Background

Since 2004, public and private health care institutions have been confronted with substantial regulatory changes, including reforms in resource allocation methods, budget and accounting projections, and health insurance regulations, and the creation of the DMP (Personal Medical Record).

In order to implement these reforms, institutions have had to make ongoing changes to their internal organization and information systems.

On one hand, with the gradual changeover to the T2A system, the management and financing of these institutions are becoming directly tied to their ability to generate medicalized invoices as quickly as possible.

Thus, the challenge facing these institutions is to create an effective reporting and billing process. With regard to information systems, this primarily involves taking steps to enhance the collection and handling of patient medical and administrative data and to dematerialize contacts with human resource administrators and health insurance providers.

To do this, the GMSIH is proposing in particular that health care institutions and software publishers adopt the target architecture defined in the study on T2A : the DRV (Dossier de Résumé de Venue, or Patient Intake Summary Record).

In addition, the creation of the DMP has had the effect of prompting a re-evaluation of how medical information is managed within health care institutions. By appropriating the DMP tool, institutions will be able to improve their coordinated approach to providing care to patients.

Therefore, the GMSIH has conducted a study on ways that health care institutions can consult the DMP and route information to it, as well as a study on managing patient consent. The GMSIH also conducted a support project during the DMP trial period; this support will be discussed in an upcoming publication that contains an analysis of where hospital information systems stand with respect to deployment of the DMP, as well as recommendations for the upcoming deployment of the DMP system as its use is expanded.