Facilitating Information Access across Healthcare Settings – A case study of the e-Shared Care Record View Project in Canterbury, New Zealand

Accelerated by the situation created by the Canterbury earthquakes, the electronic Shared Care Record View (eSCRV) project aimed to allow healthcare providers across settings to access a patient\u27s medical records. Through this project, patient records sourced from hospital data repositories, general practice, community pharmacy and nursing facilities are made available to key healthcare providers within these facilities. A rapid and sustained technology uptake has been observed, with qualitative and anecdotal benefits reported by the users. The user-perceived benefits include addressing information gaps, improving care quality and safety, as well as enhancing planned and proactive care delivery. However, the eSCRV technology alone is not seen as the sole mechanism of change as discussions regarding the expectations on shared information and indeed on shared care continue. The rapid implementation and uptake of eSCRV demonstrate a successful case of integrating patient records and sharing information across healthcare organizations to improve care quality