Nova Scotia to use new e-system for surgical consultation referrals

The Nova Scotia government says it will soon use a new e-tool for surgical consult referrals that willmake it easierfor patients to see their status and eventually lead to shorter wait times.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Health and Wellness Minister Michelle Thompson said the new program, known as Ocean eReferrals,would "hopefully" be a step toward doing away with using fax machines for communication on health-care services.

"We really want to move toward these e-referral processesso much safer for patients, more efficient, so we really are pleased with this step and think it will make a big difference for providers and patients," Thompson said.

The service goes live for primary-care providers and surgeons at Nova Scotia Health and IWK Health on Friday.

Thompson said the system willallow patients to choose the surgeon they want to see. For example, she said a patient would have the option to travel if a doctor farther away was able to performa procedure sooner.

In a news release, the province noted the system should also allow for "better tracking, review and management of referrals and, in time, will include consult wait time information to allow for faster consults."

Why Ocean eReferral?

Patients who provide their email addresses would be able to get notificationswhen their referral is received, when it's forwarded to a surgeon and when a consultation is booked or changed, the news release noted.

The new system willoffer a "line of sight" for patients and health-care providers, Thompson said, adding its "functionality" will improve as more people use it

In an email, Nova Scotia Health said Ocean eReferrals was chosen because it was "the only company able to interface with the two electronic medical record systems in wide use among primary care physicians."

In terms of cost, Nova Scotia said the total value is up to $5 million for expenses related to Ocean products and services. It said those costs are "extrapolated" over three to five years,with annual costs of approximately $1 million.

Nova Scotia Health said the annual cost of operating will be an additional $4 million and that includes "costsassociated with Ocean products and services and the operation of our central intake office."

The health authority said it has also incurred cost with implementing Ocean eReferral, such as "project management, onboarding, change management, website development, furniture and equipment, training and more." Nova Scotia Health said it will know the total cost at a laterdate because the program isin the implementation phase and costs are still being calculated.