Automated calling helps patients flourish In 2016, Providence Healthcare launched an automated, voice-activated calling system to contact patients and families after their discharge from Providence at the 48-hour and 30-day periods. The system delivers questions in either English or French inquiring about medication management, falls and overall well-being, while also addressing potential caregiver strain factors. A live call option is available for cases where automation may not be suitable. An updated version of this system launched on October 2 with the addition of three languages – Cantonese, Greek and Italian – as well as a third call at the four-month period, ensuring patients and families remain connected and supported for a longer period of time. If issues arise at home or the patient or caregiver wishes to speak to someone, the system triggers a live call from one of Providence’s community health navigators. Since its inception, 90 per cent of patients who received the calls have said it’s an ideal way to exchange information. The Community Health Navigation team (Tracey Sanford, Monica McCullagh, Sara Penny) helps ensure patients flourish at Providence and back at home.
Access to personal health records coming soon to diabetes patients
Patients in St. Joe’s diabetes outpatient clinic will soon have access to MyChart, a free and secure web-based personal health record that allows patients to create and manage their health information. Starting as a pilot for this patient population, St. Joe’s will be building on this to further develop and roll out the tool across the organization for all patients.
CONNECTING CARE, PEOPLE AND IDEAS
VOL 1 • NO. 6 NOVEMBER 8, 2017
Information Technology transformations for better care and service
MyChart is a tool created by Sunnybrook that has been adopted across several Ontario hospitals, including St. Michael’s. Access to MyChart allows patients to view their hospital records such as lab results, medical imaging reports, selected clinical notes, information about upcoming appointments and other educational health information. With this tool, patients control who has access to their MyChart – including family members/caregivers, family physicians and others on their care team beyond the hospital setting. MyChart is expected to launch in our diabetes outpatient clinic in March 2018 — stay tuned for more updates!
IT solutions to improve the patient experience In addition to constructing physical spaces, the scope of St. Michael’s 3.0 redevelopment project includes new information technology tools and solutions to enhance clinical workflows and improve the patient experience. One example of this is the eWhiteboard, an electronic tool to replace what is typically displayed on static whiteboards in patient care settings. The electronic tool will support unit communication and discharge planning by bringing together key clinical activities on one screen, providing an overview of unit activity at a glance. It will also support nurse-to-patient assignment prior to shift change and display that information to the entire team.
oursharedpurpose.com Our Shared Purpose is an internal newsletter intended to keep staff at all three sites informed about our integration and transition plans, as well as highlight key achievements and activities at each of the sites. Our Shared Purpose is published monthly by the Communications teams at Providence, St. Joseph’s and St. Michael’s. If you have any questions about any of the articles, please visit oursharedpurpose.com to submit your inquiry. OUR SHARED PURPOSE • VOL. 1 • NO. 6 • NOVEMBER 8, 2017 • page 4
A message from Anne Trafford, vice-president of Quality, Performance and Information Technology
When we embarked on our integration journey, we did so with the shared purpose of advancing the health of our patients, residents, clients and urban communities. So how are we going to do this? While every one of us plays an important role in carrying on the Sisters of St. Joseph’s legacy of providing compassionate care to all, there is also considerable potential for information technology (IT) as a portfolio to support and enable our health network in providing excellent patient care.
Pg 1-3 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR BETTER CARE AND SERVICE
Pg 2-3 CONNECTING OUR NETWORK
United, our health network is much bigger – and in this case, size matters. We’re better equipped and positioned to leverage our technological expertise and resources and help drive enhancements across the network. In the short time we’ve been at this, we’ve already accomplished so much. Turn the page to learn more!
Pg 4 PROVIDENCE HEALTHCARE Automated calling helps patients flourish
Pg 4 ST. JOSEPH’S HEALTH CENTRE Access to personal health records coming soon to diabetes patients
OUR SHARED PURPOSE • VOL. 1 • NO. 6 • NOVEMBER 8, 2017 • page 1
Pg 4 ST. MICHAEL’S HOSPITAL IT solutions to improve the patient experience
Connecting our network
IF YOU’D LIKE TO HEAR MORE ABOUT OUR IT UPDATES, WATCH THIS SHORT VIDEO: bit.ly/IT-oct17
United, we are able to embark on these exciting IT initiatives and leverage our strengths and create opportunities to move to where health care is going. Underpinning all this work is our ongoing commitment to providing excellent – and forward-looking – patient, resident and client care. Some of the ways we have already been able to create connections and efficiencies for you include:
To help us achieve our goal of fully integrating our information management and technology, we’ve organized our work into four broad buckets:
Video conferencing capabilities: Our network is geographically dispersed. We are trialling a video conferencing option to enable people to meet without having to spend time travelling.
An integrated phone directory: We all have access to each other’s staff directories and you can now call colleagues at other sites using a prefix before their extension number versus rather than having to dial externally.
Infrastructure: Our focus here is to look for ways to connect our three sites to continue to support the important operations of our network.
