DRAFT - The specification is currently in development and subject to significant change. It is not ready for limited roll-out or production level use.
Introduction
The pan-Canadian eReferral/eConsult Interoperability Specification (CA:eReC) defines the building blocks (e.g., standards, formats, protocols, data structures, etc.) to develop the framework and interoperability mechanisms necessary for eReferrals and eConsult solutions that will support processes required to create, manage, communicate and respond to electronic patient referral and provider-to-provider consultation requests.
The CA:eReC outline foundational requirements for eReferral/eConsult solutions that can be applied to existing and new information systems. These specifications are intended to be flexible and allow jurisdictions to adapt them to support and align with practices and requirements within their own province/territory (e.g., eReferral/eConsult models implemented).
An eReferral refers to patient referrals that are created, securely transmitted, tracked and managed electronically. It aims to streamline and improve the referral process compared to traditional paper-based methods. Overall, eReferrals aim to enhance the quality of patient care, reduce delays in treatment, and improve the overall efficiency of the healthcare system.
An eConsult refers to a consultation between health professionals conducted electronically. Through eConsults, the requesting professional can send relevant patient information and specific questions to another health care professional and receive timely recommendations and/or guidance on the patient’s care, typically through asynchronous electronic communication channels.
Overall, eReferrals and eConsults aim to enhance the quality of patient care, reduce delays in treatment, and improve the overall efficiency of the healthcare system.
The CA:eReC specification was developed in collaboration with the eReferral Working Group and its members. This group will continued to be utilized in the future to further develop this guide. If you are interested in being a champion of this work and a voice in the group please join the working group on InfoCentral: eReferral Working Group
Feedback
To provide feedback on the CA:eReC specification please review to the following page to learn how to obtain access and submit feedback to the Jira project: pan-Canadian Interoperability Specifications Feedback
The CA:eReC Jira project can be found here: https://informs.infoway-inforoute.ca/projects/ER/