Hawaii’s biggest hospitals have a new program to electronically share patient records to improve care.

The Queen’s Medical Center and the Hawaii Pacific Health group of hospitals announced the agreement this week.

Straub Clinic & Hospital’s Dr. William Sandusky said time is of the essence in an emergency room, especially for critically ill patients. He said having immediate access to patient medical record enables his team see patient medical histories, lab results and medications.

Doctors need all this information to determine appropriate treatment, he added.

Hawaii Pacific Health includes Straub, Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children, and Pali Momi Medical Center on Oahu and Wilcox Memorial Hospital on Kauai.

Officials said the program is the first step toward enabling all hospitals statewide to share records electronically.