One Nail at a Time: Insights for Building Your Patient's Medical Home Alberta Medical Association

In the final episode of a 3-part series on streamlining family practice, we talk to Dr. Sarah Smith about how she transformed her practice by taking control of the aspects that she could. 

Listen as Dr. Smith describes how she realized that she needed to change the way she practiced, set a goal of getting home on time (and without extra work to do during evenings and weekends), and worked with her team to make her goal a reality.  She shares how she gets 'today's work done today' and provides tips and strategies that others may find helpful in streamlining their own practices.

In part 2 of a 3-part series on streamlining family practice, we learn more about the unique 'tech forward' approach that Dr. Kelly MacGregor and her colleagues have adopted at their clinic.  While the overall approach may not suit every practice, there may be elements that family docs could consider testing in their own practices.  

Listen as Dr. MacGregor describes how her clinic has addressed privacy concerns related to use of technology.  She also talks candidly about the products they use and the financial investment (spoiler alert: it's minimal!), and provides her advice for clinics interested in starting to incorporate more technology.  

Resources mentioned by Dr. MacGregor that CMPA has approved for Canadian use and meet current privacy legislation requirements*:
Electronic medical record - Accuro by QHR TechnologiesSecure, EMR integrated messaging - Medeo Healthmail Secure, EMR integrated patient questionnaires and forms - Ocean by CognisantMDRemote, EMR integrated cloud based fax - Unite CommunicationsOnline scheduler - Accuro by QHR TechnologiesAppointment reminders - CliniconexVirtual platform - Doxy.meVOIP phone service - Line2Multi platform, multi user smart phrase manager - TextExpanderBOOK:  Slow Medicine - Dr. Victoria Sweet MD PhD
*Not intended as product endorsement

In part 1 of a 3-part series on streamlining family practice, we learn about the unique 'tech forward' approach that Dr. Kelly MacGregor and her colleagues have adopted at their clinic.  While the overall approach may not suit every practice, there may be elements that family docs could consider testing in their own practices.  

Listen as Dr. MacGregor describes how the strategies she uses have resulted in better standardization, increased efficiency and improved patient safety.  (In Part 2, she'll describe more about privacy concerns and financial requirements related to use of technology.)

Resources mentioned by Dr. MacGregor that CMPA has approved for Canadian use and meet current privacy legislation requirements*:
Electronic medical record - Accuro by QHR TechnologiesSecure, EMR integrated messaging - Medeo Healthmail Secure, EMR integrated patient questionnaires and forms - Ocean by CognisantMDRemote, EMR integrated cloud based fax - Unite CommunicationsOnline scheduler - Accuro by QHR TechnologiesAppointment reminders - CliniconexVirtual platform - Doxy.meVOIP phone service - Line2Multi platform, multi user smart phrase manager - TextExpander*Not intended as product endorsement

Join us as we learn about Alberta’s new ‘Home to Hospital to Home Transitions Guideline’.  Dr. Slocombe explains the 6 components that together help patients successfully transition from home to hospital to home.  She explains the roles of primary care and acute care, and the significant positive impact this guideline can have on continuity and the patient experience.  Best of all, once established, it could mean less work for your practice!
Home to Hospital to Home Transitions Guideline
Information on CII/CPAR

Also, check out Podcasts #15 & #16 for more information about CII/CPAR.

Join us as we talk to Dr. Ernie Schuster about practical strategies that physicians and clinic teams can take to provide timely access to care and optimize the opportunity for continuity of care.  Highlights include: 
Specific strategies to balance your supply of appointments with the demand for themThe value of eliminating ‘backlog’ for providing just-in-time careUsing the medical home team to increase efficiency(NOTE: To listen to Part 1, go to Episode 11: Tips for Enhancing Access with Dr. Janet Craig)
Resources:
HQCA Primary Healthcare Panel Reports

Join us as Dr. Karen Seigel shares the work she and her team have been doing focused on care of patients with COPD.  Some of the many highlights include:
How patients with low relational continuity (50%) are 7 times more likely to be admitted to hospital compared to those who see their own physician at least 80% of the time.How Dr. Seigel and her team used their EMR and HQCA reports to identify COPD patients at risk of exacerbation/hospitalizationHow the team shares the workload and focuses on streamlining clinic processes for COPD careUseful resources developed with the Health Quality Council of Alberta (HQCA)Simple steps teams can take to improve relational continuityResources
HQCA Quality Exchange: https://hqca.ca/health-care-provider-resources/qe/primary-healthcare/