The One Person One Record Clinical Information System (OPOR-CIS) implementation will transform patient care and clinical practice, impacting every patient and provider across Nova Scotia, including our province’s Nurse Practitioners (NPs).
While we are grateful for their incredible efforts and expertise every day of the year, Nurse Practitioner Week (November 10 – 16, 2024) offers a special opportunity to pause and recognize the vital role of NPs in the provision of healthcare services in our communities.
NPs are registered nurses with advanced knowledge and education in primary healthcare, or other areas of specialty care, including emergency, cardiology, palliative, and many more. They provide direct support to patients, as well as collaborate with other providers including physicians and members of interdisciplinary teams, to complete the full circle of care.
The OPOR-CIS is being designed and tailored to support the needs of all healthcare workers, including Nurse Practitioners, in both their autonomous and collaborative care approaches. The OPOR team has spent hundreds of hours with local Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), including Nurse Practitioner leadership, to evaluate workflows, equipment, resources, and data, to inform the design of the CIS and ensure we have a system that truly optimizes care in Nova Scotia. In addition to assisting with the details of design, Nurse Practitioners are also members on the OPOR Clinical Governance Working Groups, where they contribute to decisions which will impact patient care provincially.
The OPOR-CIS will not only bring together patient records from IWK Health and Nova Scotia Health, but will also support physicians, clinicians, and healthcare workers in making the best clinical decisions for patients.
From new streamlined workflows to access to functionality such as Closed Loop Medication Management and Clinical Decision Support, to the integration of new clinical and non-clinical devices for easy access to information, and more, the implementation of the OPOR-CIS brings a variety of benefits, including:
- Improved patient safety, outcomes, and experience: Reduced errors, adverse events, and redundancies, such as duplicate testing.
- Quality and consistency, every day, everywhere: Supporting clinical standardization.
- Patient information where you need it, when you need it: Providing the real-time information healthcare providers need.
- Improved health management and continuity of care: Supporting proactive care, seamless transitions, and reliable, transparent communication with patients and their caregivers.
- Data driven decisions: Timely and reliable data to make measurable improvements to the healthcare system and patient care.
- Increased system strength and support for clinicians: Improved software and networks for a safer and sustainable system, streamlining workflows and reducing administrative burdens and delays while adhering to confidentiality and security requirements.
The OPOR-CIS will transform documentation from paper to digital, with information, orders, and patient care plans entered in real-time. The system will also streamline workflows across the healthcare system, supporting compliance with evidence-based best practices and standardized guidelines, enhancing patient care and safety around the province.
This Nurse Practitioner Week, we recognize the critical work of NPs across our province and look forward to the implementation of a system that will help to create efficiencies and enhancements to their day-to-day operations – and that is certainly something to celebrate.
Learn more about OPOR and the OPOR-CIS at opor.nshealth.ca
