Continuum. May Paul s Point. Solutions in Action! New TELUS Physician Solutions business poised to drive EMR adoption

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1 Paul s Point Solutions in Action! New TELUS Physician Solutions business poised to drive EMR adoption Consumer Health Conversations TELUS new consumer health website myhealthreference.com Is healthcare ready for BYOD? May 2012 Continuum

2 Paul s Point Time and again, whenever I meet someone new, one of the first questions they ask me is why is TELUS in health? Aren t you a telecom company? This is usually accompanied by a puzzled expression and sometimes a look of sheer bewilderment, which is not surprising. Three years ago, we made a simple promise: to help transform the way information is used in our healthcare industry, ensuring a healthier future for all of us. We would do so by becoming the premier provider of innovative and proven solutions for managing, coordinating and delivering sustainable, high-quality healthcare. But we forgot something. In our desire to communicate what we do for the health sector, we neglected to explain why we re doing it. TELUS is in health because: We believe in the power of information to transform outcomes in healthcare for doctors, health practitioners and patients. We believe in harnessing this power through a profound understanding of healthcare; by fully grasping the methods and approaches used by doctors and health professionals in their work; by acknowledging the things patients need and expect from healthcare; and by being open to possibilities. We believe in giving where we live. By investing in the sector that s most important to Canadians healthcare we are helping to improve society by ensuring better health for future generations. As a telecommunications company, we deliver the efficient, effective and secure movement and storage of information across multiple platforms, devices and communities. We also make intuitive software that simplifies and streamlines information capture and use at the point of care; and we store and transmit this data through world-class data centres on high speed, reliable networks. But what does this mean for Canadians? Here a few examples: A patient living with COPD could use remote patient monitoring and a personal health record to share daily information on their health status which could be shared with the multidisciplinary team to coordinate care, reduce hospital re-admissions and to improve the patient s overall outcome; Patient information captured in electronic health records and stored in the clinical data repository could be accessed and analyzed to provide information on population health, disease trends and treatment success to improve outcomes; and Patients signed up to use TELUS Pharma Space can communicate with their pharmacist by updating their profile, ordering prescription refills and searching for information about their medications all online or through a mobile device. Within this issue of Continuum, you will find out more about why TELUS is in health. From our acquisition of Wolf Medical Systems, Canada s fastest growing EMR vendor, to the launch of myhealthreference.com, our new consumer health web site with specific, relevant and credible Canadian health content it s clear that our focus is on helping turn information into better health outcomes. For those of you planning to attend the ehealth Conference in Vancouver, I invite you to drop by our booth, explore our solutions and let us know how we re doing. Paul Lepage Senior Vice President TELUS Health Solutions Continuum May

3 Solutions in Action! New TELUS Physician Solutions business poised to drive EMR adoption In early February we acquired Wolf Medical Systems, Canada s fastest-growing cloud-based electronic medical record (EMR) provider. This acquisition led to the creation of a new line of business called TELUS Physician Solutions, dedicated to helping physicians improve productivity and deliver better health outcomes for patients, specifically through development of leading edge EMR solutions. TELUS Physician Solutions new EMR capabilities will be enhanced with the addition of our extensive range of mobility, care collaboration, homecare and consumer solutions. This will help doctors coordinate and share information with their extended healthcare team and their patients and families anywhere, anytime. The selection of Wolf by TELUS was based on its people, its technology, and a shared vision of how information, communications and technology (ICT) can transform healthcare for Canadians. Since 2010, Wolf has exclusively committed to cloud-based technology to enhance the physician experience in terms of patient care and physician productivity while focusing on health outcomes. The result is a secure, highly available, highly reliable cloud-based EMR that reduces the investment required by physicians as they upgrade from paper files to electronic systems. Through this acquisition, we are now uniquely positioned to facilitate the integration of electronic health records from the home, to the doctor s office and to the hospital, thus ensuring that critical health information is available to care providers over secure, wireline and wireless broadband networks wherever and whenever they need it. Our new TELUS Physician Solutions organization is led by Dr. Brendan Byrne, a practicing physician and founder of Wolf Medical Systems. Continuum May

