August 2025 eTips Newsletter
Tips and advice on EMRs and digital health tools you can use NOW
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Here’s what you’ll find in this month’s issue
From the CMO's Desk
Dr. Jane Philpott to Open this Year's Digital Health Conference
Get ready to be energized by bold ideas and practical insights at this year's Digital Health Conference. You and your colleagues will hear from leaders, experts and peers about new and better ways to use your EMR and other innovative health technologies. The conference opens with a keynote address by
Dr. Jane Philpott on the progress made to build and expand primary care teams, improve access to care, and support primary care providers leveraging digital tools.
Register today! Ending the day is our closing keynote, Rotman's Nouman Ashraf, an expert in organizational behaviour and emancipatory leadership sharing practical ideas for how you can turn your existing clinic into a team.
Day 2 brings you Dr. Muhammad Mamdani with a provocative talk on AI asking if it could replace physicians followed by a panel exploring how we have to change our profession or culture to ensure we continue to lead instead of being led.
Take advantage of
special rates for group registration to listen to these dynamic keynotes and panels.
Register today at the discounted group rate!
You can also learn a lot about AI tools at the conference! It's exciting to see the continued high interest from clinicians across the province in learning about and adopting AI scribes by
signing up for the Ontario AI Scribe Program that offers a Vendor of Record (VOR) list and complimentary change management support from OMD. Come to the conference and hear your peers talk about the benefits of the program, including how it removes the guesswork around contracts, offers the best discount on pricing, and saves you time sourcing this technology yourself. Visit
OMD Practice Hub to see the VOR list and/or request support from OMD.
OMD Educates: Digital Health Conference
Rebooting Your Practice – The Digital Advantage
September 18 and 19 at theToronto Congress Centre
You’re already innovating for your patients — now empower your practice.
Don’t miss this year’s OntarioMD Digital Health Conference.
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AI Tools for Ontario Clinicians
Calling All Innovators in AI-Driven Clinical Decision Support!
Ontario Health has issued a
Request for Information (RFI) for the Evidence2Practice Program to identify leading AI Clinical Decision Support (AI CDS) solutions that can support primary care clinicians in delivering safer, smarter, and more efficient care. If your company develops AI tools that help interpret clinical data, enhance diagnosis, or improve treatment decisions — Ontario Health wants to hear from you!
Responding to the RFI is an opportunity to share your solution with provincial health system leaders. If you have any questions about the Evidence2Practice Program or the RFI, please contact
evidence2practice@ontariohealth.ca.
OMD Patient Consent Toolkit for AI Scribes
In Ontario, obtaining valid consent from patients before primary care physicians use an AI scribe is important to uphold key privacy responsibilities, and maintain patient trust. OMD has developed a tool to help support you with this process. The
OMD Patient Consent Toolkit provides a sample script for you to explain your AI scribe to patients, a sample consent form, and material to add to your clinic's policies about how the scribe works.
New Resource: AI Scribe Transition Guide
Check out the new
AI Scribe Transition Support Guide, your step-by-step resource for transitioning to using an AI scribe on the
OMD Practice Hub. In addition to the Support Guide, the OMD Practice Hub offers an abundance of self-serve resources to support you. And as always, OMD Advisors are here to support you with change management:
contact an OMD Advisor.
Ready to sign up for the Ontario AI Scribe Program?
The OMD Practice Hub is your one-stop shop – you'll find the
Expression of Interest (EOI) form and
Vendor of Record (VOR) list on the site.
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Tips from an OMD Advisor
Our team of digital health advisors are experts in change management, EMRs and clinic workflows, with extensive experience helping physicians streamline care. These tips comes from one of our trusted advisors, who works directly with practices in your area and is ready to support you too —
contact an OMD Advisor.
Partial Lab Results from LifeLabs
Due to LifeLabs' migration to a new interface, some clinicians are now receiving copies of the same partial lab results until all results are available. These partial lab results can inundate users' EMR lab inboxes. Until LifeLabs can offer a solution to reflect users' preferences, you may wish to contact your EMR vendor and ask for a decrease in the frequency that your EMR polls through LifeLabs' proprietary feed for lab results. If your EMR polls every few minutes, ask the EMR vendor to poll as often as is suitable for you. While this is not a solution, it should reduce the number of partial labs you receive.
“Plant the SEED” to Free Up More Time
Discover how to reclaim time and reduce stress in your clinical practice with “Plant the SEED” an engaging and practical session at OMD’s Digital Health conference. This session introduces the four-step SEED approach: STOP, ELIMINATE, EDUCATE, and DELEGATE designed to reduce administrative burden and streamline EMR workflows. Learn from Dr. Rebecca Lubitz and OMD Advisor Katie Peter as they share real-world examples of ways to eliminate low-value tasks, empower your team, and gain greater control over your clinic. Their expert presentation will be followed by an interactive workshop led by OMD Peer Leaders and Practice Enhancement Consultants, guiding clinicians on how to apply these strategies within your own practice and EMR. This hands-on session offers real tools to help you reduce burnout, enhance patient care, and restore work-life balance.
Register for the SEED session and workshop.
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Advice from the General Counsel and CPO
Cyberattacks Are on the Rise: Are You Prepared?
Healthcare professionals rely on an increasing array of new digital health tools, and every year, cybersecurity threats become more frequent and sophisticated. In 2025, no clinic is too small to be a target.
