The IHealth project team works across numerous distinct work streams to deliver on and evaluate key project goals.
Leaders and teams attached to each stream are responsible for outcomes, and senior leaders, as members of the IHealth Task Force, guide and oversee the project .
MyHealth Patient Portal
The MyHealth patient portal work stream seeks to improve the experience, quality, and outcomes of health and care services for patients, clients and families. The MyHealth platform is an initiative in this area that helps provide patients and their delegates with seamless access to personal health information, while giving them the ability to interact directly with their care teams.
Primary Care
The Primary Care work stream works to advance the implementation of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) across Island Health primary care services. It ensures the EMR is made available through partnerships with up to 40 non-Island Health primary care and specialty care services, including:
- Private family practices
- First Nations health centres
- Primary care networks
- Urgent primary care centres
Long Term Care
The Long-Term Care (LTC) work stream continues to roll out advanced electronic health record tools at Island Health owned and operated long-term care homes. Together, LTC homes represent 1,714 beds across the Island Health region. An important focus of this work stream is preparing LTC staff for the change to use of the EHR through readiness assessments, training and support.
Community Health Services
The Community Health Services (CHS) work stream delivers electronic clinical documentation with supporting technology to clinicians working within CHS. The CHS work stream enables flexible and innovative service delivery in the community setting, while improving information sharing across health care providers and informing effective team-based care.
Acute Care
This work stream is focused on providing advanced EHR tools within hospitals and some urgent and primary care centres across Island Health. The IHealth project leverages the advanced EHR in use at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital (NRGH) to support the activation of the remaining acute care sites.
Advanced EHR functions:
- Support patient flow across locations and care sectors,
- Enable integrated workflows, and
- Optimize change management and support activities.
Important focuses for this work stream include preparing medical and clinical staff for advanced use of the EHR through readiness assessments, training and support.
Ambulatory Care
Ambulatory care in a hospital setting refers to medical services delivered on an outpatient basic, without involving admission to hospital. Similar to the Acute Care work stream, the focus in ambulatory care is on leveraging the advanced EHR in use at fully activated sites, and preparing medical and clinical staff for its use through readiness assessments, training and support.
Health Information Management (HIM) Foundations
The Health Information Management (HIM) Foundations work stream under the IHealth umbrella seeks to establish a single, integrated and advanced EHR. This initiative is designed to:
- Advance the goal of complete stabilization and optimization of the current advanced EHR at fully activated sites through foundational enhancements to the platform and its toolset;
- Begin implementation of standardized processes, including electronic clinical documentation tools, in acute and ambulatory nursing and allied health practices;
- Expand the scope of external content available in the current EHR, which aligns with the strategic goal of extending the scope of information sharing across health care providers.
Advanced Technologies (Cerner Cloud Appliance and Cloud Solutions)
The Advanced Technologies work stream focuses on the Cerner Cloud Appliance and Cloud Solutions. These technologies create the technical infrastructure that supports health care providers in their interactions with patients outside of the normal bedside setting. This work stream introduces new system tools that will connect Island Heath’s Electronic Health Record (EHR) with community Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems to seamlessly share information about patients and clients.
