Patient and Family It s your health, it s your healthcare system make your voice heard. Advisory Program Paulette Lalancette Patient Advisor Year in Review PATIENT AND FAMILY ADVISORY PROGRAM YEAR IN REVIEW 2017
MESSAGE FROM CEO PATIENT AND FAMILY ADVISORY CO-CHAIR Mary Jane Scott CEO Patient and Family Advisory Council Co-Chair As we begin this next year, the Patient and Family Advisors look forward to further connecting with the ongoing work of improving quality of care and continue to see positive working relationships develop between Advisors and staff at all levels of the organization. The involvement of Patient and Family Advisors continues to grow substantially at Health Sciences North (), increasing by more than 300% in five years. From a dozen Advisors in 2012, the group has blossomed to close to 40 volunteers who are interwoven with staff throughout the organization to focus on ways to improve the patient experience. is committed to putting patients and their families first and that means viewing the healthcare experience through their eyes. Our CEO Patient and Family Advisory Council members, along with Advisors in other capacities, represent the voices of patients and families who have unique experience, insights, expertise and perspectives that are invaluable to improving care. Members partner with staff and physicians to provide direct input into policies, programs and practices which affect the patient experience. Sharing stories about their experiences, both positive and negative, is an important way to gather insights about each other, and better understand how the patient and family experience can be improved. Advisors contribute to the creation of supportive patient and family materials such as forms, health information, handouts and discharge instructions, ensuring tools are meaningful and easy-to-understand. They partner with staff on improvement projects such as improving the flow of hip fracture patients within and the community and patient complaints within the Surgical Program. They also participate on various committees, interview panels, and in planning services and systems which positively shape the patient experience. As continues to work to achieve the highest quality patient-centered care in Canada, it is critical that such care include meaningful patient and family engagement. As we begin this next year, the Patient and Family Advisors look forward to further connecting with the ongoing work of improving quality of care and continue to see positive working relationships develop between Advisors and staff at all levels of the organization. On behalf of our Patient and Family Advisors, I would like to thank all staff who have welcomed our input in helping you to find ways to enhance the focus of care on the patient. We look forward to continue working with you to find ways to improve and enhance the patient experience. The provision of healthcare is a team effort and you are a phenomenal team.
MESSAGE FROM NECC PATIENT AND FAMILY ADVISORY CO-CHAIR Paulette Lalancette NECC Patient and Family Advisory Council Co-Chair I look forward to many more opportunities for Patient and Family Advisors to participate in experience-based design in order to improve quality, safety and accessibility of the healthcare offered to our communities. Patient and Family Advisors were presented with many opportunities in 2017 to work alongside, NECC, and RI leaders, staff and physicians. We took part in a total of 116 new projects last year, compared to 79 projects during the previous year. The patient voice at has never been stronger. Advisors have been engaged throughout all levels of the organization, assisting in achieving s mission to, Improve the health of northerners by working with our partners to advance quality care, education, research and health promotion. Some examples within the NECC where Advisors were engaged include improving communication and patient experience with Advanced Care Planning, implementing patient reported outcomes on electronic KIOSKs for prostate cancer patients, setting up of the lung cancer screening pilot project, redesign of the complex malignant hematology program, as well as reviewing patient information materials. Personally, I have been involved in bringing forward the patient voice to the monumental project of implementing a comprehensive electronic medical record. I look forward to the day that we can build a patient portal so that every patient has the ability to be informed and engaged in their own care or the care of their loved ones. With s upcoming accreditation journey moving towards the highest standards in quality care I look forward to many more opportunities for Patient and Family Advisors to participate in experience-based design in order to improve quality, safety and accessibility of the healthcare offered to our communities.
Total # of Projects PATIENT Charles Ketter speaks at a collaborative healthcare education series in October regarding end of life care. MAKING A DIFFERENCE The voice of the patient across the organization continues to increase as we realize the impact patient engagement is having in the way we deliver care. There are close to 40 Patient Advisors who contribute countless volunteer hours partnering with to help enhance the experience of care across the system for future patients and family members. In 2017, there were 116 new opportunities to engage Advisors, up from 79 the previous year. The opportunities ranged from various improvements projects occurring across the organization to speaking engagements at hospital-related events. Regardless of the type of work, Patient Advisors bring a unique perspective to the table to help keep us focused on providing quality patient-centred care. WHAT STAFF HAVE TO SAY ABOUT PATIENT ENGAGEMENT Our Patient Advisor brought a unique perspective that many of the health care workers would not have considered. It made us consider how advance care planning could be viewed by the patient, which provided an opportunity to modify the work to ensure our final outcome considered all points of view. It truly influenced the work to ensure that it was patient-centred. Total Number of Projects in 2017 Involving Patient Advisors Traci Franklin, Clinical Manager / Patient Education Lead, Supportive Care
BREAKDOWN OF THE TYPES OF PROJECTS INVOLVING PATIENT ADVISORS IN 2017 116 Opportunities 36 IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS # of Interview Panels # of Improvement Projects 30 INTERVIEW PANELS 50 OTHER OPPORTUNITIES (i.e. speaking events, health campaigns, review of patient information)