4 Consumer Health Conversations TELUS new consumer health website, myhealthreference.com, helps Canadians care for themselves and their families - at home and on the move - by harnessing the power of the Internet in the service of health information. TELUS Health Solutions has launched an innovative consumer/public health website designed to help Canadians find the specific, relevant and credible information and tools they need to better manage their health and the health of their families. myhealthreference. com focuses on overall health and medical conditions. It is intended as a clearinghouse of specific Canadian data and information to improve Canadians health knowledge and self-management, without replacing the expertise provided by medical professionals. The boom in online health and medical website consults Consumers are increasingly turning to the Internet for medical and health information. In fact, recent studies suggest that given our overburdened healthcare system, many Canadians will turn to their computers and portable devices to find information on medical symptoms, prescription drugs, and healthy living tips, over and above consulting with their primary care physicians. In essence, for many people, the Internet has replaced the family doctor as an acknowledged source of generalized information on public health, wellness, and prescription drugs. Online searches are not new, and the availability, variety and ease of use of many medical and wellness websites have placed a wealth of information at consumers fingertips. However, a lack of specifically Canadian data, and the uncertainty surrounding the accuracy of online information (coupled with an overall lack of accountability and clinical expertise found in many apparently legitimate websites) have cast a pall of suspicion on this method of obtaining information. The solution was simple: find credible, medically sound public health and lifestyle information and make it widely available to Canadians in a user-friendly, accessible format. myhealthreference.com does just that. The website will act as a repository for Canadian-specific data to help empower individuals to take charge of their own health and that of their loved ones, while encouraging patients to consult their medical professional for additional information. The new website will provide access to: Web and mobile tools, such as a symptom checker, self-assessment modules, healthy habits guides and smoking cessation programs A powerful search feature that learns and adapts from user trends and health news to deliver relevant, credible content to returning visitors Reliable content and news from trusted Canadian sources covering health topics from A to Z Advice from physicians, pharmacists, naturopaths and nutritionists, as well as information on finding specialized local resources Powered by TELUS, the new consumer health portal at myhealthreference.com offers consumers credible Canadian data presented in a user-friendly, relevant and informative manner. Check it out today, and share it with your family and friends. Continuum May

5 Across the Continuum May 27, 2012 ehealth Conference Vancouver, BC May 27, 2012 Pharmachoice Western Buying Show Saskatoon, SK June 4, 2012 National Healthcare Leadership Conference Halifax, NS June 4-6, 2012 Canadian Telecom Summit Toronto, ON June 6, 2012 CACDS Annual Exchange Conference Montreal, QC June 6-7, 2012 Oacis User Group Montreal, QC June 12, 2012 TELUS Health Solutions Annual Drug Conference Vancouver, BC June 14, 2012 Ontario Pharmacist s Association London, ON June 18, th Annual Healthcare Conference Reboot Kelowna, BC Continuum May

6 Did You Know? Small medical offices with one or two physicians in the practice are the fastest-growing segment for adoption of electronic health records (EHR) software. According to the latest results of an ongoing study of more than 240,000 U.S. medical sites by SK&A, a leading provider of healthcare information solutions and research, the EHR adoption rate of solo and two-person practices jumped from 30.8% to 36.9% over a six-month period. The study concludes that government incentives and industry promotion play role in converting solo practices to paperless technology. Overall, practices with 6 to 10 physicians remain the highest adopters of EHR technology, at 65%. Internal medicine, family medicine and pediatrics are the medical specialties most satisfied with current electronic medical record (EMR) functionality. These findings were reported in Ambulatory EMR by Specialty Study 2012: Finding the Fit, a report prepared by Utah-based research firm KLAS, which analyzed EMR vendors. Oncology and ophthalmology are the least satisfied specialties. For the purpose of this report, KLAS interviewed over 700 medical professionals in a variety of specialties, and also looked at single-vendor monolithic solutions in complex heterogeneous organizations versus open networks of niche solutions with more personalized functions but more difficult interoperability. A small study on providing online clinical summaries to support evidence-based decision-making has reported highly positive results. Although small in scope, it may emerge as a model for how evidence-based clinical information for diagnosis and treatment decisions could be integrated into the EHR workflow at the point of care. In the study, published via BMC Pediatrics, 83 pediatricians were offered online access to clinical answers (CA). These short, one-page summaries of evidence are used to answer questions posed by pediatricians at the point of care. Of these, 93% found the information provided to be useful or very useful, 88% thought the evidence could support clinical decisions, and 83% said they would use this information in the future. According to a new study from Frost & Sullivan, PHRs are going to spread. A news release announcing a new report, The U.S. Personal Health Records Market: Understanding Technical and Strategic Imperatives around Consumer-Focused Health IT, estimates that revenues will reach $414.8 million in 2015, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.8%. Frost & Sullivan believes a number of factors will drive this growth, including rising consumer interest in PHRs and related tools as a natural progression of the widespread use of IT, particularly mobile Internet devices; structural changes in healthcare, including new collaborative care models; the growing adoption of EHRs among providers; and advancements in technology that will enable data to be automatically gathered, consolidated, and fed into PHR platforms, thus enabling greater efficiency and ease of use. Reproduced with permission from Circle Square Inc., March 2012 HIT Report Continuum May

