In its ongoing efforts to reduce administrative burdens for physicians in Newfoundland and Labrador, support province-wide patient-care coordination and facilitate the introduction of a blended capitation model, the Department of Health and Community Services has eliminated an operational fee for its Electronic Medical Record program.

The program, eDOCSNL, serves health care providers across the province, particularly primary care providers, by:

• Improving information sharing between physicians and other health care providers;
• Allowing physicians to improve clinical efficiencies;
• Improving the overall quality of care;
• Replacing community-based paper practices with electronic; and
• Delivering health information to inform future health planning and policy development.

As the province provides primary health care services through Family Care Teams, the Electronic Medical Record program will be a critical technology to allow more standardized documentation and data collection while sharing clinical information across health care facilities throughout the province.

The elimination of fees is also a necessary piece of the Blended Capitation Model for physicians, as eDOCSNL will facilitate physician billing under the new model. Blended capitation is a voluntary payment model designed for independent family practices.

Budget 2023 allotted $5.7 million, which includes a $1 million increase from 2022-23, to fully cover the operating cost of the eDOCSNL system

The Newfoundland and Labrador health care system has been using eDOCSNL since 2016. The Electronic Medical Record program has enrolled over 770 providers in over 257 sites to deliver care across the province.

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“By fully covering costs of eDOCSNL we can ensure more providers are using the system and create an effective flow of information between physicians and other health care providers. This reduces some of the administrative burden for physicians, which will also help us attract more physicians to our province. It is also a key component of this provinces new Blended Capitation Model.”
Honourable Tom Osborne
Minister of Health and Community Services

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