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A new electronic medical records system is rolling out today to hospitals in the Halifax area, Eastern Shore and West Hants amid concerns about whether the system is ready.
One Person One Record (OPOR), a digital management system that tracks every requisition, lab result, operation and appointment, was first launched at the IWK Health Centre in December.
While many people say the transition to the system that merges over 50 different workflows is long overdue, a number of staff have raised concerns that the program is incomplete and documents are being lost “into the abyss.”
Premier Tim Houston tried to ease those concerns heading into the weekend expansion.
“It’s OK to be nervous, it’s a really important change. But the system is ready and the system will be better with this new OPOR than it is right now,” he said Thursday.
Staff at the women and children’s hospital told CBC News the launch of OPOR has been fraught with problems. They say the program is not intuitive and they weren’t properly trained to use it.
They say that led to a number of serious concerns about records being lost, gaps in patient care and potential patient harms, including a possible connection to the death of an unborn baby after several requisitions for an ultrasound were lost in the system.
Houston emphasized OPOR represents a significant change that will improve health care in the province.
The premier said Nova Scotians shouldn’t have to repeat their medical histories when they see different health-care providers.
Nova Scotia Health said it has bolstered training for staff, and additional support will be on-site for the rollout in the central zone.
“There is some level of reticence given the magnitude of the change, people are largely saying though what they know now is substantially more than what they knew 90 days ago,” said Tanya Nixon, the vice-president at Nova Scotia Health overseeing the rollout of OPOR.
The health authority is also calling for the public to be patient as a number of departments are scaling back to give staff a chance to learn their new workflow.
For the next six weeks or so, appointments for procedures such as blood collection and ECGs are being cut by half.
Reminder calls are being paused and surgeries that aren’t urgent have been reduced.
Several primary care providers have sent letters to patients, asking them to flag any hospital visits or blood work so the clinics can follow up and ensure the test results are received.
The health authority said these reductions are only temporary.
The province has yet to announce when OPOR will go live in the rest of Nova Scotia, only saying it will happen by the end of 2026.
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