MISSING MEDICAL INFORMATION — WHY IT HAPPENS AND HOW WE’RE CLOSING THE LOOP

Credit: GuerrillaBuzz

At Magenta Health, we think carefully about how care flows behind the scenes.

From ordering tests to receiving results and making timely, informed clinical decisions, every step matters.

Most of the time, that process works as expected — but sometimes, it doesn’t.

When that flow breaks down, it’s often because important patient information didn’t reach the right place. This is what we call missing medical information (MMI). 

Closing the loop on missing medical information is a key part of how we deliver <Better Care/> for patients, families, and care teams across the healthcare system.

  • Missing medical information (MMI) refers to patient health information that was expected, but never received.

    This can include:

    • Lab test results

    • Imaging reports

    • Specialist notes

    • Past medical records

    This information can be sent in many different ways — by fax, electronic system, phone, or mail. While most transmissions go through successfully, breakdowns can and do happen anyway.

  • There is no single cause.

    In most cases, it comes down to a mix of:

    • Human error

    • Technical issues

    • Gaps in processes or in system interactions

    Even with modern tools, healthcare still relies on multiple systems and organizations communicating with each other. At present, there is no standardized, province-wide protocol that guarantees every piece of information arrives exactly where it should.

the Impact on Patients and Care

It’s easy to assume that “no news is good news.”

But in healthcare, that isn’t always true.

When information is missing:

  • Physicians may not have the full picture when making care decisions

  • Follow-ups can be delayed

  • Important findings may not be addressed as quickly as they should be

Even if this happens infrequently — for example, in a small percentage of the hundreds of thousands of documents clinics receive each year — it can still make a real difference in patients’ lives.

This is not just a system-wide issue. It impacts individuals, families, and care teams alike. 

At Magenta Health, we feel a personal responsibility to reduce this risk for the patients we serve and to contribute to broader improvements across the healthcare system through our <Better Care/> initiative.

  • When medical information is missing, the responsibility for identifying and resolving it often falls to individual clinics and physicians.

    That means teams must:

    • Recognize that something is missing

    • Contact external organizations such as labs, hospitals, or imaging centres

    • Request the information again

    • Investigate what went wrong

    • Consider whether other patients may have been affected

    This work is time-consuming, difficult to standardize, and often repeated across many clinics dealing with the same issue.

    It also takes time away from direct patient care. Family doctors want to deliver excellent care, but many are working with outdated systems that add hours of administrative work each week, making it harder to provide timely, high-quality care and a smooth patient experience.

    This is where a clinic’s response becomes especially important.

  • In many cases, the process of managing missing medical information ends once the information is found and the immediate patient care issue is resolved.

    At Magenta Health, our policy is to continue.

    We treat every instance of missing medical information as an opportunity to improve the system.

    Our approach follows four key steps:

    1. Find and resolve the immediate issue: We locate the missing information using various internal tools or by contacting the relevant third party.

    2. Understand why it happened: We investigate whether the issue was due to human error, technical problems, or gaps in processes — either internally or with external partners

    3. Fix the problem going forward: We adjust workflows, implement system improvements, and collaborate with partners to reduce the chance of it happening again.

    4. Look back to protect other patients: When needed, we audit previous records to ensure no other results were missed, and we use what we learn to strengthen processes going forward.

    By following these steps, we make sure that every instance of missing information is resolved, that patient care is safeguarded, and that the extra work involved contributes to a safer, more reliable system overall.

  • We’ve developed multiple layers of internal safeguards to help catch issues earlier, including:

    • Physician-level tracking for high-priority tests

    • Clinic-wide tracking for certain categories of tests

    • Internal audits that scan for potential gaps

    • Patient-level tracking, where patients help ensure they hear back about results

    Behind these safeguards is our Internal MMI Committee, which reviews every instance of missing medical information.

    These systems are constantly evolving as part of our commitment to <Better Care/>. 

    While no system is perfect, each improvement helps reduce risk and increase reliability over time. That’s why we work closely with patients, providers, and partners to keep these safeguards effective and provide the best possible care.

YOUR ROLE IN CLOSING THE LOOP

Patients play a key role in helping us identify and act on missing medical information as early as possible.

In some cases, your physician may tell you that no follow-up is needed unless there’s a concern.

But otherwise, we recommend:

  • Keeping track of any tests you complete

  • Noting whether you’ve received your results

  • Following up if it’s been longer than expected

To learn more about closing the loop on results and how that supports <Better Care/>, read our overview here.

LOOKING AHEAD: IMPROVING THE SYSTEM TOGETHER

Missing medical information isn’t just a clinic-level issue — it’s a system-level issue.

Right now, most of the responsibility for identifying and fixing these gaps sits with individual clinics. That means there’s a bigger opportunity for meaningful change: improving how information flows across the entire healthcare system.

At Magenta Health, this work is part of our <Better Care/> initiative. We continuously invest in improving the shared electronic medical record (EMR) system that supports nearly every part of care, from booking appointments and tracking results to follow-ups and preventive care. 

These improvements strengthen care for patients at Magenta Health and in clinics across Canada that use the same platform.

Over time, this means building a system where missing medical information becomes increasingly rare, so patients and physicians spend less time chasing it and more time focused on care.

HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT <BETTER CARE/>

If you’d like to support this work, there are a few practical ways to get involved:

There are many no-cost ways to support this initiative and improve how care is delivered at Magenta Health. You can learn more here.

Every step helps build a stronger system that works better for you, your family, physicians, and patients across Canada. Together, we can make care safer, faster, and more reliable.