For Connect Care to achieve its goals, it is essential that health information be appropriately captured, documented, shared, disclosed and used. These are matters of information sharing. They touch the core of health care professionalism and change as clinicians move from siloed paper records to shared digital records.
In order to address the need for new information sharing norms, and to account for professional obligations and legislative imperatives, a Clinical Information Sharing Compact has been developed by AHS in collaboration with healthcare professionals. Its adoption can promote effective information sharing in clinical information systems.
A compact is clear statement of reciprocal expectations and accountabilities between two groups. It is not a legal contract but is a matter of public accountability. Compacts emerge from collaborative efforts to understand shared interests. They leverage common goals – such as improving care for patients and populations – to discover how stakeholder interests can be best aligned.