Highlights

We are switching to electronic ordering in early 2024

• Electronic ordering (computerized provider order entry, or CPOE) and a closed-loop medication system are targeted to go live at Victoria General Hospital (VGH), Gorge Road Hospital and South Island Surgical Centre in mid-February 2024 and at Royal Jubilee Hospital (RJH) in mid-March 2024.
• Thirty-six ambulatory/outpatient clinics with significant linkages to patients in acute care will go live with VGH and RJH. Remaining ambulatory clinics will follow later.
• In preparation for electronic ordering, order sets are being updated to reflect:

1. Best practices
2. Opioid safety principles
3. Island-wide standardization – with flexibility to support local site variance in service provision

CPOE is a major quality improvement change

• Moving from paper orders to electronic orders improves the quality and safety of patient care. This is a significant change to medical and clinical practice supported through early and frequent medical staff engagement, formal training and go-live support.
• Our learning and engagement strategy includes:

1. Online and in-person formal training, workflow reviews and personalization events closer to go live.
2. Dedicated engagement lab staffed by knowledgeable Provider Education and Experience (ProEX) educators to answer questions and demo aspects of computerized order entry.
3. Medical Staff and Learners will be supported by Medical Staff Specialty and Site Leads, Peer Mentors, Clinical Informatics, and a 24/7 Go-Live support team (on-site and remote).

Visit RJH/VGH engagement labs and invite us to speak on CPOE at a team meeting

• Invite us to one of your team meetings to discuss CPOE and associated changes. We would be glad to answer questions, provide demonstrations, or receive feedback at any time.
• The engagement labs are available Wednesdays from 1 to 3 p.m. for onsite drop-in IHealth support and demonstrations:
  RJH: Royal Block 203
  VGH: S275

For any inquiries related to the engagement labs, please email EHRProviderEducation@IslandHealth.ca.

CPOE with Dr. de Wit

In this short video, Dr. Andre de Wit demonstrates placing electronic orders on admission.

IHealth FAQs

Q: What is the rationale for the sequential CPOE go-lives at VGH and RJH?
A: Island Health recognized that while VGH and RJH are tightly integrated and work within a single inpatient acute encounter, we needed to separate the go-lives by about four weeks. This acknowledges the significance of the change, the health human resource challenges and the change impact (i.e., reduction in some services during activation). This four-week period:

• provides the opportunity for sites to support each other in patient service delivery (e.g., load levelling between Emergency Departments (EDs) or Surgical Services in support (such as peer mentors);
• provides a better opportunity to have the appropriate number of supports (i.e., peer mentors, clinical and medical informatics);
• allows for unique, complex and new services (i.e., critical care, neurology, cath lab, etc.) to stabilize at each tertiary site.

Q: What is the rationale for the partial Ambulatory Clinic go-lives?
A: Ambulatory clinics often go live in “waves” of clinics. For example, the Lower Mainland has used this approach to their ambulatory roll out.

• Typically, clinics that are tightly integrated with inpatient services go along with inpatient care.
• Support requirements also impact how many clinics can go live within a certain time period.