Connected Health System – Digital Referrals and Order Program
Onboard to OceanMD and start sending eReferrals today
The Digital Referrals & Orders (DRO) program, leveraging Ocean MD as the platform, was envisioned to help alleviate some of the manual processes and pain points of the current fax/paper based non integrated referral system. This solution was selected after considerable consultation with providers (managed through the Doctors of BC). Ontario and Nova Scotia are also leveraging this system.
Benefits realized by family practice, clinic staff and specialists includes:
- Reduced manual workflows (not having to track down the status of a referral, lost referrals, etc.)
- Reduction in clinic staff time with ability to send automated reminders and notifications to patients.
- Reduced time not having to locate, upload and updated manual PDF referral forms.
- Reduction in the need to re-enter information (digital referrals auto-populate).
- Decision support automatically built into the digital referrals reducing requests for missing and/or more information.
Start sending eReferrals today…
OceanMD’s Healthmap provides an interactive, easy-to-use tool that can be used by anyone to find care providers, health services and clinic locations anywhere in British Columbia.
The list of receivers (specialists and community programs) in Vancouver is growing every day including:
- Specialty areas:
- Community-based Gastroenterology, Pediatrics, Dermatology and Otolaryngology (ENT).
- St. Paul’s Hospital Outpatient: Audiology & Cochlear Implant and General Internal Medicine.
- Community programs:
- Mind Space (formerly CBT Skills Groups)
Eligibility Criteria at a glance
All Vancouver-based family practice clinics are invited to sign up to the eReferral program as senders.
- Family practice clinics using one of MedAccess, Oscar Pro or Accuro EMRs are eligible for the fully-integrated version of OceanMD and patient messaging.
- Family practice clinics using another EMR are eligible to use the OceanMD Web Portal.
Clinic Onboarding to OceanMD eReferrals
Below is a high level overview of what you can expect:
- Your dedicated PHSA contact reaches out to introduce themselves and to coordinate a time to set up your clinic as a Site in OceanMD.
- On the agreed upon date, your clinic is set up in OceanMD. This is completed in partnership with the MOA / Clinic Manager.
- Next physician and other admin accounts are set up in OceanMD.
- All new users sign an OceanMD user agreement when they first login.
- Group training is provided by PHSA and users are officially onboarded.
- PHSA will provide group training, but also training online and pre-recorded training to ensure all providers have access to training.
- A dedicated support desk will be available to all members of your team to answer any questions and provide support.
- Assuming there are receivers of interest to the clinic in OceanMD (i.e. specialists) and patients to send to the receiver, then the clinic can begin making referrals immediately.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
A maximum of 10-15 hours TOTAL is required from your clinic team to facilitate your personalized, supported onboarding to OceanMD, role-based training and any help desk support.
- It is possible that a clinic be set up and ready to create eReferrals using OceanMD within one day.
Clinics have control over when implementation happens and at a time that is convenient to the providers/staff.
DRO Program Overview
The DRO program enables digital referrals and, in the near future, digital consults, and orders. As part of the Ministry of Health’s provincial Digital Health Strategy, the goal of this program is to enable data sharing between clinical systems across BC, reducing administrative burden, improving care coordination, and creating efficiencies in our health system. After an extensive consultation and procurement process that included significant physician engagement, PHSA has selected OceanMD as the provincial platform. The DRO program utilizing the OceanMD software includes a Healthmap of health services.
KEY BENEFITS
- Streamline the referral process.
- Reduce the need to use fax.
- Securely message other clinics and providers.
- Securely store and share patient information with increased privacy.
- Automatically send notifications regarding referral status and appointments to patients and referring clinics.
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
- Ocean’s Healthmap serves as an interactive, reliable, easy-to-use tool that can be used by anyone to find care providers, health services and clinic locations anywhere in British Columbia.
- Digital referral forms are attached to the provider or health services listing on the Healthmap.
- Auto population of patient information into referral and order requests from integrated EMRs.
- Digital referral and order requests will be legible and can include mandatory fields, clinical algorithms, attachments, and analytics.
PATIENT BENEFITS
- Supports greater patient participation in their care by enabling automated notifications of referral status, appointment bookings and pre-appointment forms and instructions.
FURTHER RESOURCES
- PHSA Tech Tuesday: eReferrals — Learn how to eRefferals ensure your referrals are always delivered at PHSA’s Tech Tuesday series.
- Here is a quick YouTube video overview of the DRO program by PHSA DRO Digital Referrals and Orders
- Videos on how this integration looks for the 3 fully-integrated EMRs.
- Guide to Sending eReferrals – OceanMD (cognisantmd.com)– Click on “1. Initiate your Ocean eReferral” – then the EMR specific options will be available.
- Guide to Receiving eReferrals – OceanMD (cognisantmd.com)
- Ocean Healthmap – link to the OceanMD HealthMap (live in Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Vancouver, BC).
