JRS has engaged with organizations such as Canada Health Infoway, HL7, IHE and pan-Canadian standards organizations to provide eHealth strategy and governance consulting and EHR project program management, architecture and procurement expertise related to implementing EHR related initiatives with national program perspectives.

• eHealth Strategy and Governance
• eHealth Program Management Support
• Privacy, Security & Risk Management
• eHealth/EHR Architecture
• Procurement Strategy and Support
• Implementation, Integration and Conformance
• Adoption and Change Management

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eHealth Strategy and Governance

eHealth is an emerging field being embraced all around the world by national governments and/or newly created agencies. JRS Partners has been involved with eHealth and electronic health records since 2003 when the Pan-Canadian EHR programs began. Using the experience built over the last 7 years, we now help our clients:

• Better understand eHealth, its benefits, challenges, opportunities and risk
• Develop their eHealth vision aligned with their realities and capabilities
• Design a pragmatic implementation roadmap of how to achieve the vision
• Establish appropriate governance structures that will:
  • Oversee the funding and execution of their eHealth strategy
  • Promote broad stakeholder engagement and collaboration
  • Ensure that solutions are being properly delivered and adopted
  • Evaluate the results and benefits achieved
  • Recommend adjustments and corrections to the strategy as required.

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eHealth Program Management Support

eHealth initiatives require a complex portfolio of separate implementation projects that are often concurrent and interdependent. Their success depends on the use of effective program management processes and practices, which must balance centralization of controls with delegation of responsibilities. JRS Partners has been involved in several eHealth program management organizations where we have:

• Helped define and establish the program management office, its governance, processes and controls
• Provided guidance to eHealth executive management on the effectiveness of existing management structures
• Assisted in the day-to-day operations of the office
• Organized and participated in issue resolution workshops

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Privacy, Security & Risk Management

eHealth involves the creation of large-scale networks used for sharing personal health information and consequently requires very special attention to the protection of that data. Inappropriate disclosures can easily discredit an entire initiative and compromise the very existence of the program. JRS Partners has developed specific tools for:

• Creating Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) for eHealth programs
• Defining the Privacy and Security Architecture (PSA) of eHealth solutions
• Performing due diligence at the various implementation phases
• Completing Threat Risk Assessments (TRAs) on eHealth components
• Establishing Risk Management governance organizations, processes and risk mitigation strategies

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eHealth/EHR Architecture

eHealth involves the creation of large-scale networks of systems used for sharing clinical data in an effective, private and secure manner. JRS Partners principals have been directly involved in the development of the EHR architecture now being implemented in Canada. JRS has actively advised and supported many of its customers in tailoring their eHealth vision into a pragmatic and implementable architecture.

• Our eHealth architecture services include the following areas of practice applicable at the enterprise level or to a specific solution :
  • Business and Clinical Workflow Architecture
  • Information Architecture
  • Application Architecture
  • Integration Architecture
  • Privacy and Security Architecture
  • Technical Architecture

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Procurement Strategy and Support

eHealth involves the use and integration of several different products and systems, often from a variety of healthcare IT vendors. The use of typical procurement approaches have not always shown to be effective in this more complex scenario. JRS Partners has been working with several clients in their procurement activities, helping them:

• Define a procurement strategy appropriate to their eHealth vision, environmental characteristics and end-user needs
• Document and organize detailed requirements in respect to:
  • Functionality
  • Interoperability
  • Privacy and Security features
  • Standards support (messaging, terminology, and others)
  • Technical, operational and non-functional capabilities
  • Services and support
• Evaluate, score and select products and services

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Implementation, Integration and Conformance

Selecting products and technologies is a critical milestone in any eHealth initiative, but marks yet another starting point for the next phase of the project. Although the solution providers will have a significant role in the configuration and roll out of their products, much is still left for the client to manage in order to ensure success. JRS Partners has been working with several implementation projects, helping them:

• Define and establish a project management governance across all vendors and solution providers
• Define and establish system integration environments, supporting the entire life-cycle from configuration to go-live to on-going maintenance
• Define and establish conformance testing requirements, processes and environment for the integration of client (source and/or consumer) application systems

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Adoption and Change Management

eHealth benefits can only be achieved once there is broad adoption of the services and solution offered to clinicians. However, as with any change, introducing changes to existing clinical processes or even new ones, requires dedication, effort and an effective strategy when dealing with the broad range of stakeholders. JRS Partners has been helping clients to:

• Establish a benefits value chain and a valid set of adoption targets that balances quick wins and long term value for your eHealth initiatives
• Define a coherent, broad stakeholder engagement and communications strategy to maximize end-user participation in the eHealth initiative
• Define and establish the governance for clinical advisory groups that support the project across its entire life-cycle, from strategy to final implementation
• Leverage multiple communication and training tools and mediums to reach target user communities, including clinicians, patients and other healthcare providers
• Support process and clinical workflow engineering as applicable to the strategy and implementation phases of eHealth initiatives