FAQs

IHealth is an initiative that we believe will transform the way you, our Island Health residents, interact with your health care team. IHealth places you at the centre of your care alongside your health care professionals. Your IHealth Electronic Health Record will help both you and your health care team make the best decisions related to your health and wellness.

The name IHealth is as personal and individual as the people it serves. The “I” represents you, the individual, and the individual care and support you receive. For each of us, our health and wellness is a personal asset.

Island Health is committed to providing the best possible health and care for our Islands residents. IHealth will support this commitment by enhancing quality and safety related to client care as well as improving the efficiency of client flow and document management and processing.

Personal health is an asset to both an individual and the community where they reside and so we want to help you proactively manage your health. IHealth will give you and your care team the tools to achieve this. By ensuring that all of your health information including your goals and important information related to your health story are together in one file, you and your health care team will have the information needed to make the best decisions for your health. IHealth will support keeping you healthy throughout all stages of your life.

IHealth puts you at the centre of your care. Empowering you to take an active role in your own health, you’ll work with and be guided by your health care team (a team you define) to make the best decisions to meet your overall health goals. 

In support of your health goals you will have one electronic health record that contains your medical history. All your relevant health information including medical diagnoses, treatments, prescriptions and lab results along with other information related to your health will be located in one digital file. 

Because all of your medical information is in one secure electronic file, you will no longer need to repeat your medical history and medications every time you have a health visit.

With all your information in one place, your health care team will be able to make fully informed decisions that consider all your health and care needs.

In addition to giving your health care team the most up-to-date and comprehensive information about your health, an accessible digital record means you won’t have to communicate your health history to multiple health care professionals.

Yes. Once IHealth is fully implemented, no matter where you go for health care across the Island Health region—your family doctor, a walk-in clinic or a hospital emergency department—your health care team will be able to access your complete health record and enter up-to-date information.

Yes. The Ministry of Health in BC has a strategic goal to have one record for each patient across the province. 

No. At this time our EHR will not be able to access the electronic records of patients who receive care in other provinces.

IHealth allows all of your health care professionals to have access to your health record. This means that those involved in your care—your pharmacist, your physiotherapist, your family doctor or others designated by you, will be able to see your medical records. 

All clinical staff can access relevant client information from other sites and providers. This means you will have instant access to information from colleagues involved in your clients’ care; you’ll be able to make sure that no aspects of care are interrupted.

You will also be able to access your own IHealth record through the MyHealth patient portal. 

No. Currently there are no plans to have a direct link to another province’s or territory’s records. Privacy legislation is one issue that needs to be overcome. There are also technical interoperability issues. Patient records may still be faxed in individual cases, according to current policies.

Island Health takes privacy very seriously and collects only the personal information necessary to provide you with health care. This information is collected under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act of B.C. (FIPPA) and includes personally identifiable information such as your first name, last name, date of birth, sex, and personal health number (PHN), which are used to positively identify you in Island Health’s electronic health record system.

Island Health is obligated to protect your personal information by ensuring reasonable security provisions are in place against risks such as unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure or disposal.

All electronic health data is stored within Canada with the exception of calls to the MyHealth Help Desk; these calls are recorded and stored outside of the country. Should you require the support of the MyHealth Help Desk, you will be asked to provide certain Personal Information that will be used to validate your identity and to track and monitor the support call. This information will be collected and stored by Cerner Corporation (who is contracted to operate the Help Desk) outside Canada. Specifically, your full name, phone number, email address, date of birth and any further information you voluntarily supply to the Support Desk will be collected and stored outside Canada by Cerner.

Yes, you will be able to access some of your IHealth record through the MyHealth public portal. MyHealth is a secure website that gives you convenient, 24/7 access to your personal health information from anywhere with an internet connection.

To learn more about MyHealth and how to sign up for a MyHealth account, please visit the MyHealth page at: https://www.islandhealth.ca/our-services/virtual-care-services/myhealth

We are definitely not the first site to do this, and not even the first in Canada. EHRs have been used for decades in other settings. North York, Mt Sinai, PEI and Vancouver Coastal have already moved in this direction, primarily in acute and ambulatory clinic spaces. However, in Island Health we are not just looking at individual sites; we are looking at how to use a single, integrated EHR to provide care across all areas where residents of Island Health access the health care system.

To learn more about IHealth and how it is transforming health care at Island Health, including the benefits of IHealth and frequently asked questions, please visit our About IHealth page.