Patients following their doctors to a new medical clinic in Regina can now be sure all of their medical information will come with them.
Three doctors recently moved from the Midway Walk-in Healthcare Centre located in the Cornwall Centre to a new clinic, the Gateway Alliance Medical Clinic in the city’s east end. However, medical records of their patients were in the custody of their former clinic. While Midway was compliant in transferring the paper medical records for a fee of $35, it was not willing to transfer the digital records that doctors more commonly use today.
The Health Information Protection Act in Saskatchewan says a physician or a clinic can act as a trustee for medical records. The act also states that every patient is entitled to a copy of their own record, but it doesn’t specify what format, or how the transfer should be made.
In a matter of hours after the story of the dispute aired on Newstalk Radio, the Ministry of Health stepped in to try and resolve the issue.
“What we don’t want happening is a business dispute getting in the way of patients having access to their records,” said Max Hendricks, associate deputy minister with the Ministry of Health.
Hendricks contacted the owner of the Midway clinic, Sam Khan, on Tuesday morning.
“He has agreed to contact the electronic medical record company, and to provide patient access to a digitized copy of their electronic medical record within 24 hours.”
Hendricks will be meeting with the three recently-relocated doctors Tuesday afternoon. While there was an issue with the doctors not having an exit agreement in place in regards to patient records, Hendricks is asking both parties to put that aside, and act in the best interest of the patients.
Like many professions, the introduction of new technology has changed the way a doctor’s job is done, and how records are kept.
Robin Anderson, office manager at the Gateway clinic, explains the paper medical records still include all dictated notes, lab records, and notes from specialists. However, the way the digital system works means some things inputted are not printed out in the physical medical record.
“You’d think if you print an entire chart, every aspect would come with it, but it doesn’t,” Anderson said, “so the parts that the doctors have specifically have put on the patient on a separate page – none of that transfers over.”
Those aspects include the patients’ prescription history, charting, and any flags the physicians wants to keep an eye on.
The discrepancy issue of transferring paper versus digital medical records is something the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan has seen happen too often.
“This legislation was developed at a time where we had paper copies of everything,” said Bryan Salte, associate registrar and legal counsel at the college.
“What the legislation addressed was a time where almost all patient charts were paper. Now about 60 per cent of physicians in Saskatchewan have electronic charts, not paper charts.”
The college has been involved in settling some of these situations before.
“If there are physician involved, we bear certain expectations to facilitate patient care. So where we have been involved in the past with physician clinics – where both clinics are owned by physicians – we’ve been successful in persuading the physicians involved to arrange for appropriate transfer where there are electronic records.”
However, the college could not step in to do so in this case, as Khan is not a physician.
Salte also points out that in some cases, different electronic systems are not compatible with each other. So while files can be transferred from one physician to another, the systems those physicians use may differ.
The Ministry of Health agrees there is an evolution in medical practice.
“I think that more needs to be done. Times are changing. As we evolve to electronic medical records, I think as a ministry, it’s incumbent upon us to review our processes and make sure they do provide for the seamless transfer of these records,” Hendricks said.
