Situation

• In December 2001, British Columbia announced that it was rationalizing its health system, consolidating 43 health regions into 6 Health Authorities
• The Province was already working to develop electronic health records
• With little or no interoperability between legacy communications systems, each of the new Health Authorities needed to standardize and interconnect in order to share health records, diagnostic images and other critical information

Approach

• Technical experts from the BC Ministry of Health, the new Health Authorities and TELUS formed a Technical Advisory Team to deal with the issues raised by interconnecting
• TELUS provided a Health Private Network Gateway (PNG) which securely interconnects the 6 BC Health Authorities on a high-bandwidth, Quality of Service, IP-Enabled network
• Working with the Technical Advisory Team, TELUS ensured that the entire project was delivered on time and on budget
• To ensure future evolution of the PNG, TELUS initiated a Joint Governance Committee with representation from each of the Health Authorities and the Ministry of Health

Business Benefits

• Patients who live in smaller centres or rugged parts of the Province can receive specialized care without travelling to the major centres
• Diagnostic images can be shared electronically across the Province, reducing the number of duplicate tests required, saving money for the health system and minimizing patient discomfort
• The amount of travel undertaken by doctors has been reduced substantially
• Where terrain or weather conditions make evacuation impossible, specialists can be consulted remotely
• Staff training can be offered over the network, reducing travel and time off work
• Network standardization reduces complexity and eliminates duplicated spending
• TELUS manages the PNG to ensure availability and works with the Health Authorities to review and develop its future growth
• The high speed core and redundant and resilient architecture ensure fast recovery in the event of any failure

Solution

Until December 2001, residents of British Columbia were served by 43 different health authorities and regions, each of which had its own IT system. As a result, some IT costs were duplicated across the Province, management expenses were high and there was no guarantee of security when patient data was transmitted electronically from one region to another.

When the Provincial government announced its decision to consolidate the health system into a total of just 6 regional Health Authorities, the first IT priority was for each new Health Authority to connect its own facilities and practitioners. Once that was done, it became possible for the Health Authorities to begin interconnecting with each other. Dave Parker, Executive Director, Strategic Initiatives, SMIS at Vancouver Coastal Health, explains. “At the time, there was a lot of work going on in BC on developing electronic health records. We needed to create a highway system so that we could move these electronic files securely and efficiently across the Province.”

A Technical Advisory Team was established to oversee the creation of the new network. Made up of representatives from the Ministry of Health and each of the 6 new Health Authorities, the team also included TELUS. “It was a joint effort,” says Parker. “TELUS helped us ensure that the project was delivered on time and on budget.”

TELUS subsequently provided a Health Private Network Gateway (PNG) which securely interconnects the 6 Health Authorities on a high bandwidth, Quality of Service, IP-enabled network. Built on Gigabit Ethernet technology with a highly redundant and resilient architecture, the network delivers both high speed and high availability, together with the ability to recover as quickly as possible should any of the links fail. TELUS manages the network, ensuring its availability at all times.

The new network enables increased collaboration by allowing applications resident in one region to be shared across all of them. For example, using the Province’s Telehealth application, physicians can provide care to patients in remote regions, without having to travel there. “We have thoracic surgeons in Kelowna who provide support and treat patients in the North, in Prince George,” says Parker. “They now do some of their consults over the Telehealth system. It’s changed the way of life for some people, allowing physicians to be far more effective with their time.” The same system is also used when medical evacuations are not possible because of terrain or weather conditions. Specialists can work remotely with healthcare practitioners on the spot to provide necessary treatment until conditions allow for the evacuation. In some cases, the evacuation can even be avoided completely. That saves money for the Province, which pays for physicians, and for the Federal Government, which pays for the evacuation.

Critical patient information and diagnostic images can also be transmitted securely over the network. This not only saves taxpayer money, it can also reduce the need for patients to undergo duplicate tests if they’re transferred from one Health Authority to another.  For example, X-rays may be done just moments before a patient is airlifted from a remote region of the Province to Vancouver. The finished image can now be viewed over the network, avoiding the need for the patient to redo the test on arrival.

Parker acknowledges that the network is still only in Phase I. “We’ll be building a lot more on top of it,” he says. To ensure that the network evolves as needed, TELUS has initiated a governance committee, with representatives from each of the Health Authorities This committee will collaboratively review and develop the network’s future platform, ensuring that it continues to deliver everything the Province and its residents demand of it.