New technology that notifies the North East CCAC when a patient is admitted to hospital and notifies hospitals that a patient is receiving home care services is smoothing patient transitions and enhancing quality patient care.
Funded by eHealth Ontario, the new e-Notification initiative began rolling out across the northeast on January 29th. As of March 31st, the North East CCAC and 24 Northeastern Ontario Network (NEON) hospitals have been ‘turned on’ to this information-sharing project.
The e-Notification software is simple.
When a patient presents to the Emergency Department (or is admitted to an inpatient unit), their name and birthdate are entered in the hospital’s computer system. This information is relayed to a provincial database, and if there is a match, both the hospital and CCAC systems are notified.
Simple information, but the benefits that flow from it are significant. Once this notification is received, CCAC Care Coordinators know to put home and community care on hold, and hospital staff are prompted to search for the patient’s CCAC care history in the new Health Partner Gateway (HPG) database, where they can see all the CCAC services the patient is receiving. This provides a more accurate view of the patient’s current condition, and also helps with discharge planning. CCAC will receive an eNotification in real time ensuring the CCAC is aware that a patient will be returning home so care visits can be planned or resumed.
“This project has seen an unprecedented level of cooperation among partners for the benefit of our patients,” says Peter Taylor, e-Notification Steering Committee Chair, and North East CCAC Director, Business Solutions. “e-Notification enables patients to experience smoother transitions, faster discharges, fewer readmissions to hospital, and better follow-up care.”
“As a LHIN we supported this made-in-Northern Ontario solution to improving coordination of care by identifying the need and working with the Ministry to secure funding for the project,” said Tamara Shewciw, Chief Information Officer for the North East Local Health Integration Network (LHIN). “Many thanks to the North East CCAC for rolling it out so successfully across the region. This initiative will make sure Northerners don’t fall through the cracks as they transition between community and acute care.”
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Quelle/Source: BayToday, 09.04.2015
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