Shared Information Management Services

In 2004, the Toronto Central Community Care Access Centre (CCAC) and University Health Network joined information management and technology (IM/IT) services, building on a long-standing patient/client referral relationship. Since then, seven additional facilities have joined the Shared Information Management Services (SIMS) Partnership, including Bridgepoint Health, Central CCAC, Providence Healthcare, St. John’s Rehab Hospital, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, West Park Healthcare Centre and Women’s College Hospital.

SIMS is an unincorporated partnership, in which strategically aligned organizations undertake joint initiatives to transform health care in the Greater Toronto Area. With similar values and a relationship founded on trust, these organizations commit to identifying, planning and implementing IM/IT initiatives that will contribute to a coordinated health care delivery system. Shared initiatives may extend beyond IM/IT implementations to include process and quality improvement, shared care delivery programs and safety initiatives. The common element is the enhancement of information utilization between the partnering organizations to support the continuity of care within the context of client/patient transitions.

The group works on integrating projects across the entire partnership, spanning the acute, rehabilitation, complex continuing, long-term and community care sectors. For specific partners, SIMS also shares human and capital resources to achieve operational gains.

At the end of the day, SIMS works to ensure health care providers from each of the nine organizations will be confidentially sharing patient/client information online, helping improve referrals, enhancing patient safety through a shared health record and supporting patients/clients in management of their own health care.

For more information on SIMS and the Partnerships’ projects, visit www.simspartners.ca.

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