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Data Questions

What are Electronic Medical Record (EMR) data?

An Electronic Medical Record (EMR) is the digital version of a patient chart that your doctor uses to record information about your medical history and treatments. It includes notes, test results, and prescriptions. This information is securely stored on a computer at your doctor’s office so that any healthcare worker you see at that location can add to it.

Why are Electronic Medical Record (EMR) data important?

Electronic Medical Record (EMR) data are a very rich source of information. When EMR data from many Ontarians are put together, it can help us understand and improve health care for people and communities across Ontario.

What information will be collected?

All information from the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) will be collected, but any identifying information (such as names, addresses, birthdates, etc.) will be immediately removed or replaced with a special code at ICES.

 

This includes the following types of information:

  • Health care provider age and sex

  • Patient age and sex

  • Risk factors such as family history and use of tobacco and alcohol

  • Allergies

  • Vaccines

  • Clinical measures such as height, weight, and blood pressure

  • Medications

  • Test results from bloodwork and imaging (e.g., x-rays)

  • Clinical notes such as primary care provider notes, letters to and from specialist doctors, and reports from hospital stays and emergency department visits

  • Physician billings to the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP)

How is POPLAR honoring Indigenous data governance principles?

POPLAR, through its Indigenous Data Committee is working closely with ICES and the Northern Ontario network (NORTHH) to develop and refine Indigenous community engagement processes. ICES has established partnerships with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities and leadership organizations. These relationships reflect a commitment to data governance principles, including OCAP® for First Nations data, and are supported through formal data governance agreements and related processes, which are applied when data are brought into and accessed within ICES. For additional information, please visit ICES | Partnerships & Collaborations | Indigenous Partnerships, Data and Analytics.

How are POPLAR data used?

POPLAR data are used to answer questions about the health of Ontarians and the quality of care they receive overall. The POPLAR Dataset at ICES can be linked to data from other sources (such as administrative health data) to get a more complete picture of primary care in Ontario.

 

POPLAR data will also be used to provide reports to primary care clinics about how well they are delivering care to their patients. These feedback reports only include EMR data already available to primary care providers from their patients and do not include other sources of patient data (e.g, hospital data).

How else might my Electronic Medical Record (EMR) be used? 

Data may be used under the direction of your family doctor or nurse practitioner to inform you about research studies that may be of interest to you; patient participation in any study is always voluntary. 

 

Data in POPLAR will never be sold.

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