We all do what we can to make sure our patients get the very best care. For some of us that means working directly with patients, for others it involves innovative thinking in the background to make our healthcare system work as smoothly as possible.

This important behind-the-scenes work can only succeed if it’s done with a full understanding of how we provide patient care. For the Clinical & Systems Transformation project, the input of clinical staff into the design of the new shared clinical information system and evidence-informed clinical practices, for use across VCH, PHSA and PHC, is crucial. This will ensure a quality, purpose-built product and genuine feelings of ownership.

“Getting users in the room to help the project team make the right decision is very important for the success of the Clinical and Systems Transformation project,” affirms Dr. Alain Gagnon, CST Chief Medical Information Officer, PHSA.

We know that providers (physicians, midwives, dentists, clinical pharmacists and nurse practitioners) want and need to be involved in the CST project to a greater degree. A few months ago we started looking at how we can work with key leaders at VCH, PHSA and PHC to better engage with and support providers through this complex transformation project.

We sent an online survey to over 7,000 providers, and received 423 responses from 72% of the sites. Providers in urban centres made up 97% of respondents, 2% came from rural sites and 1% worked in both urban and rural sites. We also invited 162 providers to be interviewed; 32 accepted (urban: 78%, rural: 22%).

In both the survey and interviews, physicians made up the largest population of respondents, followed respectively by pharmacists, midwives and nurse practitioners.

Thank you to everyone who took time from their busy schedules to participate.

What did providers say?

• Consult us before decisions are made
• For the technology portion of CST to be successful, we need:
  • Devices
  • In-house WiFi
  • Improved help desk responsiveness
  • Single sign-on
• As a rural provider, I have concerns about:
  • Robust contingency planning
  • Resource plans that account for high numbers of locums
  • Before go-live, we need system demonstrations, just-in-time training and a “sandbox” or simulation lab, with real-world scenarios to work through
• Training must be geared to current levels of knowledge and computer literacy, with self-paced options available to help us get the basics before going to class
• We want to receive communications specific to our practice, verbally in department meetings or in short emails
• On-site support and a responsive help desk during go-live and beyond are important

What next?

The CST project team will use the findings, and ongoing consultation with providers, to inform our next steps together. Ultimately, we want to partner with key leaders in VCH, PHSA and PHC to ensure our providers feel involved, are trained, are able to use the new clinical practices and shared clinical information system ongoing, are excited about the change and feel well-supported throughout the transition.

If you’d like more details, take a look at the Results Summary or request a copy of the full presentation.

To discuss any aspect of CST, and to learn how to be involved (including developing the provider engagement plan), please email info@CSTproject.ca, visit CSTproject.ca or contact us:

Dr. Eric Grafstein
Chief Medical Information Officer, VCH/PHC
Eric.Grafstein@vch.ca
Tel: 604-675-2510 Ext: 22444

Dr. Alain Gagnon
Chief Medical Information Officer, PHSA
Alain.Gagnon@phsa.ca
Tel: 604-675-2510 Ext: 22458

Background information

• CST is a joint initiative of VCH, PHSA and PHC, and one of the largest and most complex healthcare projects in Canada. It spans across several areas of the continuum of care, including: acute care inpatient and outpatient units and ambulatory care. As well as creating consistent, leading practices and a shared clinical information system, CST will deliver HIMSS Level 5 functionality.
• Clinical design teams made up of hundreds of highly-skilled, multi-disciplinary professionals from across VCH, PHSA and PHC started work on April 7, 2014. These teams are tasked with designing our future workflows, based on leading practices. In doing so, they are defining the requirements for our new clinical information system.
• The CST project will result in increased safety, effectiveness and efficiency of how we provide care on a broad scale. For a full list of benefits, see http://cstproject.ca/cst-101/benefits.

For more information, please contact Donna Stanton, CST Executive Director/Transformation Lead, VCH, at Donna.Stanton@vch.ca.

You’re invited to submit suggestions for future articles. If you have questions or feedback, please email info@CSTproject.ca.