IMPROVEMENT WORK Here is a sample of some of the improvement projects that included Patient Advisors: Patient Advisors participate at Regional Oncology Conference in November. Revising the Preferred Accommodation Form Medication reconciliation on transfer in ICU Making changes to the preadmission interview for surgical patients Develop Advanced Care Planning standard on admission Patient services financial review Early ID and assessment of frail community-dwelling older adults Event analysis Care transitions for seniors out of Emergency Department Daffodil Lodge; residential transitional care Complex malignant hematology Collections process in Accounts Receivable Repatriation journey of patients Managing complaints in Surgical program Flow of hip fracture patients within and the community WHAT STAFF HAVE TO SAY ABOUT PATIENT ENGAGEMENT INTERVIEW PANELS Patient Advisors served on these interview panels and more: Paulette is a strong patient advocate she often redirected the conversation to be patient focused. Many times during our RIE, we would get caught up in process. Paulette discussed how the process appeared from a patient s perspective. She stated in our RIE, the most significant improvement would be communication with the patient and patient s family. Scott Ryan, Patient Flow Coordinator CEO and Chief of Staff Search Committees Chief Medical Information Officer Director, Pathology Director, Information Technology Clinical Manager, Acute Inpatient Psychiatry Patient Relations Representative Medical Director and Chief of Cardiology HR Leadership Development Specialist Clinical Manager, Outpatient Clinics NECC Manager, Respiratory Care Manager, Organizational Development and Learning CQI Manager ICU Clinical Manager, Urgent Care and Response, Mental Health Corporate Accountant Program Coordinator, Chronic Disease Self-Management Coordinator Pharmacy
OTHER OPPORTUNITIES REVIEW OF PATIENT BROCHURES, POLICIES, REPORTS Visiting Policy Heart Failure Management brochure Driving Information Summary sheet Workplace Violence and Harassment Policy Chemotherapy teaching class material Nephrology patient letter Paulette Lalancette speaks at the RI grand opening in June. SHARING PATIENT AND FAMILY ADVISORY PROGRAM STRUCTURE WITH OTHERS: Canadian Mental Health Association Sudbury/Manitoulin Georgian Bay General Hospital OHA Geriatric Hospital of Lappeenranta in Finland NE LHIN AND PROVINCIAL COMMITTEES Accreditation Steering Committee Ontario Hospital Association s Patient Experience Community of Practice Steering Committee CAHO Patient Engagement in Research Community of Practice Task Force PATIENT VOICE IN NEWS RELEASES/SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS/JOURNALS Humans of Awareness months (i.e. organ donation, world health) Immunization campaign communiques NECC Cancer Plan EDUCATION Patient Advisor participates in Orientation for new Advisors EVENTS/SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS Patient Ombudsman visit Spring Planning Day for CCO s Joint Clinical Council and Provincial Leadership Council Employee Recognition Dinner Patient Report at Annual General Meeting RI grand opening NEON Lights Annual General Meeting Report-outs Media conferences Canadian Patient Safety Week events Regional Oncology Conference
IMPROVEMENT WORK UP CLOSE PATIENT ADVISORS AND PATIENT EXPERIENCE TEAM INCREASE PATIENT FEEDBACK Christine Elliott, Ontario s Patient Ombudsman, met with Advisors in March to talk about the patient voice in healthcare. When Health Quality Ontario (HQO) released a development indicator for Patient Experience with the patient relations process, did not have an indicator to measure the outcome of the patient relations process. Sandy MacDonald, one of s Patient Advisors said it best; Your delivery indicators do not mean a thing without a quality indicator. What do patients have to say about the patient relations process? s Patient Experience Team and Patient Advisors, Sandy MacDonald and Jill Kirwan, worked together so that would receive data from patients regarding their experience with the patient relations process. WHAT STAFF HAVE TO SAY ABOUT PATIENT ENGAGEMENT Our patient advisors partnered with us to strengthen the patient relations process and together we were able to better define what service recovery means from the patient s perspective. They remind us that quality is a journey that requires ongoing monitoring and course correction by showing us our areas of opportunity. The improvement team tested a patient survey, which was administered to patients at the point of resolution during telephone discussions between the patient/family and the patient relations staff. The survey consists of five questions, which were adapted from HQO s development indicator: 1. How well did you know which department or person to contact to start the complaint process? 2. Did you feel that listened throughout the patient relations process? 3. How well were you informed of actions taken as a result of your concerns brought forward to Patient Relations? 4. Did you feel that addressed your concerns? 5. How could have been better in helping address the patient concerns? Patients now have the opportunity to share their feedback about the patient relations process, which helps the patient relations staff identify improvement opportunities. This work will also ensure that we are strengthening our patient relations process and listening to the voice of the customer. Melissa Giguere, Patient Relations Representative
ADVISORS BY THE NUMBERS 7 new Patient Advisors recruited in April attended Orientation, co-led by a Patient Advisor, as part of their onboarding to 22 2 Patient Advisors participated in the Intro to Organizational Excellence staff education session to date (including 100% new Patient Advisors filled vacancies of departing CEO PFAC members at the end of August recruited in April)
PATIENT ENGAGEMENT IN QUALITY IMPROVEMENT continues to partner with Patient Advisors to ensure the patient voice is being heard in quality improvement work. The patient voice was reflected in 36 different improvement projects in 2017, along with various strategy-level and Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) initiatives. s Quality Improvement Plan Patient Advisors were invited to help define s new improvement priorities for 2018/2019 fiscal year by participating in the SWOT environment scan. This will lead to defining important work for the organization to focus on and documenting progress using our QIP, which is available publicly, as part of the Excellent Care for All Act (2010). Providing Advisors with the opportunity to provide input at various stages in our planning process provides valuable insight that will enhance our ability to provide quality patient-centred care. We look forward to our continued partnership moving forward as we strengthen engagement and allow for the patient voice to be heard in various other ways, such as the accreditation process. Listening to patients will continue to help us achieve Organizational Excellence working together to improve work and improve care.
PATIENT IN 2017: Patient Advisors were generous of their time in sharing their stories so we can learn from their experiences, they allowed us to get to know them better through features such as Humans of, they assisted with health promotions, and much more. PATIENT ADVISORS PROFILED