Health PEI updates Islanders on issues with delayed referrals

An update from Health PEI regarding two issues with Health PEI Electronic Medical Record that resulted in delayed referrals from primary care providers to a specialist.  One became apparent last November, as referrals from primary care physicians were in some cases not being received by specialists outside the EMR system. It was found that 100 patients were impacted by the issue, and in some cases that meant a delay in the patient receiving an appointment. A clinical review of the cases found that there was no clinical harm associated with the delays and all patients who were affected are receiving a letter about the incident.  This month, an unrelated issue was discovered where 70 referrals for gastroenterology specialty services were sent to a physician who was not yet working in the system. Of these referrals, 15 were delayed in receiving an appointment. Six of these patients require an urgent appointment and all six are receiving a call from Health PEI this week to confirm their appointment. They will be seen by the physician as soon as possible.