Purpose
The Enhancing Access (EA) initiative is designed to support interested specialists to engage with their colleagues and external partners, assess their practice and referral process, and implement strategies to improve patient access to consult and care.
Sizing it Up
Since 2018, the Enhancing Access initiative has supported a variety of different specialists across the province to take an active role in addressing patient access issues unique to their individual location and context. Examples of improvement projects include:
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Simplifying and standardizing the referral process by establishing single entry model for a group of specialists.
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Partnering with health authorities to optimize waitlist management systems.
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Establishing multidisciplinary clinics to address specific patient populations.
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Creating information sharing systems between specialists through web portals and data exchanges.
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Implementing processes to ensure equitable distribution of patient referrals.
Things to Know
To provide flexibility, a specialist(s) may apply to the initiative at any time. After the proposal is submitted, the EA team will meet with the specialist(s) to better understand the problem they are trying to solve and then be allocated to a specific stream. These include:
Engagement – The specialist(s) will be supported to discuss with physician colleagues and other external partners potential challenges and solutions associated with access to their speciality.
Planning – The specialist(s) will be funded to develop a project plan with appropriate budget and put their team together.
Implementation – The specialist(s) team will implement the selected improvement strategy and evaluate their outcomes.
Post Project Support – Many projects need to refine process after implementation. If a specialist(s) demonstrates successful implementation of their improvement initiative, then they may be eligible to receive one-time funding to support additional changes to their program.
Access Support
Alternatively click here to complete an Expression of Interest Form.
Resources
Contact
Garth Vatkin, Portfolio Liaison
Alison Foulds, Project Coordinator
