Riverside now linked to Meditech system

As of Monday, the new Meditech system was up and running smoothly at La Verendrye Hospital in Fort Frances, with work underway yesterday to implement the system at the Emo and Rainy River health centres.
Meditech is a health information system that ties into a regional database.
The first phase of implementation at Riverside includes a tie-in to patient registration, health records, and diagnostic imaging.
The project has been in the works since early January, noted Wayne Woods, president and CEO of Riverside Health Care Facilities, Inc.
“We’ve been at this for a while and now that the ‘go live’ is underway, there is a keen sense of accomplishment for everyone involved,” Woods said.
Project managers Carla Larson and Marie Brady both were pleased with the co-operation and commitment that was required by all department managers and staff in Health Records, Admitting, Information and Systems Technology (IST), Finance, and Diagnostic Imaging departments across the multi-sites.
“Change is not always easy, but we’ve looked at this project as a challenge and well worth the effort,” they said.
The implementation of Meditech will lead to enhanced access to information for the health-care provider, which ultimately will lead to better direct patient care.
“Better patient care, that is always our goal,” said Brady and Larson.
One of the requirements of the new system includes inputting all patient demographic data, which has led to admissions taking a bit longer.
“So far it has been very successful,” said Laurie Lundale, manager of Patient Information Services at Riverside.
“We would like to thank the public for their patience and co-operation . . . they’ve been wonderful,” she added.
The new admission process also includes a health card swiping system that declines invalid or expired Ontario health cards.
If cards are declined, there only will be certain window of time to get it updated before being billed for the health care services provided.
The number to call if your health card has expired, or if you have questions about the validity of your current Ontario health card, is 1-800-465-5067.
Meanwhile, Phase II of the Meditech implementation tentatively is scheduled to get underway in October, with a “go live” date of April 1, 2009.
Phase II will include a tie-in to the laboratory, pharmacy, and order entry.
Riverside’s continued movement towards an electronic health record, in conjunction with its northwest partners, will result in enhanced service to the patient and health-care provider through improved access to patient information.