In Ontario, if you have a health card swipe reader, you can swipe the patient’s card to easily add the patient to the TELUS Collaborative Health Record (CHR). If the patient already exists, you can swipe their health card to quickly find them and update their demographic information or open their chart. If there are discrepancies between the information in the CHR and the health card, you can automatically update the CHR with the information from the health card.

For a list of supported swipe readers, refer to Hardware and software requirements.

1. From the main menu, click Patients and then click the health card icon in the top-right corner.

2. When the Read Patient ID Card window appears, swipe the patient's health card. The patient's information is displayed.

Follow the steps below for a patient who already exists in the CHR or for a new patient.

1. If there is a patient with the same health number, you are notified that there is a patient with the same identification. Click the pencil icon to update the patient's demographic information, or the chart icon to open their chart.

2. If there are any discrepancies between the name, sex, date of birth or version code you have recorded in the CHR and the information on the health card, these are identified. At the bottom of the window, you can review the data in the CHR (Existing Data) compared to the Data From Health Card.

3. To update the CHR with the information from the health card, click Auto-Update Patient Record.

4. Either Close the window or click the chart icon to open the patient's chart.

1. If there is no matching health card number recorded in the CHR, you are prompted to add the patient as a new patient. Click Register This Patient.

2. The Register New Patient window opens, with the information populated from the health card (name, date of birth, sex, OHIP number and version code).

3. Complete the remaining fields to add the patient. For more information, visit Adding patients.