Finally… you can SHOP at work!

Well, yes… but this is a different kind of “shop” and it’s not open for business just yet!

Effective March 29, 2018, SHOP (Shared Health Organizations Portal) will be the central access point for:

  • Policies; and
  • Decision support tools (DSTs) such as guidelines, protocols and procedures.
SHOP replaces Regional PolicyNet and policies on VCH Connect.

How does it work?

You can access SHOP on the internet from anywhere. This external access will allow contractors, students, researchers and physicians to find information easily and efficiently, regardless of their physical location. It will also enable staff working in the community and residential care to access documents from all of their worksites. SHOP will not be indexed by search engines so it will be necessary to know the website address or have a link to it. You can access SHOP at: shop.healthcarebc.ca.

What about privacy and security?

Since health organizations in British Columbia are public organizations, policies and operational documents are already available to the public on request. However, all policies and clinical resources will undergo careful review before being placed on SHOP. Documents on SHOP will not contain personal information.

Is SHOP just for VCH?

VCH is the first to move its resources to SHOP, however SHOP will also become the central source for Providence Health Care and Provincial Health Services Authority at a later time.

Why do we need SHOP?

  • SHOP meets the single-point-of-access requirements for the Clinical & Systems Transformation Project.
  • SHOP will make it easier for you to find the policies and clinical resources you need.
  • SHOP will allow everyone to have access at any time to the documents they need, from wherever they are.

What’s next?

Crews are busy finishing the construction on SHOP and will soon begin moving VCH policies and clinical resources over. If you’re a policy or clinical resource document owner or developer lead with documents on the above-mentioned sites, your documents will be moved to SHOP. You will receive an email about the short freeze on document changes that will be needed as that happens.

Questions?

If you’re not sure how the move of VCH policies and clinical resources to SHOP affects you, please get in touch with the project team. Policy related questions can be directed to policy@vch.ca and clinical resource questions to catherine.cairns@vch.ca.