​Photo caption: The Lumeo regional team celebrates as the new regional health information system goes live on December 7 2024.​

By: Providence Care

Designed to connect people and care teams, Lumeo is a new health information system implemented across six partner organizations: Brockville General Hospital, Kingston Health Sciences Centre, Lennox & Addington County General Hospital, Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital, Providence Care, and Quinte Health. It facilitates better, faster information sharing, enhancing care quality and reducing redundancies.​

The system marks a pivotal move toward a more integrated and patient-centered approach to care, where innovative technology and teamwork come together to improve safety, quality, and efficiency for patients.

Beyond the technology, the true impact of Lumeo is felt at the bedside and in clinics across the region. Patients no longer have to repeat their medical history at each visit or as they move between sites. Lumeo's shared system means health-care teams can instantly access accurate, up-to-date patient information across sites — from medications to test results — improving communication and reducing duplication. 

The 'big bang' approach of launching at all sites at the same time was supported by rigorous preparation, including three rounds of testing that simulated 21 patient scenarios through 45,000 workflow steps. Over 2,000 physicians, 5,000 nurses and 13,000 staff members needed to be trained before the system could go live.

A portal is also in development to allow people to view their digital health records, test results and upcoming appointments from each of the partner organizations. Other features, such as AI tools, will be added as the system continues to be optimized.

As Lumeo nears the one-year anniversary of its official launch, it's a time of both reflection and looking to the future. “This was an historic endeavour given the size and complexity of our Go-Live," says Leon Goonaratne, the Regional Digital Vice-President for the partnership. “The launch of this new system has been years in the making, with cross-organizational teams working together to train and prepare, all while continuing to deliver care in our communities."

Goonaratne notes that the success of this first year belongs to the thousands of staff, physicians, and leaders across all six organizations who embraced change, learned new systems, and supported each other every step of the way to improve care for patients and families in Southeastern Ontario.

“The six partners organizations worked together to bring this vision to life — though not without significant effort and commitment. Reaching consensus on shared processes and workflows requires compromise, but a shared goal of improving care kept us focused. Lumeo is all about connecting people and health care systems for high-quality care."