Want successful e-health projects? Get doctors involved early

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 18 May 2004 - 0:00 PDT

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Early involvement by physicians and other health personnel is crucial to the success of electronic health projects, more than 1,200 delegates attending a May e-health conference in Victoria were told. The conference, co-hosted by the Canadian Institute for Health Information and the Canadian Health Informatics Association, is Canada's main showcase for electronic health initiatives.

The "involvement message" dominated the conference's most significant address, by CEO Richard Alvarez of the Canada Health Infoway the organization responsible for distributing $1.1 billion in federal funds to help develop e-health technology in Canada.

Alvarez reviewed development of the electronic health record (EHR) in other countries, and found that stakeholder involvement and buy-in from clinicians are two of the main success factors. In other words, developing EHRs will mean "absolutely nothing" without the involvement of clinicians, and this is why Alvarez is worried about the pace with which they are adopting the new technology. He has appointed a GP to work with clinical leaders at the national level to prod the adoption process.

Even though advocates of EHRs acknowledge that physicians need to become involved at an early stage, one presentation indicated this is still not occurring.

Bill Pascal, the CMA's chief technology officer, and Mary Gibson, program director for Alberta's Physician Office System program, discussed findings emerging from interviews about electronic health projects across the country that assessed the degree to which caregivers have been involved.

They noted that while there has been general agreement about the need to employ end-users of information technology in developing these projects, actual implementation has been "spotty".

Although Pascal and Gibson said many projects are still only paying lip service to end-user engagement, Pascal sensed "a real shift" in perspective at this year's e-health conference, with virtually all presentations mentioning the importance of physician involvement.

Written by Pat Rich Canadian Medical Association News
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