N.B. Moves To Expand Electronic Medical Records

The New Brunswick Medical Society wants to see more physicians using electronic medical records.

On Wednesday, the society and the province announced they are moving away from a single integrated system to an open market.

Anthony Knight, the CEO of the medical society, said this will give physicians a choice of suppliers for their electronic medical records.

“What this will mean is that we’ll see continued increased adoption of technology in physician offices as we look to modernize the way in which health care is delivered in our province,” said Knight.

In 2012, the Department of Health entered into a partnership with the medical society to implement and deliver an electronic medical record system to better manage patient information.

The decision to move from a single provincial solution to an open market follows an extensive review of the existing program by the health department and the medical society, said a news release from the province.

Knight said about three in five eligible doctors from every corner of New Brunswick are using electronic records at this point.

“We see lots of evidence that suggests that physicians, once they learn the system and transition to electronic records, that their practice can run a little more smoothly, the challenges associated with managing a paper practice become less apparent, and the physicians overall are satisfied with using technology in their physician practices,” he said.

Knight said the next step for the society and the province is to develop a framework where a new group of vendors may be able to connect to the province’s health information system.

He said they will be working closely with physicians to identify potential opportunities going forward.

“We’ll be working closely with the province of New Brunswick over the next 18 months to strategize and execute on this new plan.”