I started February with a visit to Calgary to present our Advanced Access experience. The audience was very receptive. (Admittedly, their attendance at conference pre-selected them as having an interest in this topic, but still…) As I mentioned last time, Alberta is already showing great results in their prostate cancer care access project.
On my return, Karen unveiled our latest 3rd next available appointment data:
Is this the time we shift to a new stable system of shorter wait times? It looks promising!
Two weeks ago, there was some media interest around physicians who planned to charge "no-show patients" for their appointment time. I commented on this at Plain Brown Wrapper. CBC picked up on it and the broader issues of Advanced Access and Clinical Practice Redesign (CPR). This led to TV and radio interviews that helped spread the word about this project. I was pleased to receive many words of encouragement from people who caught those interviews.
But, the best thing that’s happened this month is this: The head of one of Saskatoon Health Region's divisions of surgery approached me to meet with his colleagues. He read about our project in HQC's newsletter. They also have long wait lists and wondered if Advanced Access could help them. I think we know the answer to that question! I'm meeting with them on Monday.
I've hoped that our office's project would be the catalyst to spread Clinical Practice Redesign techniques into the specialist community. As we start to see results, interest is growing, both among physicians and the public. HQC’s CPR School is going to equip the next wave of quality improvement enthusiasts. This upcoming course will train physicians and office staff in the principles and practice of CPR.
Let’s get this party started!
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