Why Lumeo? With Dr. David Weinstein, Quinte Health

This is the first in our Why Lumeo? series, which takes a deeper dive into how the new Regional Health Information System will change the lives of both healthcare workers and those they serve once it’s in place.

Dr. David Weinstein, a nephrologist at Quinte Health and a physician lead with the Lumeo Project spoke to members of the Lumeo Team about how he sees the new Regional Health Information System (RHIS) will benefit both staff and patients once it’s implemented.

“I think this is just about doing better,” said Dr. David Weinstein. “We're doing a good job now, don't get me wrong, but we could do better.”

He said one major benefit from a new RHIS will be the time saved for both healthcare workers and those they serve.

According to a 2022 survey of Canadian clinicians, on average, healthcare workers reported spending over an extra hour each day simply searching for patient information. This is a problem that will significantly improve once Lumeo is in place, Weinstein said.

“Lumeo is going to integrate information together and make it substantially more accessible for us to be able to review what's going on with patients,” explained Weinstein.

“It should make life easier for patients that they're not telling their story all the time.”

The result is faster care for patients and less repetition of health history for those seeking care.

Dr. Weinstein noted that especially in the Southeastern region, patients have to travel across various hospital organizations to seek care. Having one system across six southeastern healthcare organizations will allow for previously scattered health records to be found in one place in an instant, giving time back to staff and the community they serve.

Giving patients access to their health information through Lumeo/Healthelife

Once the HealtheLife Portal is in place, patients will also have access to their own continued health history.

“Patients want to see their information and should be able to see it. Part of the Lumeo Project is the transparency of that as well,” said Weinstein.

According to a recent Canadian Digital Health survey, four out of five Canadians said they would like to access their health information electronically — whether that’s to book appointments, get in touch with their nurses and physicians or get test results. Additionally, transparency of care through digital access made patients feel more empowered and better able to manage their own health.

Some even said they were able to avoid a visit with their regular family physician or to an emergency department because they could see their health information online.

With emergency departments seeing all-time high demands and with large swathes of the local population without primary care physicians, giving patients power over their own health history will benefit both those providing and receiving care, especially for those with chronic health issues.

“Patients are complex. We have a lot of patients who have lots of medical conditions,” stated Weinstein. “Now with the Lumeo system, I think it'll simplify life for patients because that information is going to all be streamlined into one place.”