NS deploys e-health record, starts with IWK Health

HALIFAX – Nova Scotia began the transition to a province-wide electronic health record – known as ‘One Person One Record’ – by switching on its new Oracle system last weekend at the IWK Health Centre. The hospital was to be the launching pad for a solution that’s designed to unify records across the jurisdiction, making it easier for clinicians to access the information they need and rendering patient care safer and more efficient.

“This has been a long time coming and a lot of work has gone into making this transition,” Dr. Krista Jangaard (pictured), president and CEO of the IWK, told CBC News.

Almost three years ago, the Nova Scotia government signed a $365-million contract with Oracle Cerner Canada to design, build and maintain a system that allows for an electronic record system that follows patients no matter what site they go to and is accessible by anyone providing them with care.

There have been delays getting to this point, with launch dates pushed back several times. Nova Scotia Health has changed its own plans multiple times for when it will go live, with the most recent update being that all sites in the central zone will launch on May 9, 2026, and remaining zones will follow on yet-to-be-announced dates.

Before the launch at the IWK, Jangaard said there was a mix of anticipation and nerves, something she said people at other sites that have gone through similar transitions have told her is to be expected.

Jangaard said all doctors and nurse practitioners who work at the site have completed training on the system and 94 percent of remaining staff have also been trained, with those yet to go through the process either being on leave or not scheduled to work at the site for the next three weeks.

Following a process at midnight last Saturday to move all patients already in the hospital or registered with the emergency department into the new system, Jangaard said there would be one last status check at 5 a.m. before all aspects of the health centre made the changeover.

“We will be going with the so-called big bang,” she said.

The only change patients should notice are more people working at the hospital that morning. There will be support staff who are experts in the new system, along with additional healthcare staff who are more familiar with the system who can help their colleagues throughout the hospital.

“They don’t want anything that’s going to interfere with doing good care,” said Jangaard, “so putting the supports that help them learn that system and get up in the real world as quickly as possible is key.”

One Person One Record will also support connectivity with healthcare facilities throughout the province, something it never had before.

The new system will mean the creation of a single digital record that follows patients where they go, meaning there will no longer be a need for patients to recite their entire history each time they see someone. Clinicians will know precisely what tests have been ordered without having to search multiple databases.

The benefits will become even more obvious as more sites are connected over the next year, said Jangaard. Eventually, staff at the IWK will be able to access a patient’s file even before they’ve arrived if they’ve been seen by a provider at another site in the province.

“That’s the No. 1 thing,” said Jangaard.

“It isn’t a separate episode of care – you have a journey of care, and it can be connected over geographies and over providers.”