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Overview

This Ontario eReferral FHIR Implementation Guide (IG) was written to support implementers of systems that will use HL7 FHIR to support the electronic transfer of information when patients are referred from one healthare service provider to another in the province of Ontario.

Background

Clinicians in Ontario need to be able to refer patients to the care they need, anywhere in the province in a fair and consistent manner. Current paper based referrals and disconnected electronic systems are a significant barrier to this.

Electronic Referral (eReferral) simplifies the referral process by enhancing communication between primary care providers, specialists and other healthcare service providers enabling quick and secure referrals to be sent, received and managed through an electronic platform.

Content and Organization

The implementation guide is organized into the following sections:

Credits

This FHIR eReferral implementation guide is a work product of the Canadian eReferral FHIR workstream. This workstream is composed of a dedicated group of Canadian stakeholders and technology vendors who have met regularly since 2016 with the objective of establishing a vendor independent, standards-based system integration to support seamless electronic referrals and consultations between care providers that improves patient care - both experience and outcomes - and reduces administrative burden for providers.

Implementation Guide Contributors include:

  • Co-Chair: Tim Berezny (Caredove)
  • Co-Chair: Caryn Harris (Orion Health)
  • Alfred Wong (Think Research)
  • Amadou Tall (Strata Health Solutions)
  • Cindy Jiang (Ontario Health)
  • Dustin Doan (CognisantMD)
  • Fariba Behzadi (Ontario Health)
  • Ion Moraru (Ontario Health)
  • Janice Spence (Ontario Health)
  • Jeff Kavanagh (CognisantMD)
  • John Wills (eServices Program, eHealth Centre of Excellence)
  • Jon Fishbein (CognisantMD)
  • Leke Akinyele (Think Research)
  • Matt Atwood (Novari Health)
  • Radhika Verma (Ontario Health)
  • Russ Buchanan (Gevity Consulting)
  • Ted Jin (Ontario Health)
  • Yaron Derman (CognisantMD)

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