July 2007 Vital Signs.p65 - Calgary & Area Physician's Association

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By Shannon Davies, CHR communications Accessing credible and upto-date health information has gotten a whole lot easier on the Calgary Health Region website. The site’s “newsier” content includes daily snapshots of worldwide health news and local media coverage; and interactive features – almost 300 state of the art 3D videos. “There are many fascinating, ground-breaking endeavours taking place throughout the region and our new external website is the place to read about the good work our people are doing,” said Chris Nelson, vice-president, e-Health Development. Reflecting the priority placed on easy access to local and international health news, the left hand column is devoted to daily health headlines with local and international impact. Also on the homepage: the region’s top 10 health topics. Click on a topic for instant access to relevant – and timely – health information. How do we choose the top 10 topics? We don’t! The public’s calls to Health Link inform the content of this list – giving the public the opportunity to tell us what they need to know about. New region website Increasingly, Calgarians are concerned with preventing illness and maintaining wellbeing. We commend this healthy attitude, and offer tips, facts and videos to support these choices – check out the lifestyle and wellness section for more. The site also offers 24/7 health advice, hospital listings and a doctor directory. As a dynamic tool built to evolve with its users, the new external website represents the increasingly important role patients and their families play in the care delivery model. Online visits with health care professionals and access to personal e_records are two of many e-health tools that will fundamentally change the patient-provider relationship in the next three to five years. Using the external website as a springboard for this e-health evolution, consumers will become collaborative designers of tomorrow’s electronic health mediums, starting today. Be sure to visit the site and stay up-to-date with all the latest health headlines from inside the region and from abroad. Visit the new region website now at www.calgaryhealthregion.ca. Vital Signs July 2007 • Page 5
Performance measurement data & quality management methodology provide foundation for improving patient outcomes The Calgary Health Region’s Calgary stroke program is known internationally as one of the leading stroke research and treatment centres in the world. To stay at the leading edge of care the stroke program relies heavily on quality management (QM) resources such as performance measurement data are provided by the quality, safety & health information (QSHI) portfolio. With the data provided by QSHI, the stroke program is able to continually monitor its progress against specific targets designed to improve patient care. Regular monitoring helps identify where adjustments can be made to work processes in order to keep improving and setting new higher targets. “Success by the numbers means we are able to treat more patients in less time, and have better outcomes for more patients,” says Dr. Michael Hill, director of the stroke unit and associate professor of clinical neurosciences, medicine, and community health sciences, faculty of medicine, University of Calgary. “We watch our data closely to tell us how successful we are, and to help guide our decision-making to be sure we are continually improving.” QSHI’s performance reporting unit works closely with the client to determine what data will provide the most useful measures for managers, based on the specific goals of the program. They then compile the information from the region’s health records discharge data and statistics from specific services (such as the length of stay in the emergency department) to provide a quarterly snapshot of how the program is succeeding and where it can make changes to improve care for patients. “With stroke patients time is the enemy. If we can provide treatment quickly there is a better chance of preventing recurrent stroke. So that’s a key area of measurement for us to focus on,” says Hill. Hill and his group track the period between when a stroke occurs and the time the patient undergoes surgery to clear a carotid artery blockage (e.g., endarterectomy or stenting). Within two weeks of a stroke, 65 – 70 per cent of patients undergo surgery. “That’s pretty good compared to lots of places. But we want to improve that to 95 per cent. To get there, we’re changing the way we practice medicine and we know what changes to make based on the data we monitor.” In the last three years the stroke program has seen the emergency department re-admit data for stroke patients decrease to five from nine per cent. “That’s a direct result of making necessary changes in our system to get these patients to surgery within two weeks of their event,” says Hill. The program also uses research data to keep a close eye on utilization numbers in order to plan for and manage growth. This is particularly helpful since stroke occurrence is highly variable. Just over 1,400 stroke patients were seen region-wide in 2006, and each year the number may fluctuate by as many as 100. The benefits of managing by the numbers – both performance Vital Signs July 2007 • Page 6 Quality management helps leading stroke program By Janice Harvie, CHR communications measurement indicators and research data - extend beyond patient outcomes, too. Decreases in mortality and morbidity rates mean less demand for long term care beds. The average length of stay for stroke patients in the region fell by four days between 1998-2000 and 2002- 2004, (19 days to 15 days) and mortality fell four percent, from 19 What is quality management (QM)? The Calgary Health Region’s quality and safety management framework is based on the traditional QM philosophy or steps of “identify, measure, design, improve.” It is focused on improving clinical, cost and satisfaction outcomes. In the region this means evaluating our performance and progress toward regional and portfolio objectives. We do this by: · developing key measures of performance · assigning targets (based on historical data and/ or industry best practice, if available), · continuously measuring performance over time, and · using the data to make management decisions such as how to prioritize and resource improvement projects. – 15 per cent. “We rely entirely on this data to show the investment in the stroke unit has been worthwhile,” says Hill. “We’ve processed more patients with shorter lengths of stay. That translates into a $4 million savings for the region each year.” Staff at all levels of the stroke program benefit, not just managers. “The information is shared at rounds so everyone on our team has a flavour of what’s going on and why we make changes to the way we work. We all have a common understanding of the goal,” says Hill. Successful management by the numbers in the stroke program has also had a positive affect in the performance reporting unit. “We work with these numbers all day and turn the data over to the doctors and managers we work with. It’s been very gratifying for us to see the positive and direct impact our work has on patients,” says Ed Enns, manager, performance reporting. Dr. Hill uses his performance data in broader applications, too. “Stroke patients have been referred to as bed blockers because there’s a perception they have very, very long hospital stays. The data helps us dispel that bias quickly,” Hill says. An example is collaborating with hospitalists to design and evaluate a more efficient discharge process. I’m a huge believer in using real data to influence all our decisions and program management. Without it, you’re just operating blindly.”
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July 2007 Vital Signs.p65 - Calgary & Area Physician's Association

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