Background There are several challenges such as information silos and lack of interoperability with the current electronic medical record (EMR) infrastructure in the Canadian health care system. These challenges can be alleviated by implementing a blockchain-based health care data management solution. Objective This study aims to provide a detailed overview of the current health data management infrastructure in British Columbia for identifying some of the gaps and inefficiencies in the Canadian health care data management system. We explored whether blockchain is a viable option for bridging the existing gaps in EMR solutions in British Columbia’s health care system. Methods We constructed the British Columbia health care data infrastructure and health information flow based on publicly available information and in partnership with an industry expert familiar with the health systems information technology network of British Columbia’s Provincial Health Services Authorities. Information flow gaps, inconsistencies, and inefficiencies were the target of our analyses. Results We found that hospitals and clinics have several choices for managing electronic records of health care information, such as different EMR software or cloud-based data management, and that the system development, implementation, and operations for EMRs are carried out by the private sector. As of 2013, EMR adoption in British Columbia was at 80% across all hospitals and the process of entering medical information into EMR systems in British Columbia could have a lag of up to 1 month. During this lag period, disease progression updates are continually written on physical paper charts and not immediately updated in the system, creating a continuous lag period and increasing the probability of errors and disjointed notes. The current major stumbling block for health care data management is interoperability resulting from the use of a wide range of unique information systems by different health care facilities. Conclusions Our analysis of British Columbia’s health care data management revealed several challenges, including information silos, the potential for medical errors, the general unwillingness of parties within the health care system to trust and share data, and the potential for security breaches and operational issues in the current EMR infrastructure. A blockchain-based solution has the highest potential in solving most of the challenges in managing health care data in British Columbia and other Canadian provinces.
BACKGROUND There are several challenges, such as information silos and lack of interoperability, with the current electronic medical records (EMR) infrastructure in the Canadian healthcare system. These challenges can be alleviated by implementing blockchain-based healthcare data management solution. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to provide a detailed overview of the current health data management infrastructure in British Columbia (BC) as a means of identifying some of the gaps and inefficiencies in the Canadian healthcare data management system. We explored whether blockchain is a viable option for the existing gaps in EMR solutions in BC’s healthcare system. METHODS We constructed BC’s healthcare data infrastructure and health information flow based on publicly available information, and in partnership with an industry expert who is very familiar with the health systems IT network of BC’s Provincial Health Services Authorities (PHSA). Information flow gaps, inconsistencies and inefficiencies were the target of our analyses. RESULTS We found that hospitals and clinics have several choices to manage electronic records of healthcare information, such as EMR softwares or cloud-based data management, and that the system development, implementation and operations for EMRs are carried out by the private sector. As of 2013, EMR adoption in BC was at 80% across all hospitals, and the process of entering medical information into EMR systems in BC could have a lag of up to 1 month. During this lag period, disease progression updates are continually written on physical paper charts and not immediately updated in the system, creating a continuous lag period and increasing the probability of errors and disjointed notes. The current major stumbling block for healthcare data management is interoperability, as different healthcare facilities use a wide range of unique information systems. CONCLUSIONS Our analysis of BC’s healthcare data management revealed several challenges including information silos, potential for medical errors, general unwillingness of parties within the healthcare system to trust and share data with each other, and potential for security breaches and operational issues in the current EMR infrastructure. Blockchain-based solution has the highest potential in solving most of the challenges in managing healthcare data in BC and other Canadian provinces.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.