7 News & Views You Can Use TELUS Pharma Space and BRUNET adds new family-focused functionality Montreal PQ, April 18, 2012 For Brunet customers using the MaSanté tool on brunet.ca, TELUS Pharma Space has added a family application which provides customers with the ability to designate a caregiver (family member or other) and give them secure access to his or her account. For example, a woman taking care of her elderly mother would be able to go online and through her own account, renew her mother s prescriptions and view her medication information. The new Family health management application has become even more powerful. It now enables all users to: obtain anywhere, anytime views of the health records and drug profiles of loved ones, children, parents and other authorized family members, in real time; perform automatic prescription renewals; consult a loved one s medication history for better monitoring of adherence to treatment; consult a series of photos that enable the rapid identification of drugs and; becomes a powerful asset for long term care facility managers. In addition to the new Family health management application announced today, the MaSanté tool already enables, on a single and unique platform, the ability to request prescription refills, track prescription status, view their account and drug information, manage their personal profile, find answers to frequently asked questions, and search for health advice. TELUS and Queensway Carleton Hospital achieve significant milestone in rapid access to Emergency Treatment Records Ottawa, ON, March 28, 2012 TELUS Health Solutions today announced an important milestone with Queensway Carleton Hospital (QCH) to accelerate the distribution of patient clinical documentation and Admitted Patient Notifications from emergency department visits to patients family doctors using TELUS CareShare. More than120 family doctors are receiving emergency treatment records within hours of a patient s emergency department visit. The six-month pilot project went live in December 2011 with more than 1350 documents being delivered to date. An additional 700 physicians are expected to be added to the program over the next few months. CareShare Results Distribution accelerates the distribution of patient records, such as diagnostic test reports and discharge information, to care providers and health organizations. Previously, these types of documents would have been delivered by mail or courier service. HIPAAT to provide consent management service for TELUS Health Information Exchange (HIE) platform Toronto, ON, March 21, 2012 TELUS Health Solutions and HIPAAT Inc. today announced they are integrating HIPAAT s leading Privacy esuite consent management service with TELUS Assure EHR Integration Platform to bring patient-centered privacy to jurisdictional health information exchange. Privacy esuite electronically manages patients consent to the collection, use and disclosure of their personal health information while simultaneously adjudicating organizational and jurisdictional privacy policies. The ability to ensure information privacy in the exchange of electronic personal health information is critical to consumer confidence. After thorough testing we selected HIPAAT s consent management product for its deep capabilities, flexibility and standards-based design, said Glenn De Roy, vice-president TELUS Health Solutions. HIPAAT offers the best solution in the market today, and we are pleased to be working with them. Committed to industry standards, TELUS and HIPAAT have aligned their products with Canada Health Infoway s vision and standards, and with the principles of internationally-recognized Privacy by Design, please visit Continuum May

8 Is healthcare ready for BYOD (Bring-Your-Own-Device)? As the healthcare industry struggles to adapt to patient-driven healthcare, there is another similar trend that is making waves behind the scenes: the consumerisation of IT. This refers to the increasing expectation that I should have access to the same kind of technology in the workplace as I do in my personal life. So if I m an iphone kind of person, why do I have to use something else at work? Why do I need to carry two devices one for personal and one for work? Can t I just have one device for everything? Well from the consumer s perspective this sounds simple. How hard can it be just let me hook my phone into our systems and I ll start reading my work from my cool personal phone. But nothing is ever that easy, especially when it comes to healthcare. Just hooking in to the corporate system with your smartphone puts critical and very private patient data at risk. And the healthcare organization that holds the data is on the hook for its security. So the IT department is not just being difficult when they don t want you to do this: they re protecting our healthcare data. There are a lot of options now available for MDM software. Picking the MDM that s best for your health organization is a good start, but there is more to consider than which MDM you will use. How will you get the MDM software onto a personal smartphone and ensure the right cost centre is billed? Have we defined the right mobility policies for personal vs. corporate use, and can we enforce them? Do we have the skill to administer and support this new technology? What happens when a device is lost or stolen? Will you provide helpdesk for personal devices? And how will we handle personal vs. corporate expenses? If you think your healthcare organization has unauthorized personal devices on your network and need help taking back control, talk your TELUS Wireless Specialist about TELUS Managed Mobility Services, or visit telus.com/mms. Continuum May

9 Questions? telushealth.com