Our new model of care is now entering some uncharted territory. It's already up and running in all of our inpatient areas. Now, it's being brought to all 33 of our outpatient and ambulatory areas.
“Right off the bat, what's become clear is that each of these units is very different,” says Cynthia Phillips, who's managing the roll out the Interprofessional Collaborative Practice Model (ICPM). “In some ways it's like starting all over again which is very interesting.”
The post anesthetic care unit (PACU), the same day admission centre (SDAC), the outpatient procedures unit (OPPU) and endoscopy were among the first units in this round to go live with the model.
“Unlike an inpatient unit, they work with a different group of patients each day so the processes they asked us to review with them were very different,” says Phillips.
Tyler Hands is the program manager for the operating rooms, and interim manager for PACU and SDAC. He says the arrival of ICPM gave everyone in these units a chance to look at things with fresh eyes.
“The staff here are open to new ideas and we've steadily been working our way through quite a few changes to improve communication, clarify roles and to make sure we are putting the needs of our patients and their families first,” says Hands.
One of the first changes everyone agreed to was to convert an extra patient waiting room into a dedicated space where patients and their families can confidentially talk to physicians rather than having to do it in the hallway. More interview space was also created for nursing and anesthesia in the OR to increase privacy.
As always with ICPM, the implementation team also spent time making sure the right person is doing the right job.
“We used to have perioperative assistants going down to the garbage room but now that has been addressed and environmental services has stepped in to help,” he says.
The new model of care is also about better communication and Hands says that has been stepped up in all these units.
“Communication is always a challenge in a hospital, so we are always looking for ways to improve it while reminding people to spend time talking to each other, particularly face-to-face,” says Hands.
The next phase of the ICPM rollout begins in January when 15 more ambulatory units will be brought on board.
The goal is to have the entire hospital using our new model of care by the end of March 2012.
“It's really picked up momentum,” says Phillips. “People in the remaining units are approaching me all the time asking when they will get ICPM. Rather than being a push, it's become a pull, which is a great for KGH.”
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