TORONTO, ON — xwaveEMR, formerly the xwave Clinical Management System, has been enhanced with new features and functionality that are helping doctors gain real-time access to patient information and formulate more detailed diagnoses.

The Brighton, Ontario Family Health Team (FHT) is using the solution to improve diabetes management for its almost 400 diabetic patients. “A patient record can be set up for prompts,” said Dr. Richard Wiginton, “such as request that a patient come back for a diabetic follow-up in three months. It’s also a medical record accessible by all providers in a clinic setting.” The use of these kinds of technologies and tools has resulted in a redesign of the traditional family doctor’s practice and the sharing of healthcare information, which together are helping to improve delivery of care and keep chronic-disease patients healthier.

Dr. Wiginton also uses xwaveEMR to track and contact patients for routine screening such as pap smears, mammograms, immunization and colonoscopies; and to manage about 100 patients on Coumadin anticoagulation therapy. In addition, he uses his EMR to care for over 200 hypertension patients in the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario (HSFO) Hypertension Management program. The EMR contains customized chronic disease forms and securely exchanges data directly with HSFO. With xwaveEMR, Dr. Wiginton has streamlined the administration of his practice, decreased wait times, and increased the number of patients he is able to see each day by 25 percent.

The solution is also one of the first EMRs in Ontario to integrate with hospital information systems. Now, 25 physicians at two locations of Mississauga’s Summerville Family Health Team receive patient information from Trillium Health Centre— about 1,700 messages per week — almost instantly instead of in three to five days.

“We look after over 30,000 patients, and because of this integration, we’re aware of their movement and activities at the hospital,” said Summerville’s Dr. David Daien. “Clinical results, dictations, admit-discharge-transfer notifications — it’s all delivered directly to our desktops, with each patient’s information routed specifically to his or her doctor’s EMR. The hospital is automated; we’re automated; it only makes sense to connect us, and the fact that xwaveEMR is an application service provider solution means that we can make that connection with relative ease.”

Enhanced patient-encounter forms for chronic disease management (CDM) are among a number of enhancements to xwaveEMR for 2009. Meeting CDM reporting requirements set by OntarioMD, the forms automate and standardize the routine, time-consuming documentation associated with treating chronic diseases such as diabetes, asthma, hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and congestive heart failure.

“Improving efficiency and delivery of care revolves around workflow — helping physicians communicate more easily and effectively — and that’s what xwaveEMR does,” said Dr. Sue Thomas, Medical Director of xwave Healthcare. “The solution’s software already offers Ontario doctors one of the most mature and tightly integrated EMRs on the market, and now with its recent enhancements, xwaveEMR will streamline their practice workflow even further.”

“Patients are fully aware that I work right with the physician, so that everything that I put on their chart the physician can see and vice-versa,” said Amber Christopher, a registered nurse with the Brighton FHT. “It’s a holistic and collaborative approach. The patients are responding well, and it takes a load off the doctors too.”

Initially launched in 2005, xwaveEMR was the first web-based EMR to be approved and funding-eligible under Ontario’s Physician IT Program. It remains the only solution to deliver GE Healthcare Centricity® EMR software customized for the Ontario healthcare market. Created in 1985, Centricity EMR has won numerous industry awards in the U.S. It has more than 30,000 users worldwide, and offers a number of advantages over other comparable products, such as:

• highly evolved clinical forms and templates that can be customized to suit any type or size of practice — the result of almost 25 years of product research and development

• a standardized data model that enables effective information aggregation and population analysis

• a robust HL7 (Health Level 7) messaging capabilities that support a high degree of integration and connectivity to hospitals and other healthcare systems that many other systems don’t

As an application service provider (ASP) solution fully managed by xwave, users have anytime / anywhere access to patient information (office, home, hospital, hotel room). The solution is deployed via eHealth Ontario’s ONE® Network, a secure Internet channel built specifically to transmit health information. xwave supports and maintains the solution, providing site assessments, staff training, software updates, a 24/7 helpdesk, and online self-help tools. This means that with xwaveEMR physicians can remain in the medical field and not taking on the additional responsibilities of an IT Systems Manager.

About xwave Healthcare
xwave Healthcare is one of the largest and longest-serving healthcare-consulting practices in Canada. Winner of two ITAC-Health awards — Company of the Year (2006) and Project Implementation Team of the Year (2008) — the practice draws from 30 years of experience and over 300 medical, technical and business consultants all guided by a Medical Advisory Board of physicians who provide direction and counsel on a voluntary basis. Together they develop solutions and services that connect providers with patients and promote efficiency across the entire continuum of care. More information can be found at http://www.xwave.com/healthcare

About xwave
xwave, a division of Bell Aliant, is an information technology service provider that serves clients through two portfolios: Professional Services and Advanced Technology Solutions. Together they plan, design, build, and deliver information technology solutions that meet clients’ business needs and help clients build a simpler, greener and more stable IT environment. xwave employs over 1,000 people in offices in St. John’s, Halifax, Moncton, Saint John, Fredericton, Charlottetown, Summerside, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and New England. More information can be found at http://www.xwave.com/

For further information, contact:
Karen.Ewing@xwave.com
877-332-4605