Election 2024: Prioritize interoperability

Election 2024: Prioritize interoperability

Doctors Nova Scotia believes that physicians and other system partners must work together to create solutions for health-care issues. Prioritizing interoperability is one of four priorities doctors will discuss with 2024 election candidates. 


Nova Scotia’s digital health systems are poorly integrated, causing significant challenges to providing timely care and increasing administrative burden. Doctors and other health-care providers spend significant time on various platforms searching for information they need about their patients. Investing in systems like One Patient One Record (OPOR), which will integrate all hospital-based digital systems across the province, is necessary. We need to see a second phase of this project in which community-based physicians’ also have a fully integrated single platform to easily access their patients’ records. 

Our province must continue to work toward an integrated digital Nova Scotia health system that supports physicians and is easy to access in hospital settings and in the community. This would further improve patient care and safety by providing doctors and other providers with a single source of patient information, available across the province, to support patient care.  

Continue to implement OPOR 

Implementing OPOR is going to be a long process that puts stress on the system. Doctors must continue to be engaged and supported through the process to ensure it is successful.  

Improve family physician access to patient information

Community-based doctors must currently access multiple systems to retrieve patient information. These multiple log-ins create inefficiencies and potential patient safety risks. Doctors need access to all patient information on one platform with a simple sign-in process. The health partners need to work together to find a solution to this issue. 

Other priorities

Invest in primary care infrastructure and collaborative clinic implementation 

Our province must continue to support primary care and work to remove barriers for the successful implementation of collaborative care practices. Learn more

Retain our physician workforce

Our province must collectively turn our efforts toward creating a supportive transition into practice. This will help maximize the investments being made to recruit doctors to Nova Scotia by ensuring physicians have a good experience here and decide to stay long term. Learn more 

Prioritize physician wellness

Our province must invest in physician wellness. Continuing to reduce unnecessary physician administrative burden is one important facet of this work. Learn more 

What can you do?

Talk with local candidates on these important health-care priorities. The candidates will want to hear directly from physicians as community leaders. Personal contact is the most effective form of communication.

Read the health care platforms for the three main political parties before meeting with candidates:

  • Liberal plan
  • NDP plan (not yet released) 
  • PC plan (not yet released) 

Resources to support your advocacy 

Prioritizing interoperability is one of four priorities Doctors Nova Scotia will discuss with 2024 election candidates. Doctors Nova Scotia believes that physicians and other system partners must work together to create solutions for health-care issues.

Contact

Katie Mallam
Director, policy and physician wellness initiatives
902-237-7061
1-800-563-3427