New Provincial Electronic Medical Record connecting doctors and patients across New Brunswick

Physicians across the province are operating and adopting electronic medical records (EMR) for their practice, and the New Brunswick Medical Society is pleased with the response.

“Hundreds of physicians in all corners of the province are making the switch to the provincial EMR, and we are pleased to support them and their patients,” said Dr. Lynn Hansen, president of the New Brunswick Medical Society. “Of the 950 physicians able to enrol for the program, we’ve now seen 240 enrol and another 200 have expressed interest in joining the program – in its first year of operation.”

The system can already be found in the offices of dozens family doctors and specialists, in French and English, and in fee-for-service and salaried practices.

The provincial EMR system, managed by a doctor-run company called Velante, will improve the efficiency and productivity of physician offices. It reduces the time spent managing and searching through paper charts, so physicians can spend more time with patients. The Velante EMR also allows integration with the province’s One Patient, One Record electronic health record system.

New Brunswick physicians have one month left March 31 to sign up for an EMR and receive funding from provincial and federal government to offset the costs of purchasing the EMR. After the deadline, the EMR will be available without the funding.

“The support of Canada Health Infoway and the provincial government has been instrumental to this program’s success,” said Dr. Hansen. “There’s more work to do, but this Program means millions of dollars in health savings annually – and more importantly, better patient care for New Brunswickers.”

Media contact:

Andrew MacLean, New Brunswick Medical Society
(506) 478-2436 – amaclean@nbms.nb.ca

Founded in 1867, the New Brunswick Medical Society (NBMS) is the professional association representing all physicians in New Brunswick. It is a provincial division of the Canadian Medical Association. Its twin goals are to represent and serve physicians, and advocate for the health of New Brunswickers. Over a hundred New Brunswick doctors sit on our Board and Committees, representing the 1600 doctors in the province.