Health Minister Tom Osborne says among the province’s priorities this year will be the implementation of a health information system.

Osborne says the system will help with communication between various areas of the province by removing the paper-based system currently in place.

Right now, if a patient in Corner Brook is transferred to St. John’s, their file has to be printed off and sent in because the systems in the two health authorities don’t speak to each other.

A new health information system should also improve a patient’s access to their own files.

Osborne gives scheduling as an example. He says if someone is scheduled for a procedure in the province they can look and see if they want to have it done at another site. He says people having access to their own healthcare journey is an important step in creating efficiencies.