Credit: Vitaly Gariev
At Magenta Health, improving our electronic medical record (EMR) system isn’t a one-time effort.
It’s an ongoing, structured process designed to ensure every change is safe, reliable, and meaningful across our clinics.
Because the EMR forms the backbone of real patient care, even small updates need to meet a high standard.
It’s the central system that connects and supports nearly every part of a primary care practice — from documenting visits and reviewing results to prescribing medications, coordinating referrals, and communicating with patients.
Without it, much of day-to-day care delivery wouldn’t be possible.
As a result, every improvement goes through multiple stages of review, testing, and refinement before reaching clinicians and supporting patient care.
FROM IDEA TO IMPLEMENTATION
Most improvements begin with real-world input.
In practice, that input comes from physicians and team members who use the system every day — whether it’s identifying a workflow that could be simplified or a feature that could better support patient care.
Our software team and leadership review these ideas, then collaborate with external open-source partners to ensure they are broadly useful and thoughtfully designed.
From there, each idea moves through a structured process:
Review: Assessing the need, impact, and feasibility of the change
Design: Defining how the improvement should work within existing workflows
Development: Building the feature or enhancement
Testing: Conducting multiple rounds of quality assurance
Clinician feedback: Validating the change in real-world use cases
Release: Rolling out the update once it meets performance and safety standards
Iteration: Continuing to refine and improve the update over time
This collaborative approach ensures that updates are not only technically sound but also practical and useful in a clinical setting.
Once implemented, improvements are also shared with the broader open-source community, extending their impact to other clinics using the same system. This reflects our commitment to the <Better Care/> campaign — improving the systems that support patient care across our clinics and beyond.
WHY IMPROVEMENTS TAKE TIME
Credit: Alvaro Reyes
Even seemingly small changes can take weeks or months to complete.
In healthcare, there is little room for error. Updates must work consistently across different workflows, integrate with existing systems, and protect sensitive patient information at every step.
In many cases, improving one area of the system requires additional updates elsewhere in the platform. This helps changes integrate smoothly into the broader system without disrupting overall stability.
Before any change is released, it is carefully tested to ensure it:
Performs reliably under real-world conditions
Maintains data accuracy and integrity
Avoids introducing unintended issues elsewhere in the system
Testing includes multiple rounds of quality assurance — including technical validation and hands-on feedback from clinicians — to keep workflows smooth and intuitive.
Because the EMR is used in real clinical environments, updates need to work consistently in day-to-day practice, not just in theory.
A CONTINUOUS APPROACH TO IMPROVEMENT
Rather than relying on large, one-time updates, many improvements are introduced gradually.
Priority needs are addressed first, with additional updates rolled out over time based on feedback and real-world use. This approach allows the system to evolve in a way that remains stable while continuously adapting to clinician needs.
It also means that improvement is never “finished” — each update builds on the last, continuously refining how the EMR supports care.
A PROCESS BUILT FOR CARE
Every step in this process is designed with one goal in mind: supporting better patient care.
By combining clinician input, structured development practices, and thorough testing, we ensure each update strengthens the system in a meaningful and reliable way.
This work is part of our broader <Better Care/> campaign, focused on continuously improving the shared, open-source EMR that powers nearly every aspect of patient care across our clinics.
By supporting these efforts, you’re strengthening care at Magenta Health and contributing to a system used by clinics across Canada. Learn more about how you can support our EMR improvement efforts here.
Together, these efforts build technology clinicians can trust — helping us deliver safer, more efficient care every day.