Healthcare Management Forum最新文献

Successful innovation clusters are notoriously difficult to establish, and many attempts fail. How can we go about designing such systems reliably? We describe how ecosystems can be strengthened through grassroots bottom-up efforts that empower user and community innovation, as opposed to economic policies that dictate innovation. Specifically focusing on the healthcare industry, we advocate that community hospitals which constitute 90% of all hospitals in Canada are the ideal setting for such community innovation efforts. We investigated the distribution of innovation output from hospitals over the past 13 years and found a decrease in predominance of major teaching hospitals, supporting the potential role for community hospitals in this space. We categorize different types of innovations and recommend institutional policies that can sustain bottom-up, micro-level efforts. Such policies could improve and enhance the development of micro-innovations and the creation of health innovation clusters.

This study explores the deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Canadian hospitals from 2000 to 2021, focusing on metropolitan areas. We investigate how local public and private research ecosystems and links to national and international AI hubs influence the adoption of AI in healthcare. Our analysis shows that AI research outputs from public institutions have a significant impact on AI competences in hospitals. In addition, collaborations between hospitals are critical to the successful integration of AI. Metropolitan areas such as Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver are leading the way in AI deployment. These findings highlight the importance of local AI research capabilities and international hospital collaborations and provide guidance to policy-makers and health leaders to drive the diffusion of AI technology in healthcare.

Scaling the innovative models of care, policies, practices, and technologies that deliver true value requires deliberate, focused effort. We need to simultaneously apply practical strategies that enable change agents to drive meaningful, sustainable impact to address particular challenges that a health system is facing, alongside implementing proven, evidence-informed approaches that broadly strengthen health system foundations. Both approaches matter; it's not about choosing between them. Rather, we need to respond to the health system's specific and immediate needs, while also growing culture, capacity, systems, and tools that enable transformation in quality and safety.

Innovation is essential for advancing and sustaining healthcare systems, particularly in hospitals. While innovation offers solutions to challenges such as chronic disease management, access to care, and patient safety, it also introduces significant ethical dilemmas for health leaders. This column explores the broad ethical issues associated with healthcare innovation, focusing on resource allocation, support for diverse healthcare professions, equitable access to care, and the emphasis on technology-based innovations. It highlights the complexities of funding innovation through government, private sector, universities, donors, and the unpaid work of healthcare providers. The column also addresses the disparities in innovation support across different professions and the potential for innovation to exacerbate healthcare inequities. Potential solutions are proposed, including the establishment of interdisciplinary councils, dedicated innovation funds, and public-private partnerships. By prioritizing ethical leadership and balanced innovation strategies, health leaders can ensure that advancements benefit all stakeholders, fostering a more equitable and sustainable healthcare system in Canada.

In Long-Term Care (LTC) settings, the potentially inappropriate use of antipsychotics for behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia is a persistent issue, with high rates despite limited benefit and serious risk. Best practice is a non-pharmacological, person-centred approach to care, though this can be challenging in LTC settings. To help address this gap, we developed the PIECES^TM HCA Care Coach Program and described its implementation and outcomes observed at 13 LTC homes. This program empowers Health Care aides with training, tools, and processes to practice the principles of person-centred care and provide peer mentorship to the care team. After 1 year, we found declining antipsychotics use (by 4.4%) and positive indicators of improved staff experience and improved resident quality of life. The Care Coach Program can be adapted and spread to a variety of LTC settings to help reduce potentially inappropriate antipsychotic use and better support people living with dementia.

The article discusses innovations in integrating Long-Term Care (LTC) and acute systems, focusing on Humber River Health's (HRH) model. Older adults in LTC homes are vulnerable to avoidable Emergency Department (ED) visits due to frailty and medical complexity. HRH developed an integrated care model centred on LTC Remote Monitoring (RM) with LTC partners, leveraging nurse-led care models, digital tools, and virtual care hub to reduce avoidable ED transfers. Key components include the PREVIEW-ED© tool for early detection of clinical deterioration, LTC+ Hub and LTC++ Diagnostic Imaging and Transportation, supporting improved access to healthcare services. The program aligns with the Quintuple Aim, emphasizing patient and provider experiences, population health, cost reduction, and health equity. Results show significant reductions in ED visits, hospital lengths of stay, and associated costs, while enhancing resident and provider experiences. The LTC RM model is positioned as a scalable solution for system transformation in integrated care.

Many older adults have complex needs and experience high rates of acute care use and institutionalization. Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) is a specialized multidimensional interprofessional intervention to prevent such outcomes, but access to CGA in the community is limited. The Integrated Care Team (ICT) is a proactive case-finding intervention to support older adults with complex needs in primary care. The ICT provides nurse practitioner-led shared-care supported by a pharmacist, family physician, and geriatrician. Patients undergo a CGA, and a person-centred plan of care is implemented. We conducted a mixed-methods evaluation of the ICT. Patients were 81 ± 9.2 years old, 71% were women. Patients had a high burden of dementia and multimorbidity and received 12.8 ± 5.8 prescriptions daily. The ICT improved prescribing and reduced emergency department visits by 49.5% (P = 0.0001). Patients, care partners, and referring physicians reported high satisfaction with care. The ICT is currently being expanded to support additional primary care providers.

The Attendance, Wellness, and Engagement (AWE) Model of Workplace Satisfaction is an innovative approach to promoting a sustainable, healthy, and engaged workforce. Implemented at Louis Brier Home and Hospital, the AWE Model encapsulates a people strategy aimed at nurturing a supportive and fulfilling work environment. Attendance promotion is accomplished by acknowledging absences while providing a comprehensive support system to address personal challenges faced by healthcare workers. The wellness component is underscored by increasing resource utilization, offering on-site health services, and cultivating social groups to enhance holistic well-being. Additionally, engagement is characterized by staff recognition rituals, community-building initiatives, and celebratory events. Importantly, this article presents a compelling position that the AWE Model creates a positive impact on reducing absenteeism, enhancing staff satisfaction, and transforming organizational culture. As health leaders grapple with workforce challenges, the AWE Model serves as a pragmatic framework to cultivate environments where employees regularly attend work healthy and engaged.

A Patient Navigation (PN) model of care was introduced in a large metropolitan hospital in Ontario (Canada) to support transitions in care for older adults in 2019. The patient navigator is a community social worker or "community transitional lead" embedded in the hospital's in care teams to assist with discharge planning and provide follow-up care to older adults, their families, and/or care partners for up to 90 days. Initially, the PN program supported acute care patients and has since expanded in the Emergency Department and Reactivation Care Centre. In this cohort retrospective observational study, we described the new PN model of care by analyzing the clinical notes collected by the patient navigator. This article provides preliminary insights for health leaders who are interested in implementing this novel PN model to improve transitions of care in a hospital setting. Funding was provided by the SLAIGHT Family Foundation.

Necessitated by the healthcare crisis and exacerbated by the pandemic, and building on model of care experimentation over the last decade, SE Health executed on an organizational change to bring the innovative model to life. This model is titled H.O.P.E. MODEL™ of Care-Home, Opportunity, People, Empowerment. The innovation in model of care design and implementation is guided by the Integrated-Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (i-PARiHS) framework. Our journey highlights the art of leadership and science of implementation for sustainable impact on care excellence and health system transformation. This implementation experience has also generated the following insights: reinforce the foundation, operationalizing practice, what gets measured gets done, technology enabling practice, and all roads lead to H.O.P.E.