Smaller clinics can be attractive targets because attackers know they may have a more limited IT infrastructure, including fewer cybersecurity safeguards. Last year, one third of privacy incidents reported to the Information and Privacy Commissioner came from the healthcare sector. These incidents came in many forms, from ransomware attacks to email phishing campaigns. More recently, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI issued a joint alert highlighting malware group Interlock's targeting of critical infrastructure, which appears focussed in on the healthcare sector. Several high-profile U.S. specialty medical clinics have already subject to such attacks, with Interlock often asking for a ransom or extracting data to sell on the dark web.
The legal and regulatory obligations of physicians in an increasingly complex digital health environment will be a critical topic at this year's OntarioMD Digital Health Conference. On Thursday, September 18, I will host "Emerging Medico-legal and Privacy Issues: Ask a Lawyer, Regulator and Futurist". We will tackle your questions, including those related to artificial intelligence. Cybersecurity will be featured on Friday, September 19 at "Cybersecurity Check-Up 2025 Edition: Strategies to Keep Your Practice Secure". A physician leader, regulator and vendor will provide practical, actionable advice on how to defend your practice. You'll learn how to spot red flags like phishing scams, recognize everyday habits and policies which can present risks, and identify vulnerabilities in clinic workflows. This year's panel will feature Dr. Sharon Domb of Sunnybrook Health Sciences, John Solomos, CEO of BlueBird IT Solutions, and Andrew Drummond from the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. Please join me in both these valuable sessions and bring your questions. Conference registration is now open - I look forward to speaking with you!
By following these tips, and learning more on our Practice Hub's
Legal & Privacy Page, you can take a strong, proactive approach to PHIPA compliance to protect patient data and maintain integrated privacy and security when adopting AI tools into your practice!
Read more privacy and security tips from past issues of our newsletter
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HRM Improvements
HRM Optimization Project
The Health Report Manager (HRM®) Optimization Trial is going live late August. This important initiative will address duplicate, near match, and PDF reports delivered from hospitals to EMRs via HRM. A limited number of users will see reports clearly labeled as duplicates and will receive PDF reports that are enhanced with an AI-generated summary. The trial is the latest action health system partners are taking to find the right solutions to reduce your report burden.
Still Receiving eNotifications? You Can Choose to Turn Them Off
Bogged down with hospital reports AND eNotifications? Receiving eNotifications is now entirely up to you. Reduce reports coming into your inbox and the time it takes to review them by opting out of eNotifications.
Read our blog post on Delivering Clearer, More Actionable Insights to get an appreciation of how much time clinicians are saving by opting out and waiting for discharge summaries instead.
Your HRM experience is important to us. We support you and your practice, at no cost, so don't hesitate to contact us at
support@ontariomd.com with any questions about HRM or anything else digital.
Cutting Down on Faxed Reports – Niagara Health ECG Results Now Available via HRM
On August 5, HRM users began receiving electrocardiogram (ECG) images and results from Niagara Health via HRM. Faxing of ECG results was discontinued on August 8. The availability of these reports electronically is another step in the progress HRM has made to decrease your administrative burden. If you have questions, please contact the Niagara Health Service Desk 905-378-4647 x 42850.
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OMD Digital Health Advocacy and Education
Luminary Awards
We're delighted to announce the
recent winners of our Luminary Awards. These awards put a spotlight on the remarkable achievements of clinicians and clinic staff who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and innovation in adopting and implementing certified electronic medical records and other digital health tools.
Upcoming events
Primary Care Transformation: Fueling Action for a Healthier Tomorrow (Sept. 8) – OMD's Chief of Strategy, Chris Sulway, is part of a panel discussion with global and national experts hosted by Deloitte Canada about actively changing the primary care landscape in Ontario.
OMGMA Conference 2025: Building Bridges (Orillia, Sept. 10-12) – Visit OMD at our booth during the Ontario Medical Group Management Association (OMGMA) annual conference and attend our CEO's digital health update on Sept. 11.
Tips and Tricks for Addressing Burnout (Sept. 17, 8:00 am to 9:00 am) - Administrative burden, including completing complex forms and reviewing EMRs, are all contributing to burnout in family medicine. Join the Ontario College of Family Physicians' (OCFP) upcoming webinar as panelists discuss tricks to efficiently review EMRs, set boundaries with patients and train office staff to take on some of the burdensome tasks. OMD's Dr. Chandi Chandrasena is co-moderating with Dr. Stephanie Zhou, Addictions Medicine Physician and EDI & Social Accountability Lead, Sunnybrook Hospital.
Register now.
OntarioMD is proud to attend events across the province, connecting with clinicians and supporting the important work of Ontario Health Teams (OHTs) and Primary Care Networks (PCNs). If you're interested in having OntarioMD speak at your event or host a booth with our knowledgeable Advisors, please reach out to us at
omd.events@ontariomd.com.
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OMD in the News
Recent media
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Need Help with Your EMR?
Your EMR should be a
benefit, not a burden. In addition to our
OMD Advisory Service and
Peer Leaders, OMD has additional, COMPLIMENTARY resources to help you use your certified EMR better to save you time and frustration.
OMD develops tools and suggests helpful workflow improvements in our
EMR Lab.
Join an
EMR Community of Practice (CoP)! CoP is a virtual place for EMR and digital health tool users, including clinicians and office staff, to share their knowledge, discover upcoming changes, ask questions and learn from the vendors and other users.
Find out more about OMD EMR Communities of Practice.
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Important Reminders
Changing Your EMR or Practice? OMD Needs to Know
Especially for HRM!
Planning to make any of these changes?
Contact us at
support@ontariomd.com at least two (2) weeks in advance to ensure you continue to receive HRM reports.