Hamilton Health Sciences Home
June 3, 2022

Tomorrow is the big day – HHS launching best-in-class electronic medical records (EMR) system

HAMILTON, ON – On June 4, Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) will launch Epic, a fully electronic hospital information system. This marks the single largest clinical transformation in the hospital’s history and will ensure that every patient’s experience is as safe as possible.

The implementation of Epic will bring many improvements and benefits for patients, families, and HHS staff and physicians. It will:

  • eliminate paper-based patient health records
  • replace dozens of electronic systems that don’t always ‘talk’ to each other when patient information needs to be shared across teams and service
  • ensure patient information is available in one place and save staff and physicians’ time looking for things like test results and medication history
  • eliminate need for patients to repeat their health history at every interaction or visit
  • give every member of a patient’s care team access to their health record so that critical care decisions can be made safely, and in collaboration with the patient
  • make it easier for patients to access to their medical record – they will be able to view test results, enter personal health information, and attend video visits using MyChart

HHS began planning for this change more than two years ago. Since then, approximately 12,500 staff and physicians have received Epic training, more than 11,000 new electronic devices have been installed, and the hospital has made significant improvements to its IT equipment and infrastructure.

“The launch of Epic is the largest patient safety and quality initiative in our history. It will greatly improve the experience for patients, staff and physicians, and most importantly, enable us to deliver care more safely,” says Rob MacIsaac, president & CEO of HHS. “We are proud of the work that has taken place to ensure HHS remains at the forefront of leading academic, teaching and research hospitals in Canada.”

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More about Epic and MyChart at HHS: