Every person in Northern Ireland who receives health and social care will now have a digital care record as all Northern Ireland's health trusts implement encompass.
The new electronic patient record system has been rolled out over the past 18 months, with the Western and Southern Trusts going live on Thursday.
It aims to create better experiences for patients, service users and staff by bringing together information from various existing systems that do not currently communicate effectively.
The Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said the full roll-out of encompass "puts Northern Ireland at the forefront of health service delivery".
Patients and service users across Northern Ireland will be able to access their health information online via a patient portal called My Care.
It is available via app or webpage, and it enables patients and service users to play a more active role in their care.
Nesbitt said the implementation of encompass has been a "concerted effort across the whole of the Health and Social Care system" since it was first announced in 2020.
"This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity and has allowed Northern Ireland to modernise our systems and fundamentally improve how we deliver care," he said.
'Eliminates heavy paper records'
Tom Simpson, the Department of Health's Deputy Chief Digital Information Officer and Director of Digital Health and Care Northern Ireland, said it was a "really important day for the transformation of our Health and Care sector".
"This isn't just a new IT system; it is about changing how the sector works so that our staff have the right tools to deliver the best service for all in Northern Ireland," he said.
"Encompass streamlines how care is delivered by giving care workers quick access to the right information at the right time.
"It eliminates heavy paper records, reduces repeat tests and helps hospital-based pharmacists manage medicines more safely."
He said it also provides better quality data to help improve services for the future and achieve better outcomes.
