New year,new tools: digital health solutions to support clinical practice

BY JAMIE LOUIE, COMMUNICATIONS ADVISOR, ONTARIOMD

With every new year and seasonal change, there comes an opportunity for growth and transformation. The team at OntarioMD (OMD) has been busy integrating practical digital health solutions with electronic medical record (EMR) systems and developing new supports to help Ontario clinicians with their unique practice needs.

Ten new and exciting projects are coming down the digital pipeline in 2023:

• Access to Drug Information: Clinicians can now access medication information from the provincial Digital Health Drug Repository (DHDR) directly through their EMR. This invaluable digital health tool has been connected to OMD-certified EMR systems so clinicians can securely view dispensed drugs covered under the Ontario Drug Benefit (ODB) Program, narcotics or controlled substances, pharmacy administered flu shots, and COVID-19 vaccination information. Contact support@ontariomd.com to get connected to the DHDR.

• Access to immunization data: OMD is working with Ontario Health to provide clinicians with real-time access to comprehensive immunization information directly from their EMR. This integration will also allow clinicians administering vaccinations to submit patients’ immunization data, retrieve data related to patients’ immunizations administered by schools, public health units and hospitals, and forecast upcoming required immunizations according to the provincial immunization schedule.

• Digital advocacy to address clinicians’ digital burden: OMD is working with health care partners to offer digital health solutions, such as Artificial Intelligence tools like scribing and virtual assistants, as well as other advanced technology applications, to address and help reduce clinicians’ administrative burden.

• eCoaching & QI workshops: OMD is planning to create a platform that makes coaching assistance available to clinicians in their own time and location. eCoaching will provide best practices and EMR tools needed to improve practice efficiencies on different topics such as preventive and complex care. It will be an interactive and intuitive solution based on Quality Improvement (QI) principles and can support physicians with their mandatory Practice Improvement Plans (PIP). OMD will also continue its partnership with

University of Ottawa to offer Essentials for Practice Improvement (QI) Workshops and education for physicians who are working on their College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) QI Program or to help them achieve their own personal QI goals in 2023.

• eForms: OMD is making form submission easier for clinicians with the recent launch of eForms. eForms are digital forms clinicians can complete and submit from the convenience of their EMR. They are an improvement over other digital forms in EMRs, which arrive at the receiving organization as faxes. This initiative simplifies and streamlines form completion through guided navigation, ensures the most up-todate forms are always used, and offers a secure and reliable method of submitting