Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Thehealthline.ca provincial project: full steam ahead!
Ontario’s CCACs have an important and growing role as heath system navigators and care connectors. One of the key enablers is the CCAC’s Information & Referral function. CCAC staff members provide information to clients, family members, the public and other health system partners about health services, electronically, by telephone, and in person.
Ontario’s CCACs leaders have decided to consolidate current information tools and databases into a single solution. They have selected thehealthline.ca as the provincial model. This popular, flexible, easy to use, reliable, robust and cost-effective resource was developed in 1992 as a partnership between hospitals, the health unit and the CCAC in London, Ontario. Thehealthline.ca spread first to Champlain and is now going province wide.
Deployment of thehealthline.ca as a provincial I&R solution for Ontario’s CCACs began in April, and Ontario’s CCACs have been busy:
- champlainhealthline.ca (Champlain CCAC) and southwesthealthline.ca (South West CCAC) re-launched under the new provincial interface in April
- North Simcoe Muskoka CCAC publically launched their site, nsmhealthline.ca, at their annual general meeting in May to positive review from their partners and community members
- Deployment is well underway for the Erie St Clair, Central East, Central West, and South East CCACs as they prepare their sites for public launch in the near future
- Development has begun on the provincial portal that will guide users to regional CCAC sites
It is expected that one regional site will be deployed each month until April 2013, at which point this project will have created:
- 14 regional healthline sites
- A single provincial database of more than 50,000 health service profiles
- A common provincial portal designed to guide users to regional CCAC sites
Ontario’s healthlines will be a valuable tool for consumers, CCAC staff members, other health care professionals, the LHINs, and the system as a whole.
Give us a test drive at champlainhealthline.ca, nsmhealthline.ca, or southwesthealthline.ca, and stay tuned for more sites to come!
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