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Ontario opposition parties are taking aim at Liberals and a bungled e-Health program that left doctors in the dark, patients at risk and tax dollars spent for naught.

Its another example of how wasteful the government is, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said.

The program was supposed to enable hospitals in Southwestern Ontario to reduce medical errors and improve care by instantly sending electronic discharge records to family doctors.

But five years and millions of tax dollars after the program was launched, the records of two-thirds of patients are still taking more than 48 hours to get to their doctors. Such delays compromise care and increase the risk of error, family doctors say.

E-Health has been a colossal failure, said Kitchener-Conestoga Conservative MPP Michael Harris.

Liberals pushed through programs so quickly, They forgot to put standards in place, he said Tuesday.

Doctors concerns are showing in a troubling trend: A growing number of patients return to hospital less than 30 days after they were discharged.

The problem with the Southwest Physician Office Interface to Regional Electronic Medical Record System SPIRE for short led those who dole out health-care dollars in the region to insist each hospital report how well or poorly they are at getting discharge records to family doctors.

Asked about problems with SPIRE, Health Minister Deb Matthews praised it and encourages its use.

We are committed to supporting a seamless transition for patients as they go from hospital to the community. Thats why tools like SPIRE are important they help physicians share information about patients quickly, resulting in more appropriate care in the community, she wrote in an email to The Free Press.

Originally posted here:
Liberals under fire for e-Health woes