Part of the vision of the Department of Family Medicine (DFM) is to build a leadership role in modern information technologies applicable to clinical and academic family medicine. Scope of such work encompasses three major directions:
- Develop, research, implement and teach the effective use of IT tools for application in the clinical practice of family medicine. Electronic Medical Records and Electronic Health Records are the main instruments of interest here.
- Implement and promote the use of effective e-learning tools including access to knowledge and decision-assist resources as well as interactive and collaborative online learning tools.
- Provide effective IT resources throughout the Department for effective operational work (scheduling, access to forms, policies, communication, assessment tools, etc.)
Informatics in Clinical Practice
Recent advances in technology, particularly in the area of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and Electronic Health Records (EHR), mean physicians have access to a variety of tools which could potentially improve office efficiency, patient management and clinical outcomes. With the availability of these tools, physicians now have expedient access to patient data and clinical decision support tools at their fingertips.
Some of the most innovative and effective EMR solutions and hardware installations in the province have occurred within DFM. Our department collaborates with many stakeholders to pilot IT tools for clinical practice, and learners will have the opportunity to experience and explore developments in this rapidly changing field. Practitioners and managers from many jurisdictions have visited some of our teaching sites to explore implemented IT tools used in daily practice.
It is the intent of DFM that all Residents and students in family medicine teaching clinics be exposed to environments featuring EMR/EHR implementation in order to accelerate the actual rate of adoption of these technologies in the community.
Thus, we are working towards having all learners placed in community practices that have successfully implemented, or are in the process of implementing, information management systems.
Informatics in Education
DFM manages nearly 450 learners and educators each year in roughly 75 locations throughout Alberta. New developments in e-learning are essential in the successful operation of this expanded campus. E-learning or web-based learning offers opportunities for self-instruction and collaborative learning without demographic barriers. It allows for easy dissemination of educational material by educators to a broader audience so that continuing medical education will be more easily attainable by physicians who have busy clinical and administrative obligations.
Future plans involve DMF’s creation of an “intranet” service where secure communication and collaborative learning can occur. We look forward to hosting these tools and activities on the Faculty of Medicine’s Homer site and further exploring how residency programs can interact with this powerful resource. Homer is an advanced IT environment for learners and we are anticipating our department staff will use the environment for secure academic administrative work.
