HALIFAX: Real-time information is helping healthcare teams provide better, faster care to patients.
The new Care Coordination Centre at the Halifax Infirmary site of the QEII Health Sciences Centre gives healthcare teams information on bed availability, the status of diagnostic tests and procedures, wait lists, ambulance offloads and patient transfers.
Having this information in real time has led to reduced wait times and better patient experiences through more efficient bed management and discharge planning, better scheduling of staff and use of resources, and more collaboration across health zones.
“The more information we have, the better decisions we can make for patients in our care. A real-time view of where patients are in their care, where the pressures are and what changes must happen in the moment to get a patient where they need to be will better support their care and recovery,” said Health and Wellness Minister Michelle Thompson.
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“The Care Coordination Centre and other initiatives that improve the flow of patients through the healthcare system, including emergency departments, helps patients return to where they call home sooner and opens capacity in our hospitals for those who need to be there.”
The Care Coordination Centre is one of several initiatives that will help patients receive the care they need faster, so they can get home sooner. Other initiatives include:
— SAFER-f, which is focused on quality improvements like having lab tests completed earlier, better co-ordination of multidisciplinary teams and improved communication with families and patients, all of which help patients to return home sooner. The initiative has been tested in eight medical units across the province and will be expanded to more this year.
— an increased focus on frail patients by hiring four frailty leads, one in each health zone. The leads oversee the co-ordination, training and implementation of frailty assessments and mobility programs for patients in hospitals.
— hiring more healthcare professionals to create mobility teams at all regional hospitals. These teams will help patients in hospital to become mobile sooner, which will help in their recovery, reduce their length of stay, increase bed capacity, as well as reduce pressures in emergency departments and surgical wait times.
— increasing evening and weekend access to interprofessional teams and other support services by hiring about 250 more healthcare providers such as physiotherapists, dietitians, pharmacists, occupational therapists and discharge planners. Patients will be able to receive these services during evenings and weekends, which reduces their length of stay.
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Initiatives that help Nova Scotians receive timely care to return home sooner, are priorities of the government’s plan to improve healthcare, Action for Health.
Quotes:
“Nova Scotia Health is undergoing a digital health transformation to be a national and world leader in healthcare.
“The Care Coordination Centre is supporting staff and physicians with the information they need to make care decisions more easily – that means they can spend more time providing care rather than co-ordinating it, which is improving patient care and experience.”
– Karen Oldfield, President and CEO, Nova Scotia Health
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“The Care Coordination Centre is the first of its kind in Canada and lays the foundation for Nova Scotia Health and the province to be a world leader as a centre of excellence in artificial intelligence and a learning organization.
“Care Coordination Centre is not just about access to data, it is about having key clinical and flow co-ordination expertise within the centre so we can create access to the most effective, efficient and relevant care to enhance experience and health outcomes for all Nova Scotians.
“As a critical care nurse by background, I know the importance of these innovative solutions to support our providers in offering the best possible care to their patients informed by data and evidence.”
– Gail Tomblin Murphy, Vice-President of Research, Innovation and Discovery, and Chief Nurse Executive, Nova Scotia Health
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“The centre supports our teams to make on-the-spot decisions on what must happen to get the patient the care they need most efficiently.
“This means the patient goes home sooner, which opens beds for people waiting in emergency or for patients in the community waiting for surgery.
“Taken together with SAFER-f and other initiatives across the system, the centre will make meaningful reductions in patient wait times for care.”
– Dr. Tanya Munroe, co-lead, Access and Flow Network, Nova Scotia Health
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Quick Facts:
— Nova Scotia is the first region in Canada to have a provincewide health co-ordination centre focused on access to care
— SAFER-f stands for Senior review, All patients, Flow, Early discharge, Review, frailty
— more than one in four people who go to a regional emergency department are over age 65, and one in five is likely to be frail
— about 33 per cent of hospital admissions happen between Friday and Sunday; on average, these patients remain in hospital one day longer than patients admitted between Monday and Thursday
“The centre supports our teams to make on-the-spot decisions on what must happen to get the patient the care they need most efficiently. This means the patient goes home sooner, which opens beds for people waiting in emergency or for patients in the community waiting for surgery. Taken together with SAFER-f and other initiatives across the system, the centre will make meaningful reductions in patient wait times for care.”
– Dr. Tanya Munroe, co-lead, Access and Flow Network, Nova Scotia Health
