Partner Spotlight: Lumeo - Connecting people and health-care teams

February 14, 2025

December 7, 2024 marks a significant milestone for six health-care organizations in southeastern Ontario. It was the day their new health information system (HIS) was implemented - a day that was more than five years in the making. At 6:43 a.m. that morning, Lumeo, an HIS designed to simplify patient care and improve collaboration among providers, went live, instantly connecting people and health-care teams across the region. While similar systems are being implemented across Canada, Lumeo stands out for its scale and the commitment and collaboration of its six partner organizations: FLA OHT partners Providence Care, Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC) and Lennox and Addington County General Hospital (LACGH); Lanark, Leeds & Grenville OHT partners Brockville General Hospital and Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital; and Hastings Prince Edward OHT partner Quinte Health. We spoke with Nanci Corrigan, Lumeo’s Regional Communications Leader, about the development and implementation of this new system and what it means for people and providers across the region.

What is Lumeo?

Lumeo is a transformative health information system that connects health-care providers across southeastern Ontario. Covering more than 650,000 residents and spanning 33 health-care sites, it provides a single online system between all six partner organizations that facilitates better, faster information sharing, enhancing care quality and reducing redundancies.

“Lumeo allows secure access to health information across our partner organizations, creating a single, unified record for every person,” explains Nanci. “People and providers alike benefit from better coordination, fewer repeated tests, less time repeating health histories and a smoother experience overall.”

Collaboration at its core

The success of the Lumeo launch stems from a strong foundation of collaboration. The six partner organizations worked together to bring this vision to life - though not without significant effort, commitment, and compromise. Reaching consensus on standardized workflows required extensive teamwork, but the shared goal of improving care kept everyone focused. 

“This was an exercise in people coming together for a shared vision, rather than focusing on what’s best for individual organizations,” shares Nanci. “If people were coming to the table, they were coming for the good of people and providers in southeastern Ontario and Lumeo. This was about looking beyond individual hospitals and seeing how a new system could benefit the entire region.” 

Leon Goonaratne, Lumeo’s Regional VP, reflected on the impressive scope of this project and the critical role of collaboration. “This is a historic moment. The launch of this new system has been years in the making, with our teams’ dedicating years to training and preparation,” shared Leon. “Now, they are adapting to new ways of working together and supporting one another, while continuing to deliver patient care in our communities. Their hard work, dedication, and resilience are truly commendable.”

The launch

After five years of planning and partnership, Lumeo went live on December 7, 2024, across all 33 sites simultaneously. This ambitious approach was supported by rigorous preparation, including three rounds of testing that simulated 21 patient scenarios through 45,000 workflow steps. Currently in its stabilization phase, the system is addressing initial issues with dedicated support teams. The next phase, optimization, will introduce additional features, including AI-driven tools and an eagerly awaited patient portal.

Features and benefits

Lumeo offers numerous advantages to people, providers and the health-case system:

• One person, one record, one journey: A unified medical record ensures continuity of care across acute and post-acute hospitals, community programs and services, long-term care and soon, Kingston’s first hospice residence; all while eliminating the need for people to repeat their health histories.

• Streamlined workflows: Standardized processes across sites enhance consistency and lead to fewer duplicate tests due to incomplete records.

• Secure access: Providers have timely and secure access to results, appointments and health histories.

• Integrated care: Comprehensive care plans are shared across partner organizations.

“Lumeo really optimizes care for people in our communities,” explains Nanci. “With the introduction of one single health information system, people can feel confident knowing that no matter which of the six health-care providers l they visit, their care teams across the region are connected and have access to the essential medical information needed to provide them with the best possible care.”

Next up: optimization

Now that the system is live, the focus is on ensuring everything is working smoothly - a period known as the stabilization phase. Once this phase is complete, Lumeo will move into the optimization phase, where new features and improvements will be added based on feedback from health-care teams and the people they serve. This means the system will continue to evolve to better meet the needs of those using it.

This summer, Lumeo will introduce a portal that will allow people to access their medical information, test results, and appointments. The portal will also provide educational resources and allow caregivers to be designated as proxies, empowering families to manage health records more effectively. 

Partners are also exploring ways to incorporate Artificial Intelligence (AI) features, such as generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), to further reduce physician administrative burden. A multi-disciplinary team of physicians from all six partner organizations will participate in a study to measure the impact of GenAI on the quality, efficiency, and workplace satisfaction of physicians in southeastern Ontario hospitals. This project will explore and assess the usability of ambient documentation with generative AI for tasks such as recording patient interactions and generating clinical notes in the health information system. “We will continue evolving the system to benefit both people and providers as new technology becomes available,” emphasizes Nanci. 

While medical records from primary care providers (family physicians and nurse practitioners) are not yet integrated into Lumeo due to system incompatibilities, efforts are underway to advocate for provincial standards that will enable better connectivity. “We really want to be sure that we can connect properly with primary care,” adds Nanci. “Right now, we're working with primary care providers in the region to determine the best way to share reports. But we’re also pushing for provincial support on interoperability guidelines so that the vendors are required to make their systems work together so that Lumeo can connect seamlessly with primary care.”

Recognizing the challenges

Nanci and the team at Lumeo acknowledge that transitioning to a new system while maintaining 24/7 operations is no small task. Training more than 10,000 staff members while ensuring uninterrupted care has been challenging. Providers are learning on the job, which can be both frustrating and overwhelming. “We know this has been a tough transition for many of our health-care teams,” acknowledges Nanci. “Hospitals, community services, and long-term care homes don’t get the luxury of shutting down for training, so staff are learning a new system while still providing care. It’s inspiring to see their dedication and resilience - they’re doing an incredible job.” To ease the transition, Lumeo provided hands-on support, including ‘at-the-elbow’ assistance, where designated experts are available to troubleshoot and guide staff.

A more connected future

Lumeo is more than just a technological upgrade—it’s a shift toward a more connected and efficient health-care system. By providing real-time access to health records across multiple sites, Lumeo ensures that care teams have the information they need when they need it. As the system evolves, new features and enhancements will continue to improve health-care experiences for people and providers, while streamlining clinical workflows. With a focus on continuous improvement and collaboration, Lumeo is paving the way for a more integrated, people-centred health-care system in southeastern Ontario.