Posted on Jun 14, 2016
For more than a year, 11 BC surgical sites across all regional health authorities worked together as the BC Enhanced Recovery Collaborative to improve patient recovery after colorectal surgery by implementing 21 evidence-based processes of care. Compliance to these processes resulted in reducing complication rates from 32% to 22% and shortening hospital stays by two days without affecting readmission rates.
The momentum for Enhanced Recovery in BC continues to grow. Twelve more BC sites from all regional health authority regions have connected with the Collaborative in various capacities, from collaborating on the development of new clinical guidance, to participating in Collaborative learning sessions, to seeking advice and funding for launching their own Enhanced Recovery programs. Enhanced Recovery is also spreading beyond elective colorectal surgery to other service lines including: urology, gynecology, hepatobiliary, vascular, orthopedics, plastics, and general surgery.
The SSC and Collaborative participants have learned a lot from collective experiences about site-level Enhanced Recovery implementation. The critical success factors are:
• a multi-disciplinary team of clinical champions, physician leadership, and project management,
• ongoing staff education,
• patients engaged in their own care,
• co-creation of new resources and innovations, and
• a robust data infrastructure.
The Collaborative also developed new resources, including multi-lingual patient education videos, clinical guidance documents, data collection and reporting tools, and a series of webinars on a variety of topics. Collaborative teams made their tools, such as patient education booklets, pre-printed order sets, and train-the-trainer materials available on the Collaborative website, Enhanced Recovery BC. New resources continue to be added, so check back regularly.
For a more detailed account of the many lessons learned from this initiative – including successes, challenges, and opportunities to improve – please read the complete Enhanced Recovery Collaborative Final Report or the Highlight Report. Also, view a patient video about his journey with Enhanced Recovery. To pursue Enhanced Recovery in your area, please email sscbc@doctorsofbc.ca