Financial systems: Today, we have three payroll, human resources and finance systems. We are working to consolidate and integrate all three into one common system.
Document management portal: Another way we are making it easier for you to work with colleagues at other sites is through Connections, a portal through which you can securely share and manage content, documents and ideas.
Establishing network connectivity across sites: This means that if you are a St. Joseph’s staff member visiting St. Michael’s, your laptop will automatically and seamlessly connect to your home site’s network. We are working to connect Providence by the end of November.
Data and analytics: This is an area with great potential. As an integrated health network, we now have access to a much larger pool of data. With this opportunity, we’ll be looking at how we can leverage our expertise, assets and analytics to inform better decision making.
Clinical systems: We’ve got great expertise at both St. Michael’s and St. Joseph’s in implementing an electronic patient record (EPR), and now, we’ll be looking to enable an EPR at Providence. We’ve got our eye on implementing a single EPR and chart that includes a joint patient registration and scheduling system for use across our sites.
If you need help getting set up on any of these, please contact your Helpdesk.
Automated calling helps patients flourish In 2016, Providence Healthcare launched an automated, voice-activated calling system to contact patients and families after their discharge from Providence at the 48-hour and 30-day periods. The system delivers questions in either English or French inquiring about medication management, falls and overall well-being, while also addressing potential caregiver strain factors. A live call option is available for cases where automation may not be suitable. An updated version of this system launched on October 2 with the addition of three languages – Cantonese, Greek and Italian – as well as a third call at the four-month period, ensuring patients and families remain connected and supported for a longer period of time. If issues arise at home or the patient or caregiver wishes to speak to someone, the system triggers a live call from one of Providence’s community health navigators. Since its inception, 90 per cent of patients who received the calls have said it’s an ideal way to exchange information. The Community Health Navigation team (Tracey Sanford, Monica McCullagh, Sara Penny) helps ensure patients flourish at Providence and back at home.
Access to personal health records coming soon to diabetes patients
Patients in St. Joe’s diabetes outpatient clinic will soon have access to MyChart, a free and secure web-based personal health record that allows patients to create and manage their health information. Starting as a pilot for this patient population, St. Joe’s will be building on this to further develop and roll out the tool across the organization for all patients.
CONNECTING CARE, PEOPLE AND IDEAS
VOL 1 • NO. 6 NOVEMBER 8, 2017
Information Technology transformations for better care and service
MyChart is a tool created by Sunnybrook that has been adopted across several Ontario hospitals, including St. Michael’s. Access to MyChart allows patients to view their hospital records such as lab results, medical imaging reports, selected clinical notes, information about upcoming appointments and other educational health information. With this tool, patients control who has access to their MyChart – including family members/caregivers, family physicians and others on their care team beyond the hospital setting. MyChart is expected to launch in our diabetes outpatient clinic in March 2018 — stay tuned for more updates!
IT solutions to improve the patient experience In addition to constructing physical spaces, the scope of St. Michael’s 3.0 redevelopment project includes new information technology tools and solutions to enhance clinical workflows and improve the patient experience. One example of this is the eWhiteboard, an electronic tool to replace what is typically displayed on static whiteboards in patient care settings. The electronic tool will support unit communication and discharge planning by bringing together key clinical activities on one screen, providing an overview of unit activity at a glance. It will also support nurse-to-patient assignment prior to shift change and display that information to the entire team.
oursharedpurpose.com Our Shared Purpose is an internal newsletter intended to keep staff at all three sites informed about our integration and transition plans, as well as highlight key achievements and activities at each of the sites. Our Shared Purpose is published monthly by the Communications teams at Providence, St. Joseph’s and St. Michael’s. If you have any questions about any of the articles, please visit oursharedpurpose.com to submit your inquiry. OUR SHARED PURPOSE • VOL. 1 • NO. 6 • NOVEMBER 8, 2017 • page 4
A message from Anne Trafford, vice-president of Quality, Performance and Information Technology
When we embarked on our integration journey, we did so with the shared purpose of advancing the health of our patients, residents, clients and urban communities. So how are we going to do this? While every one of us plays an important role in carrying on the Sisters of St. Joseph’s legacy of providing compassionate care to all, there is also considerable potential for information technology (IT) as a portfolio to support and enable our health network in providing excellent patient care.
Pg 1-3 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR BETTER CARE AND SERVICE
Pg 2-3 CONNECTING OUR NETWORK
United, our health network is much bigger – and in this case, size matters. We’re better equipped and positioned to leverage our technological expertise and resources and help drive enhancements across the network. In the short time we’ve been at this, we’ve already accomplished so much. Turn the page to learn more!
Pg 4 PROVIDENCE HEALTHCARE Automated calling helps patients flourish
Pg 4 ST. JOSEPH’S HEALTH CENTRE Access to personal health records coming soon to diabetes patients
OUR SHARED PURPOSE • VOL. 1 • NO. 6 • NOVEMBER 8, 2017 • page 1
Pg 4 ST. MICHAEL’S HOSPITAL IT solutions to improve the patient experience