Roger Neilson House gets even closer to families

On Monday, October 21, Roger Neilson House (RNH) joined CHEO in using Epic, a world-class electronic health records system. Enhancing the partnership between RNH and CHEO promises simplified, safer clinical-care and enhanced information for families.

RNH is the first pediatric hospice in the world to use Epic for health records.

“We are excited about teaming up with CHEO to provide ever better care for the kids and families we see at Roger Neilson House,” says Megan Wright, Executive Director.

Of 115 children and youth in care at RNH, 112 also receive care at CHEO. Their health records — including diagnosis, treatment, medications, progress, clinical notes, and more — are now seamlessly shared between organizations. Whether the child or youth is at RNH or CHEO, their entire health record will be visible to both care teams.

As anyone who has encountered RNH knows, it feels like a home, not a hospital. Adding Epic extends CHEO’s online patient portal, MyChart, to RNH. This permits an even closer relationship between families and staff, permitting families to view up-to-date health information like after-visit summaries, appointment times, lab results, surgery reminders, growth chart information and more.

Using new MyChart questionnaires, families can add important information to their children and youths’ health records which will improve their care plans. Parents will be able to review and update this information in real-time, ensuring that caregivers are up-to-date with everything going on. Families will not have to repeat and repeat their stories, streamlining care for children who are frequent guests at RNH or patients at CHEO.   

As all personal health information is up-to-the-second, safety is enhanced for kids at RNH. Although information has always been shared between the two organizations, with Epic it is shared in real time. When a child in hospice care at RNH goes to CHEO for care, their health team will have the most up-to-date information available, minimizing the risk of missing something.  

“Integrating Roger Neilson House with Epic has been challenging as hospice care is not the same as hospital care,” says Karen Macaulay, CHEO Director of eHealth. “I am proud that CHEO’s Information Services team was able to make it happen so that these families can share in all of the benefits that Epic offers.”