The province is putting the evolution of health care service in your hands.
They have launched an online survey to decide what the next step should be in their electronic health records system.
The end goal is provide an electronic record that could be accessed by health care professionals in different facilities across the province, and eventually across the country.
In Saskatchewan if you’ve filled a prescription, had a lab test, or a diagnostic image in the past three years, you probably have an eHealth Record.
But now, eHealth Saskatchewan is trying to decide what to do with the digital information.
“We’re now at the place where we actually could provide some direct information to patients about their own information,” said eHealth SK CEO, Susan Antosh.
The online survey is designed to get feedback on who should have access to medical records, and what kind of access patients would like to their own records. The possibilities to fill prescriptions online, see your lab results, or even chat with a health care professional are all on the table.
Pharmacists have had access to these digital files for a few years now.
“When we fill out a prescription for a patient we’re able to access what medications they’re on, not only at our pharmacy, but every other pharmacy in Saskatchewan,” said Jarron Yee, a Compound Pharmacist and Owner of The Medicine Shop in Regina.
He says it’s taken pharmacy care to the next level because they’re able to better monitor drug interactions.
But the idea of countless health care professionals having access to private online information makes some people uneasy. The concept raises a number of privacy concerns.
“We’re very careful and very serious about that because it is a potential risk anytime you have information available,” said Antosh.
Using an internal security team and an internal privacy committee, the government thinks they have an unbreakable system. But ultimately only you own the rights to your own information.
“Any individual can in fact mask their information so it’s not readily available even to health care professionals,” said Antosh.
Health care professionals don’t advise that you take that step. It could result in them not catching an important detail.
“There’s a reason why we’re looking at their medication profile and that’s to fill prescriptions,” said Yee. “Which is basically for their safety.”
All of the staff who have access to the online files have gone through privacy registration with SaskHealth, and there are safeguards in place to ensure they act responsibly.
Fill out the survey yourself to have your opinion recorded.
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