Clinical & Systems Transformation (CST) is a joint undertaking between VCH, PHSA and PHC to complete a significant transformation of clinical practices and systems. The project spans several areas of the continuum of care, including: acute care, inpatient and outpatient units, ambulatory care and residential care across VCH, PHSA and PHC.

The CST project will have some benefits for physicians and other healthcare providers, including improved access to patient reports and other outputs.

Improved access to patient information

Our new shared clinical information system will be made accessible to community care physicians and healthcare providers employed by, or with privileges at, VCH, PHSA or PHC. This system will also be accessible remotely over a virtual private network (VPN), a shared network that enables users to send and receive data securely across the internet.

Dr. Bruce Long, CST Chief Medical Information Officer for VCH and PHC, is enthusiastic about the benefits the new system will bring to community care providers.

“Currently, community care physicians have limited access to inpatient information, which they must retrieve through multiple systems across the Health Organizations,” he says.

Following the implementation of the new clinical information system, eligible community care physicians will have the ability to update patient information. They will also be able to place orders, as well as document and review diagnostic results and images.

“Physicians will be able to see a more complete patient record, rather than just pieces of it, in real time from their offices,” says Dr. Long.

Increased access to electronic patient reports

Through CST and related initiatives the range of electronic reports available to physicians and other healthcare providers will increase following the implementation of CST. In addition to outpatient labs and transcribed reports, physicians will now receive consult reports, discharge summaries and medical imaging reports.

These reports will be distributed to physicians through the Excelleris system, available to any community healthcare provider at no cost.

“Improved electronic reporting will benefit all community care providers by enhancing the transition of patients from inpatient and ambulatory services back into primary care,” says Dr. Long.

The new clinical information system will become available to eligible community healthcare providers as it goes live in their region.

For more information, please download our Community Physician Fact Sheet.

Background information

• CST is a joint initiative of VCH, PHSA and PHC, and one of the largest and most complex healthcare projects in Canada. It spans across several areas of the continuum of care, including: acute care inpatient and outpatient units and ambulatory care. As well as creating consistent, leading practices, and a shared clinical information system, CST will deliver HIMSS Level 5 functionality.

• Clinical design teams, made up of hundreds of highly-skilled, multi-disciplinary professionals from across the three Health Organizations and Team IBM (experts from IBM Technical Services, Deloitte, Leidos Solution Builders, and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre), started work on April 7, 2014. These teams are tasked with designing our future workflows, based on leading practices. In doing so, they are defining the requirements for our new clinical information system.

For more information, please contact:

For more information, please contact Donna Stanton, CST Executive Director/Transformation Lead, VCH – donna.stanton@vch.ca