Charlie Faithe, 7, considers the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) to be his home away from home, “I have been at CHEO a lot of times.”
Charlie, born with a cleft lip and palate and heart issues, has had 14 surgeries and countless other clinic appointments and Emergency Room visits on a regular basis.
“He learned to walk here (CHEO), he has celebrated Thanksgiving here. He’s had a lot of his milestones happen here,” says Charlie’s mother Angie Hamson.
Charlie’s medical records are nine-volumes long, something Hamson has spent years tracking, “I would print up everything and get copies of MRI reports, CT scans and echocardiograms.”
But now Hamson won’t have to do that, “it was incredible to be able to pull that up at my fingerprints.”
Patients with complex care issues like Charlie can now access their medical records online through an app called “CHEO MyChart”. The online portal gives patients and their family real-time access to their electronic health records.
“Healthcare in general is a bit behind in terms of sharing information,” says CHEO Pediatric Endocrinologist Dr. Ellen Goldbloom, “this is what we’ve come to expect with our banking and booking travel.”
Once logged on, CHEO MyChart, lists a patient’s health issues, allergies, medication, test results, growth chart and upcoming appointments. It also has a messaging feature, allowing patients to ask healthcare providers important questions.
“People are better prepared when they come in for their visits,” says CHEO’s Chief Medical Information Officer, Dr. Jim King, “they know their information and they’re asking better questions. It makes the visit more efficient.”
“I think more and more we’re realizing that the more informed patients are the more engaged they are,” adds Dr. Goldbloom, “the better outcomes they can have.”
Dr. King realizes some patients may have privacy concerns but he says CHEO MyChart is just as safe and secure as doing online banking, “we have high standards around the security of the health information that we maintain at CHEO. We’re not actually sending any information outside; it’s the family logging in.”
While healthcare providers call this a “game changer” for patients and families, Charlie’s mother is just happy she can now spend more time caring for her son, instead of managing his care, “I don’t fear falling off the ball anymore,” says Hamson, “I know there is a system in place to help keep track of everything.”
