It is two o'clock in the morning, and you are in the local Emergency Department.  A night out has turned into a nightmare and your best friend is unconscious after suddenly collapsing at a club.  Because she is not able to speak for herself, nurses and doctors turn to you for her health information.  You and your girlfriend have never talked about this kind of stuff before, and you wonder why the nurses can't just look it up on a computer.  

Electronic patient health information, is indeed,  a direction health care is moving in, and thanks to the Regional Shared Health Information Program (RSHIP), an innovative partnership between seven of Alberta's nine Regional Health Authorities it will soon be in place.   

By August, most residents living in the RSHIP partner regions - Aspen Regional Health, Chinook Health Region, David Thompson Health Region, East Central Health, Northern Lights Health Region, Palliser Health Region, and Peace Country Health - will have an Enterprise Medical Record (electronic health record).   

Enterprise Medical Records exist for people who have accessed services at one or more facilities owned and operated by RSHIP Regional Health Authorities.  

The Enterprise Medical Record is an electronic record of an individual's key health information.  It contains patient identification information, lab test results, diagnostic imaging reports and images, allergies, immunizations, diagnoses and medications.  
It does not contain private information held by a patient's general practitioner.  

Over 1 million Alberta residents - mostly living in rural areas - will have an Enterprise Medical Record.  Electronically the record will follow residents wherever they receive care in the seven RSHIP partner regions.  

"What we are doing is leading edge.  As far as we know, this has never happened before across such a large geographic area anywhere in Canada,"  stated Pat Ryan, Executive Director of RSHIP.  "Seven of Alberta's nine health regions can securely share patient health information, because they are sharing a health information system."

The idea for RSHIP began a few years ago.  Alberta Health and Wellness was encouraging Regional Health Authorities to find ways to collaborate, electronic health records had been mandated by Canada's First Ministers, and a number of health regions needed to replace outdated health information systems.

RSHIP's collaboration was moved forward with the help of Alberta Health and Wellness.  In 2004, the Department recognized the value of the RSHIP initiative, and it was willing to invest in, and support the vision of moving seven regions to one health information system.  

"Usually health regions work independently. The fact that they collaborated on such an important project is a credit to all of them," says Pat Ryan. "By pooling their financial and human resources the partner regions have developed a health information system that will do more than just manage information; it will help improve patient care. Enterprise Medical Records are just the beginning."

Enterprise Medical Records are an important clinical tool. They provide consistent and up-to-date patient health information that assists clinical decision making.  

Only authorized personnel have access to Enterprise Medical Records, and the information they may view is limited by their role in the health care system.

Alberta leads the development of electronic health records (EHRs) in Canada.  In the provincial strategy to create EHRs for all Albertans, RSHIP is a partner.