemented. Digital diagnostic imaging technology has already increased productivity to a level equivalent to adding more than 500 full-time radiologists to our health care system. Most importantly, the result is better patient care.
