Health P.E.I. plans rollout of electronic patient records, use of AI, in digital strategy

The P.E.I. government says all Islanders could have access to their medical records online by the end of this year or early in 2025.

The provincewide patient portal is partially outlined in a digital health strategy for 2024-29 that was released in mid-July by Health P.E.I. and the Department of Health and Wellness. It outlines how the province plans to incorporate emerging technology in the sector.  

Just over a year ago, Health P.E.I. said electronic medical records would be accessible for patients across the province within just a few months.

It now looks like it will come in late 2024 or early 2025, said Laurae Kloschinsky, assistant deputy minister with the Department of Health and Wellness. 

"One of the things we're really looking at is we want to create access that's meaningful, consistent and appropriate," she said.

"So we are working on the MyPEI portal, which we describe as the one-stop digital front door to government services."

The digital health document doesn't provide any timelines or tangible goals for how the strategy will work. But that was intentional, Kloschinsky said.

"There isn't necessarily a five-year plan because in those goals it could be multiple projects within it. Some may occur earlier on in strategy and some may occur [later]," she said.

Health P.E.I. says it consulted with the public, health-care providers, community partners, provincial information technology staff, Access P.E.I., other provincial health departments, and consultants over the past year to develop the strategy.

Health P.E.I. said last year that the move to the provincewide electronic medical records system had gone remarkably well. The system allows physicians to share information like prescription records and patient history, plus sends out automated appointment reminders and pre-visit questionnaires.

Kloschinsky said the province wanted to ensure all parts of the system could communicate effectively before rolling out the patient portal, and that's taken longer than expected to implement.

Islanders could use the portal to access everything from their pharmacy prescription information and health records to physiotherapy appointments and referrals to specialists.

Kloschinsky said more than 95 clinics, 200 primary care providers, and over 1,000 Islanders use some parts of the electronic health records system, including features like automatic appointment reminders.

She said even more features of the electronic medical records system will be available later in 2025.