Whereas there is lack of reasonable online access to health records such as x-rays and other diagnostics to allied health professionals, which includes, but is not limited to: physiotherapists, occupational therapists, medical imaging, psychologists, recreational therapists, respiratory therapists, social workers, speech language pathologists and audiologists, dietitians, perfusionists, nurse practitioners and chiropractors; And whereas access to health history is important in providing quality health care for British Columbians: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM lobby the provincial government to urge all the health authorities in the province to grant online access to health records for allied health professionals in BC, pending patient approval to share their private health records.
Ministry of Health The Ministry of Healths Digital Health Initiative supports the priority mandate to enable longitudinal team-based primary care and improving health outcomes by better sharing of patient health information. The shift to a digital and virtual environment has changed how health care professionals access and exchange the information they require to safely perform professional duties and provide appropriate care. As COVID-19 has accelerated the adoption and normalized the use of virtual care solutions, health care team members ability to access information digitally is even more essential. As part of the COVID-19 response, the Ministry of Health HLTH has approved funding to expand access and deploy BCs Provincial eHealth Viewer, CareConnect, to up to 10,000 community-based healthcare professionals. Close to 3,000 community-based providers now have access to CareConnect. CareConnect provides a secure, view-only access to patient-centric clinical information from all of BCs Health Authorities and HLTH to support health care providers in their delivery of patient care 247. CareConnect is widely used within all Health Authorities, with over 86,000 health care professionals enrolled. To support such access for community-based providers, HLTH has: 1. Established a governance framework to prioritize and approve user access to ensure that legislative obligations are met and the right information is accessed by the right providers. This work is all part of HLTHs commitment to ensuring the protection of personal information and ensuring that Allied Health Professionals have access to the patient records that are relevant to their scope of practice. This process will be continually monitored to ensure both access and protections are appropriate. 2. Made CareConnect accessible over the public internet in any geographic region in a secure manner, and leverages the BC Services Card to confirm identity as part of the security features in place to ensure appropriate user access. These two actions have created the foundation upon which the request for access by Allied Health Professionals can be reviewed, approved and deployed. Currently, select roles within this group are being evaluated. Once CareConnect is available to these user groups, health care professionals will benefit from improved efficiencies and value from increased access to a significant amount of clinical information enabling them to share clinical documentation with other care teams. This aligns with HLTHs Primary Care Strategy and further enables team-based care. Individual users who are part of a group that has been approved ie: Physicians can request access by visiting: http:www.vch.cafor-health-professionalsresources-updatescareconnectrequ…- careconnect For User groups who wish to inquire about getting access for their stakeholders ie: Allied Health Associations or Colleges, they can email: Private.Careconnectphsa.ca