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Volume2 Issue6
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EHRswill promote the development of tools that are needed to improve
communicationbetweendifferent health care providers.
Whatare thebenefitsofEHRs todentistry?
Thebenefits areon the sideof qualitypatient care.
Wecan improve thehealthof patientsby learning
fromahugeamount of datawhat interventions
workanddon’twork, and inwhat circumstances.
Bydevelopingdecision support tools that are
specific todentistryand that canbe integrated
intoour practicemanagement software (PMS),we
canprovide thebest possiblecare for our patients.
Doyou thinkEHRswillallowdentists
tocommunicatemoreeffectivelywith
pharmacistsandphysicians for thebenefitof
patientcare?
Not directly. TheEHR is reallyadata repositoryand
not acommunication tool, but EHRswill promote
thedevelopment of tools that areneeded to
improvecommunicationbetweendifferent
healthcareproviders.
For example, standard terminology isneeded
tomake senseof the informationcontained in
anEHR. CanadaHealth Infowayhas adapteda
terminology standardcalledSNOMED (Systematic
Nomenclature forMedicine) to input information
into theEHR.Weareworking to increase the
SNOMEDcontent related todentistry, toallow
dentists toprovide information to theEHR. An
obvious advantageof SNOMED is that itwould
allowanoral surgeonworking inahospital ona
case that falls at the interfacebetweendentistry
andmedicine touse terminology thatmatches
the terminologyusedbyaphysician. As longas
their EHR systemuses SNOMED, theywill beable
tounderstandeachother, nomatterwhere they
practiseor evenwhat language they speak. For
abilingual country likeCanada this is significant,
but thebenefitsgomuch further. SNOMED
captures information inaway that computers can
understand,whichallows researchers toanalyze
thedata.
What’sneeded to integratedentistrywithin
theEHR infrastructure?
Oneof thebig roadblocks to the implementation
of EHRs indental offices is the stateof PMS—this
isnot acomment on thequalityof PMS, butwe
have tomake sure that all software isbuilt to
communicatewithapatient’s EHR. Todo so, PMS
packagesmust integrateSNOMED. Oncewehave
the right tools,we’ll beable tomove into the
worldof EHRs as thisprocessmoves forward.
So ifadentist isgoing tobuyorupgrade
theirPMS, should theyask if it incorporates
SNOMED?
Thequestion toask your softwarevendor is:
doesyour softwareenableme tocommunicate
withacentral EHR?
Does it enableme toget the
data from that central EHRanddoes it allowme
tocontribute to that central EHR?Myguess is
that theanswer right nowwill be
no
, but it’s a
functionality thatwill beneeded in thenear term
andvendorshave to start thinkingabout how
theywill implement this.
Whatare thenextsteps for thedental
profession?
Thefirst step is recognitionby thepolitical
leadersof government that dentistrybelongs
in theEHR, thatweneed tohaveaccess to the
health informationof our patients, and thatwe
can improve thequalityof carebyproviding
information in theEHR.
Weneed tomake things easy for governments
andwehaveworked towards that atCDA in two
ways.Weare increasingour efforts incontributing
to thedevelopment of thedental content of
SNOMED. Andwearedevelopinga registry—a
national list of dentists that canauthenticatewho
is adentist,whohas a right toaccess theEHR, and
whohas a right tocontribute to theEHR,whenwe
get to that stage.
This is ahugeopportunity for collaboration
betweenCDAandprovincial and territorial dental
associations andothersoutsideour sector.We
have tocontinueworking towards standardization
so thatwedon’t have to reinvent thewheel in
everyprovinceandhealth region.
a
This interviewhasbeencondensedandedited.
Theviewsexpressedarethoseoftheauthoranddonotnecessarilyreflecttheopinionsor
officialpoliciesoftheCanadianDentalAssociation.
