Health professionals from across the province gather in Vancouver today for a day-long forum hosted by Health Minister George Abbott that showcases Health Innovation Fund projects from the $100-million fund and allows participants to share ideas and discuss the role of innovation in the future of B.C.'s health-care system.

More than 150 participants, including doctors, nurses and other health-care professionals, will attend the Health Innovation Fund Best Practices Forum at the Morris J. Wosk Centre in Vancouver.

"Today we will celebrate the early successes of 10 health innovation projects from across British Columbia, and we will hear about exciting initiatives that are easing emergency department wait times and improving care for seniors and individuals with chronic diseases," said Abbott. "Importantly, all participants have the opportunity today to share ideas and best practices and, through this exchange of dialogue, we can work together to ensure that communities around the province will continue to see the benefits of innovation in health care for years to come."

The $100-million Health Innovation Fund was created in Budget 2007 to provide health authorities with funding to allow them to undertake projects that focus on new and innovative ways to improve patient care. Funded projects focus on three key strategic areas: emergency room decongestion, to improve efficiency
and reduce emergency wait times; primary health-care services, to improve care at the community level; and pay for performance, which uses financial incentives to increase productivity and quality of care. In total, 51 projects - 29 major initiatives and 22 smaller scale projects - received monies from this one-time fund.

The forum, entitled Early Successes in Advancing Best Practices, features presentations by project leaders from all six health authorities and provides presenters with the opportunity to highlight the early successes of their projects and also to outline challenges and lessons learned.

"Health Innovation funding allows us to think outside the box when it comes to new ways of providing the best health-care services for our patients," said Wynne Powell, chair of the Provincial Health Services Authority. "Today's presentations and discussions will provide health-care professionals with some great ideas that will enable them to design similar projects in their home communities."

The Conversation Café, a 40-minute interactive session at the end of the forum, provides attendees with the opportunity to share ideas and to ask questions and provide feedback to project organizers.

"Kelowna General Hospital has seen tremendous growth over the past few years and health innovation funding has enabled us to implement a project that has decreased patient wait times significantly in the emergency department - specifically, time to see the physician - and considerably increased patient and staff satisfaction," said Dr. Mike Ertel, physician director and head of
emergency medicine at KGH. "Our initiative, the KGH Streaming Project, is the best thing I've seen in my 15 years in emergency medicine, and it's wonderful to have the opportunity to share some of our early successes with colleagues from around the province."

The Health Innovation Fund supports the Province's Pacific Leadership Agenda to improve the health of British Columbians and renew the public health system.

HEALTH INNOVATION FORUM SHOWCASED PROJECTS

Emergency Department Decongestion Pay for Performance Vancouver Coastal Health Authority

The Emergency Department Decongestion Pay for Performance pilot project is a unique initiative that rewards hospitals with financial incentives if they meet or exceed specific time targets for moving emergency department patients into hospital beds or back to the community. All revenue generated through this initiative goes back into making improvements to the emergency departments and to improving patient flow. The pilot project is in place at Vancouver General, St. Paul, Richmond and Lions Gate hospitals. Since the start of the pilot in October 2007, the percentage of patients meeting the emergency department target times at participating hospitals has increased significantly.

Kelowna General Hospital Streaming Project
Interior Health Authority

The Kelowna General Hospital Streaming project focuses on redesigning the way that emergency patients are assessed and treated. Since the project's implementation, the hospital has seen significant cuts to emergency wait times.

As part of this initiative, the emergency department uses stretchers only when necessary and patients who are able to sit in chairs are directed to a separate waiting area where they can receive nurse or physician assessment and diagnostics more quickly. KGH's Streaming project allows stretchers to remain available for the patients who need them the most and these patients also
experience shorter wait times.

iCare (Acute Care Capacity Recovery)
Fraser Health Authority

The iCare patient management project is focused on reducing emergency department wait times for patients and improving communication among care providers who are involved in caring for the same patient. As part of this process, an interdisciplinary health team meets daily with health-care professionals to update patient progress and identify goals for patient care. iCare is in place at Burnaby, Eagle Ridge and Royal Columbian hospitals, with planned implementation in several more Fraser Health hospitals this year. Early analysis shows that iCare has significantly reduced emergency wait times in these hospitals.

Chronic Disease Management Project
Vancouver Coastal Health Authority

Vancouver Coastal's Chronic Disease Management pilot project has recruited and registered several hundred patients affected by multiple chronic diseases. This project is focused on improving the health outcomes for patients by linking care providers electronically and offering new tools for supported self care. After the first full year of implementation early successes of this pilot include a 30 per cent reduction in hospital admissions, a 30 per cent reduction in emergency department visits and a 30 per cent reduction in the length of patient stays.

Care North
Northern Health Authority

The Care North project is focused on improving access to primary health-care services for patients in northern B.C. This initiative is a collaboration between primary care physicians, Northern Health and participating communities.
Care North has improved the quality of primary level chronic disease care in the region and the number of communities involved in the initiative has continued to grow. In 2007, Care North won an Excellence in BC Healthcare award to honour excellence and innovation in public health-care delivery.

Comprehensive Geriatric Outpatient Services
Vancouver Island Health Authority

With a focus on shifting the burden of care from hospitals to outpatient services, VIHA's Comprehensive Geriatric Outpatient Services project has created a multidisciplinary geriatric evaluation management team to improve outpatient services for seniors in Greater Victoria and Nanaimo. As a result of this initiative, seniors with urgent health risks are receiving faster access to diagnostics, assessments and rehabilitation and outpatient interventions have
reduced hospitalizations.

Aberdeen Clinic
Interior Health Authority

Aberdeen Clinic is part of the larger Integrated Health Network project and is aimed at supporting patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or two or more chronic diseases. Patient care is team-based with the family doctor supported by other health professionals including a "chronic care coach," a clinical dietitian and respiratory therapist. Benefits of this initiative include better outcomes for patients and greater support for primary health care
givers.

Integrated Health Care for Older Adults
Fraser Health Authority

Fraser Health's Integrated Health Care for Older Adults project is in place at the Abbotsford and Mission Seniors Clinic and the Surrey Seniors First Health Clinic and works to enhance existing Fraser Health services for seniors with complex chronic conditions. This initiative supports primary care physicians in the management and care of their older patients through the development of interdisciplinary care teams, and a medication management program and the project is also working towards the establishment of an electronic medical record for patients. Clinic staff have been able to build strong relationships with their clients and note a number of positive health and lifestyle changes for patients as a result of this project, including a reduction in the number of medications taken and smoking cessation.

Virtual Colonoscopy
Vancouver Island Health Authority

VIHA's Virtual Colonoscopy pilot project uses a CT scanner to generate a 3D virtual reality image of the colon that clearly shows polyps and masses. The procedure dramatically decreases wait times for colonoscopies and has resulted in increased patient satisfaction because it is less invasive and takes less time to perform than the traditional procedure.

Lean Design
Provincial Health Services Authority

The Provincial Health Services Authority's Lean Design initiative focuses on implementing lean management principles to eliminate waste and delays and improve flow and capacity in both clinical and business settings. This initiative has resulted in redesigns of the pre-transplant assessment process at the BC Transplant Society, the anatomical pathology lab at BC Children's Hospital and BC Women's Hospital & Health Centre and the pharmacy at the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC). As a result of this initiative, BCCDC has noted reductions in dispensing times for sexually transmitted infections and tuberculosis medications.

SOURCE:
Ministry of Health
FORUM CELEBRATES INNOVATION IN HEALTH CARE