VICTORIA - The Province and Sun Microsystems (B.C.) Inc. have signed a $148-million contract to advance patient care by building the infrastructure needed for electronic health records and improving access to laboratory test results, Health Minister George Abbott announced today.

"The Province's eHealth strategy is leveraging technology to improve health care," said Abbott. "Today's agreement provides the foundation for electronic health records, enhances access to test results and will bring better, faster, safer health care to British Columbians, while protecting privacy."

The agreement with Sun Microsystems (B.C.) Inc., a subsidiary of Sun Microsystems of Canada Inc., will produce:
* An infrastructure to enable access to a secure interoperable Electronic Health Record (iEHR) for physicians and other caregivers anywhere in B.C., while protecting patient privacy;
* The program's first major clinical component, the Provincial Laboratory Information Solution (PLIS), which will consolidate lab test results in one repository; and
* Operations and support services for iEHR/PLIS for 10 years.

The $148-million agreement also supports the Province's throne speech commitment to create a new electronic medical records system to give physicians better access to patient records and improve service to patients.

PLIS will enable physicians, nurses and other authorized caregivers involved in clinical practice to receive lab test results online. IEHR will provide the technology infrastructure that will allow laboratory, pharmacy, and diagnostic imaging information to flow securely between authorized health-care providers and source systems across all of B.C.

"Congratulations to B.C. on this major step towards making electronic health records a reality in the province," said Infoway's president and CEO Richard Alvarez. "We're pleased to collaborate with the B.C. government as they put in place solutions that will result in a safer, higher quality, more efficient health-care system. Infoway plans to invest a total of over $55 million in B.C.'s iEHR and lab information systems initiatives."

iEHR/PLIS are two of the foundation projects of B.C.'s eHealth strategy to put the right information in the right hands at the right time to support personal health-care decision-making and health system sustainability.

"Electronic health records are fundamental to modernizing the health-care system and improving access and outcomes of Canadians," said Abbott. "Technology has revolutionized the way people do business and communicate, and the way public services, including health care, are delivered. B.C. is starting to realize the full potential of this technology to give caregivers better access to patient records and improve services to patients."

All patient information will be protected by privacy measures that are among the strongest in Canada. The personal health information in the electronic health record will comply with the Province's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act , the Personal Information Privacy Act and clauses of the Canada Health Act that govern the use of information for health-related purposes. In addition, access to patient information will be restricted to only those having a legal right and clear need to access the information or to access the systems where the information resides.

Sun Microsystems (B.C.) Inc. and its principal development partners, MedPlus and First Consulting Group, will design and build the PLIS and iEHR solutions in accordance with Canada Health Infoway architecture and standards. TELUS and CGI are responsible for managed operations services and application management. The contract with Sun is an Alternative Service Delivery project developed with the Ministry of Labour and Citizens' Services. The contract concludes a Joint Solution Procurement process initiated in February 2006. Sun was selected because of the strength of its overall solution presented to the Province.

B.C. GETS ONLINE WITH EHEALTH

eHealth is about technology improving health care. B.C. has seven eHealth projects underway that will use modern telecommunications to make patient care better, safer and faster by placing medical information in the right hands at the right time. The seven projects are:

* Provincial Laboratory Information Solution Project (PLIS) - consolidated lab results;
* interoperable Electronic Health Record (iEHR) - infrastructure to enable secure and authorized access to heath records from anywhere in the province;
* eDrug Project (eDrug) - enhancing PharmaNet;
* Provincial Diagnostic Imaging Project (Connecting DI) – sharing patient diagnostic text reports and images;
* Public Health Information Project (PHIP) - public health information management;
* Electronic Medical Record (EMR) - to give physicians better access to patient records; and
* Telehealth - services over distance, in rural and remote areas and for First Nations.

Currently, patient information is stored as paper records or electronically in isolated computers or a patchwork of local systems. eHealth will make possible the secure and immediate transfer of patient information to authorized caregivers anywhere in B.C.

Benefits for Patients
* Fewer delays in treatment and less duplicate testing.
* Improved care with patient information available where health services
are delivered.
* Patient information will be protected and accessed only by those with a need to know.

For Health Authorities
* Reductions in laboratory operating costs estimated at $3 million to $6 million per year.
* More efficient emergency room operation, because physicians can immediately access the patient's complete laboratory results from anywhere in the province.

For Physicians
* Easy access to complete laboratory information to inform diagnosis and treatment, regardless of who originally ordered the test or where the test was performed.
* Reduction and elimination of duplicated calls to laboratories or other physicians.

Privacy
* Health-care providers will only be permitted to access patient information in order to provide health care.
* All access to patient information will be electronically tracked and recorded, and records of access will be carefully monitored.