3sHealth.ca The business case for medical imaging services in Saskatchewan Saskatchewan’s economy is growing, the population is increasing, and there is ongoing competition to attract and retain qualified health-care service providers. Given these factors, maintaining long-term sustainable solutions for health-care delivery is a constant challenge for the provincial health-care system. The Ministry of Health and 3sHealth, together with provincial health-care leaders, are examining strategies to reduce medical-service wait times, increase the quality of those services, and increase patient satisfaction. The quality of service delivery improvements will also achieve cost savings that will be redirected to patient care and create long- term sustainability for the health-care system. To examine and develop future-state strategies, 3sHealth and provincial health-care leaders are actively engaged in the medical imaging business case development project. A vision for medical imaging The medical imaging services business case project got off to an exciting start when over 80 participants attended a two-day visioning session in June 2013 to talk about the current state of medical imaging services in the province and create their vision for the future. The invited participants represented a wide range of organizations and perspectives: • Saskatchewan health regions • SIAST • Saskatchewan Cancer Agency • Radiologists and medical clinicians • Ministry of Health • Private radiology service providers • Unions • Medical imaging technologists • eHealth Saskatchewan • Equipment vendors • The College of Physicians and Surgeons 1 Stakeholders gather for medical imaging services visioning day on June 10 and 11, 2013.
Transcript
3sHealth.ca
The business case for medical imaging services in SaskatchewanSaskatchewan’s economy is growing, the population is increasing, and there is ongoing competition to attract and retain qualified health-care service providers. Given these factors, maintaining long-term sustainable solutions for health-care delivery is a constant challenge for the provincial health-care system.
The Ministry of Health and 3sHealth, together with provincial health-care leaders, are examining strategies to reduce medical-service wait times, increase the quality of those services, and increase patient satisfaction. The quality of service delivery improvements will also achieve cost savings that will be redirected to patient care and create long-term sustainability for the health-care system.
To examine and develop future-state strategies, 3sHealth and provincial health-care leaders are actively engaged in the medical imaging business case development project.
A vision for medical imagingThe medical imaging services business case project got off to an exciting start when over 80 participants attended a two-day visioning session in June 2013 to talk about the current state of medical imaging services in the province and create their vision for the future. The invited participants represented a wide range of organizations and perspectives:
• Saskatchewan health regions • SIAST • Saskatchewan Cancer Agency • Radiologists and medical clinicians • Ministry of Health • Private radiology service providers • Unions • Medical imaging technologists • eHealth Saskatchewan • Equipment vendors • The College of Physicians and Surgeons
1Stakeholders gather for medical imaging services visioning day on June 10 and 11, 2013.
3sHealth.ca
The visioning days featured group discussions, simulation exercises and presentations. Together, the participants selected a future-state option from several developed at the session, and they formulated the following vision statement:
Quality, appropriate, patient-centred care in an accessible, integrated, and safe medical imaging service.
The collaborative nature of the gathering was captured by 3sHealth CEO Andrew Will, who stated,
What excites me most is the level of engagement by our stakeholders and their desire to put patients and families at the centre of all that they do. This business case is truly a collaborative project, and
we are grateful for the enthusiastic support of our stakeholders from across the health system.
The future state for medical imagingSaskatchewan health care is guided by the Patient First principle, which states that the value of our health-care services is measured solely by the patient and the public we serve, and that all our work and processes must be provided in order to improve the patient experience. To that end, the medical imaging project team has developed the following desired future-state attributes:
For patients • System is patient-centred • No harm • No defects • Patient choice (balance wait times and location/travel) • Direct access to results through a standard, integrated, accessible information system • Consistent patient experience across the province • Enhanced community awareness and involvement • 7 Rs: right test, right patient, right place/setting, right reasons, right resources, right time, right results, right
protocol
For medical imaging care providers (radiologists, technicians and technologists, medical imaging leadership) • Order entry and decision support to facilitate appropriate use and best care for patients • Opportunities and tools to improve use management • Common IT platform integrated provincially – single PACS for the province for health-care providers • Paperless and filmless: “any image, anytime, anywhere” • Timely, end-to-end, ongoing quality assurance • Current and reliable imaging modalities and software • Effective and reliable transcription service2
3sHealth.ca
For clinicians (NPs, GPs, specialists) • Guidelines, education, and decision support to facilitate appropriate test selection • Access to imaging consultation services where and when appropriate • Timely and accurate medical imaging reports and images when appropriate • Collaborative tools to inform patients remotely when appropriate • Availability and timeliness of access for appropriate test
For the health system • Defined, sustainable, uniform, high-quality standard of care • Value (appropriateness, high quality, affordability) • Provincial plan and criteria for service provision • Provincially integrated IT: scheduling, images, reporting, etc. • Provincially integrated transcription and voice recognition with RIS/PACS • Standardized operating guidelines and practices • Leading practice, provincial quality assurance oversight • Provincial plan and criteria for technology, acquisition, maintenance and replacement • Provincial medical imaging human resources planning: training, recruitment, retention • Sharing knowledge and expertise
Completed and current work • The project team conducted site visits throughout the health regions in July and August 2013, travelling to
numerous facilities and meeting with medical imaging staff, patients, physicians, and community members to get their perspectives on the current state of medical imaging in the province. By the end of the tour, the team travelled over 7,700 kilometers and visited 34 facilities.
• The team is currently meeting with other key health-care providers and organizations to record their perspectives on the current state of medical imaging and their ideal vision for the future state.
• A Patient Advisory Committee has been formed and meetings are being scheduled to introduce the project to the individual committee members. This committee will be included in major review sessions for the first draft of the future state business case recommendations.
• A Physician Advisory Committee has also been formed, and meetings are being held to collect the members’ thoughts on the current state of medical imaging and the ideal future state.
• The health regions are actively surveying patients on the medical imaging services in their local facilities. This valuable information will form part of the future state business case recommendations.
3
How will the business case be created?
• Determine components of an ideal future state
• Learn about best practices • Identify quick wins
• Identify potential options • Collect and validate data • Analyze and review • Develop implementation plans to
create winning conditions
• 3sHealth • RHA/SCA leadership • Ministry of Health
Vision or future state Business case detailRecommendation
and approvals
3sHealth.ca4
Medical imaging business case timeline
Milestones Date Status
Initiation and project kickoff sessions June 2013 Completed
Visioning session with health system stakeholders June 2013 Completed
Site tours and interviews July – August 2013 Completed
Public interviews, surveys and focus groups July – September 2013 In progress
Detailed data collection from health regions September 2013 In progress
Current state documentation September 2013 In progress
Jurisdictional scan and leading practice review September 2013 In planning phase
Quick wins October 2013 In planning phase
Future state development October 2013 In progress
Interim Report #1 October 2013 In progress
Deployment options November 2013 In planning phase
Future state business case December 2013 In planning phase
3sHealth, Saskatchewan’s health care shared services organization, was established in 2012 to provide province-wide services that better support a high-performing, sustainable, patient-centred health-care system. Through shared services, economies of skill and scale can be leveraged to achieve standard work, establish best practices, and benefit from greater competition across the province.
The shared services model also enables decision-making at critical points throughout the process, as well as active participation and engagement from stakeholders and dedicated change management resources. Shared services can be delivered by enhanced status quo models, lead agencies, a provincially centralized model, third parties, or a combination of those approaches.
3sHealth currently provides payroll, benefits administration, and joint purchasing services to the health-care system. Its mandate is to identify and provide new shared service opportunities that will improve service quality and reduce costs to the health-care system.
