Coastal Accreditation: Tracers coming to you…
Accreditation Canada surveyors will be visiting Coastal’s Acute sites on June 22-26, 2015. Are you wondering how their surveyors will interact with us? How they will evaluate our team’s practices around any particular accreditation requirements? We will now have a chance to practice for when “company’s coming,” to get ready for our upcoming site visits.
Last week, all Coastal operations directors participated in a “tracer training session” led by our very own Chief Operating Officer, Mike Nader, who is also an Accreditation Canada surveyor. Starting in March, directors will come to teams and units across Coastal to carry out practice tracers that simulate what typically happens during an accreditation site visit.
There’s no studying required for the mock-tracer in your area; it is about showing the things your team does every day. They will be pre-planned with you, not a surprise visit. We will walk your team through choosing a patient file, and re-tracing that patient’s journey through care (hence the term “tracer”), and we’ll interview team members from the different disciplines and roles that were involved in each step, much like a surveyor would during the site visit. Here is a refresher video by Accreditation Canada on what to expect during a tracer:
A tracer is not just the method by which surveyors will evaluate our services; it is also a handy quality improvement tool that Coastal will use to find out what is working well and where we still have work in progress, from the lens of the patient’s journey. We will be observing teams’ day-to-day practices around the very same quality improvement work that has been underway at Coastal, such as falls prevention, pressure ulcer prevention, and medication safety.
You can find out more information on tracers and common tracer topics for clinical areas on VCH Connect at: vch-connect/programs/qps/accreditation/step5/Tracers
The tracer will only take a few minutes of each staff’s time, on any typical day. At the end, we will provide feedback on what we observed, as well as some tips and ideas for getting the most out of our upcoming site visit.
Where can I get more information?
Directors are in the process of drafting their schedule of site visits to conduct tracers at as many sites in Coastal as possible between now and May. Talk to your manager to find out when your unit is scheduled to host a tracer.
You can also get more information and resources on accreditation, such as Required Organizational Practice (ROP) fact sheets, tracer tips, and tools to help you prepare for the site visit on the Accreditation site of VCH-Connect at: vch-connect/programs/qps/accreditation