6 Patient Centred-ness projects 2013-2015
-
Improving Waiting-time in the Oncology Day Centers
The perception of outpatient ambulatory patients is they spend too much time in the oncology clinic waiting to have their blood test, to see their doctor or for their therapy. This is negatively impacting their experience with the health care system. The goal of this initiative is to get an accurate measure of the amount of time patients spend waiting; analyze patient flow to identify the bottlenecks negatively impacting wait times; implement appropriate improvements to enhance the patient experience, improve access and reduce unnecessary waits. This project should be fully implemented by the end of 2014. (contact Andreane Chevrette) -
Improving communication with primary care providers to improve the continuity of patient care
The goal of this project is to ensure timely and efficient sharing of information between cancer care providers and general practitioners in the community to improve the continuity of cancer care. Making these improvements will:
- Improve continuity and quality of care;
- Effectively manage co-morbidities (like hypertension, diabetes, depression, etc.) which require coordination and knowledge-sharing between oncologists and GPs;
- Decrease psychosocial stress caused when patients need to be responsible for their own medical information (i.e. medical reports and files).
This three-phase project will identify strategies to enhance information sharing among and between providers to facilitate the delivery of high-quality survivor care. It is expected to take a year to plan, execute and measure the success of the proposed solutions. (contact Mitali Ruths)
-
Improving communication with patients - To be initiated
-
Improving Emotional Support - To be initiated
-
Building Patient Knowledge - To be initiated
New Working Group on “understanding the RCN cancer patient’s experience and satisfaction with care”
RCN hospitals would like to increase their knowledge related to oncology patients’ perceptions of their health care and understand demographic, behavioral, and contextual factors related to their perception, as part of an effort to improve the cancer patient therapeutic experience.
The new working group will review additional tools and approaches to capturing items related to patient experience. Initial thoughts include implementing a specific cancer experience questionnaire utilized in North American hospitals -- the HCAHPS (the hospital consumer assessment of healthcare providers and systems). The group will use focus groups as needed, but most likely additional questionnaires and surveys related to items identified in the RCN AOPSS analysis with low scores (associated with higher levels of patient dissatisfaction). This could include focusing on patient wait times in chemotherapy, feelings of being treated with respect and dignity by caregivers, and specific emotional needs (being provided with information on dietary changes, relationship changes, work changes).
Cancer treatment also involves numerous changes in fatigue levels, sleeping habits, nutritional habits, etc., and based on the working group evaluations. The group wishes to understand better these issues to help patients and their caregivers on these specific issues. A caregiver may understand at the patient level the effects of cancer on, for example, sleep habit, but not have available information on the population level changes in sleeping habits and their relationship to the patient experience. (contact Warren Sateren)
-
Patient Interaction - To be initiated
Every cancer patient has a unique story to tell and the Rossy Cancer Network learns from the experiences of our patients and family members. As part of RCN’s commitment to patient and public engagement, we’re seeking people to work with us to make our cancer care the best it can be. Those who have lived with, or cared for, someone with a particular cancer are “experts” in the condition. They have a subjective and valid view point based on actual experiences about where quality could, and should, be improved. Through participation and engagement, patients and service users can enhance RCN projects by achieving services better focused on their needs.Through surveys, focus groups, patient representatives on project teams, and a Patient Experience Working Group, cancer patients and caregivers have meaningful involvement in RCN-funded health projects and enhance project results which are more effectively fed into patient-centred policy making. (contact Mitali Ruths)