The Four Provincial Perspectives

The easiest way to understand health information systems in Alberta is by the organizations/people that use the systems.  This is because each organization has its own goals and will use different systems to achieve them.

There are many different types of health information systems which are designed for different types of health care organizations.  For example, a laboratory company will use a laboratory information system, a primary care doctor will use an EMR designed for primary care, a pharmacist will use a pharmacy information system, and so forth.

The four major ways to view health systems within Alberta are:

1. Provincial systems, typically owned by Alberta Health

2. Community Health Provider systems, such as the ones your family doctor or pharmacist would use

3. Alberta Health Services systems that are used to support hospitals, pharmacies, labs, and so forth

4. Patient systems, such as Apple Health, Kardia, Baxter, etc.

In addition to provincial systems, there are several important national registries and repositories that are important to Alberta, many of which are managed by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).  Discussion of academic, national, and international systems is beyond the scope of this handbook.