Manitoba eHealth has tapped a Kelowna medical software company to become one of the first players to participate in the long march into the electronic era of medical record keeping.

But even Manitoba eHealth officials acknowledge that Manitoba has fallen behind other provinces in the develop­ment and implementation of informa­tion technology.

Optimed Software Corp. of Kelowna is the first to have its electronic medical records (EMR) software approved in Manitoba. Its software, Accuro EMR, provides digital sched­uling and billing as well as detailed patient record keeping services for doctors' offices and clinics.

Optimed may have passed the entry hurdle, but now it has to go out and sell the technology to clinics and doctors' offices. That may be tougher for Optimed than it is elsewhere because Manitoba is the only province west of Quebec that does not provide a sub­sidy to help doctors cover the costs of implementing the technology.

Governments in some provinces are covering up to 70 per cent of monthly subscription costs that can run more than $300 a month per doctor.

Optimed has about 750 doctors using its software in B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan.

"There is no more than 25 per cent nationally who are using EMR soft­ware today," said Mike Checkley, operations manager of Optimed and its parent company, QHR Technolo­gies Inc. "... All of us in the industry are preparing for a real rush of adop­tion and so are the provincial govern­ments."

One indication of that is a $30-million, five-year project to design the backbone of the province's electronic system that is in the final phase of the request-for-proposal process.

That will eventually become the central repository that will link med­ical practitioners -- through their EMR systems -- with provincial labs, X-ray facilities and pharmacies as well as diagnostic support systems.

It can have enormous benefits and improve the quality of care but the process is moving slowly -- a recent report ranked Canada last among the G7 in electronic health adaptation. We spend $170 billion annually on health care in Canada and barely one per cent of that goes to electronic health
There are signs things are pick­ing up. The Canada Health Infoway was allocated $500 million in the last budget and has already provided $1.6 billion in funding this decade.

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We were at The Haven Restaurant, the “breakfast” diner in town, on Sunday morning and it was busy. It is amazing to see how quickly they can handle the customer load they receive and how fast the service is for a hot breakfast in the Mission Shopping Mall location at Lakeshore Road and KLO.

I wonder how many eggs they use on a Sunday with that large crowd? The restaurant, a longtime breakfast spot in the Mission, produces a quality product, quickly and with excellent service.

It is an efficient operation and on top of that they make good breakfast fare.
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What can lovers of local folk music do on a warm June evening to raise critical dollars for families in need?

On Saturday, June 20, they can attend Folk for Food at Creekside Theatre in Lake Country. It's a combined CD release party and a folk concert, with all benefits going to the Lake Country Food Bank. Many of the talented Central Okanagan folksingers who have generously contributed their original songs to this CD will be on stage, including Jane Eamon, Steve Stairs, Rann Berry, Joshua Pym and Chris Wendell. Also represented on the CD are Ryan Donn, Katie Fletcher, and Andrew Allen. Each artist has strong roots in Lake Country-Kelowna, and most importantly, they all share a compassion for those less fortunate.

The concert starts at 7 p.m. and tickets are only $10, preferably coupled with a donation of food, and are available at the door. CDs are $15 each, and will also be available at Lake Country retail outlets like UBR Services Printing & Copies, Woodsdale General Store and others.

Following the June 20 launch, Folk for Food artists will perform again on Canada Day afternoon at Beasley Park and at other locations over the summer, dates to be announced.

Folk For Food is a project of the Rotary Club of Lake Country, on behalf of the Lake Country Food Assistance Society. The local food bank has been an important part of the community for more than 30 years, and currently supports about 700 clients per month. Its growth also means the Food Bank needs larger premises, which the Rotary Club is helping to find and establish.

For more information, please contact Holly McNeil, Rotary, at 250-766-2065 or holly@paragonbc.com.

If you are an electronic media and would like to hear the CD or host singer Steve Stairs to promote the CD, please contact Steve directly at 250-869-8588 or at sstairs@shaw.ca.