“we have to build a flexible platform that allows us to innovate,” he said. “that’s a huge learning out of the pandemic: it’s really about creating the flexibility to surge when you have to react very quickly and safety.”
earlier this month, the ottawa hospital was recognized as one of the top three smart hospitals in canada. the ranking,
compiled by newsweek magazine
, placed the hospital at number 75 in the world. love said he was pleased with the recognition as it reflected a key strategic direction for the institution.
the hospital’s electronic records platform, epic, proved its value during the pandemic, he said, since it made virtual care easier and allowed the ottawa hospital to work seamlessly with other regional hospitals — hawkesbury, kemptville, renfrew, barry’s bay, the ottawa heart institute — using the same health information system.
it meant that, if a covid patient was transferred from hawkesbury or kemptville, he said, “we knew everything about them before they even came in the door.” the system, love said, allowed medical staff to track a patient’s status and medications between hospitals as it they were all part of one, integrated organization.
before the pandemic, about 15 per cent of the hospital’s outpatient visits were online. during the pandemic, that number soared to 80 or 85 per cent, love said, and epic allowed all of those telehealth visits to be built into a patient’s base chart in real time.