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demonstrates first hand the benefits of rapid electronic access to patient information by the health care professionals, involved in patient care both within the hospital and the community. In an age of technological innovations the barriers, which prevent health care providers from obtaining rapid access to information that is crucial to decision-making for their patients, should be falling rapidly. The success of the SCS project confirms that not only is this type of access possible but that it is welcomed both by patients and health care providers in the primary care network. Improved access to this information will empower those providers who as a result of a lack of information are excluded from the care provided to their patients within the hospital context and hence in any post-hospital care. The shift of medical care from the inpatient to outpatient setting as well as important developments in Primary Care reform will see an expanding role for PCPs in the care of acutely ill patients. Successfully incorporating PCPs into these realms is going to be contingent on accurate, timely and unhampered access to the information required for informed decisionmaking. Decision makers in health informatics Decision-makers in health informatics can gleam important and relevant conclusions from the SCS project. Most important of these are the existence of significant technological hurdles that must be faced when implementing a secure, rapid and reliable informational link between hospitals and community-based health care providers. Any such project needs to take careful inventory of compatibility issues with existent hospital databases and the application responsible for making patient information available to healthcare providers based in the community. The implication for decision makers in health informatics relates to the necessary foresight that is required early in the development of the health care information systems so as to assure standardization of it’s components with an eye to assuring seamless integration throughout the emerging network as a whole. 5
Managers in the hospital-based and primary care systems The SCS project supports the notion that enabling quality communication linkages between hospitals and the primary care network should become a high priority for managers in the health care system. This implication is the reflection of the conclusions reached throughout the three phases of the SCS project. Phase I established the deficiencies in communication in the three Quebec hospitals recruited to participate. Phase II proved that a secure, rapid and accessible link was possible as long as certain technological aspects were sufficiently addressed. Thirdly, Phase III confirmed the benefit of the SCS in regards to the continuity and quality of patient care delivered. Approach General Approach As reflected in the research objectives, this project's methodology also followed a triphasic approach. The first phase consisted of focus groups aimed at determining the key data elements necessary for informed clinical decision-making by PCP and ED providers. During the second phase, a standardized communication tool facilitating the transfer of information between emergency department and the PCPs was developed and implemented. Finally, in the third phase of the study, family physicians and their patients were recruited to evaluate the impact of the SCS on several health care outcomes. Phase 1: Focus Groups Identification of the informational elements required by both PCPs and ED teams to facilitate the comprehensive care of patients seeking urgent care in the ED and are then referred back to the PCPs for follow-up. A focus group was held at each participating centre Sir Mortimer B. Davis – Jewish General Hospital (Montreal), Hôtel Dieu de Lévis (Quebec City), and Hôpital Charles LeMoyne (Longueuil) in order to obtain balanced perspectives from key health care providers which could in turn contribute to the generalization of the views obtained. 6
Page 1 and 2: The Impact of a Standardized Inform
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Page 5 and 6: Executive Summary Context Inadequat
Page 7 and 8: 4. Do patients value the standardiz
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Page 11: to an absence of an efficient commu
Page 15 and 16: Call for tenders A document incorpo
Page 17 and 18: Implementation of the tool Sir Mort
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Page 21 and 22: Information transfer from ED to PCP
Page 23 and 24: account for this repeated measureme
Page 25 and 26: A post study focus group was held t
Page 27 and 28: In comparison with mailed copies of
Page 29 and 30: Visit to PCP and reason of visit 80
Page 31 and 32: methods that are seamless and bi-di

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