OTTAWA, April 30, 2013 /CNW/ - Ten high-calibre interprofessional healthcare teams from across the country have been selected for the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement (CFHI)'s elite training program known as EXTRA (Executive training for healthcare improvement).
The EXTRA teams will acquire the skills and knowledge over 14 months to launch, implement and sustain major quality improvement initiatives of strategic importance to their organizations and regions. Working with prestigious academic mentors and change management coaches, the EXTRA teams' projects further CFHI's goals to enhance patient outcomes, quality of care and cost effectiveness.
"On behalf of the federal government, I would like to congratulate the 31 health leaders selected for this year's EXTRA program," said Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq. "EXTRA is a great example of the practical work done by CFHI to find health care efficiencies and to improve patient outcomes. I look forward to seeing the positive results that will come from each of the ten projects."
This 10th cohort aims to become change agents in a host of healthcare areas, including the reduction of antipsychotic medication use among patients with dementia in long term care; safe transitioning from pediatric intensive care to the ward; and effective strategies for the flow and efficiency in the use of regional emergency departments.
One example of a strong and innovative partnership team includes staff from Bruyère Continuing Care, Toronto's University Health Network and the University of Ottawa, which will develop a first-ever framework for case costing in long term care in Ontario. Case costing is a way to improve resource allocation by providing accurate information on resource utilization and educating leaders to use the results to make sound financial decisions. The project has high impact potential in Ontario and in other jurisdictions across Canada, as Ontario's Standardized Case Costing system (in rehabilitation and acute and complex continuing care, among other areas) is regarded as an international leader.
Another team - Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montreal - is striving for a safer and more efficient transfer of patients between multiple healthcare facilities, to reduce cost and the incidence of adverse events.
Yet another team, from the Toronto-based Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, is developing, implementing and evaluating an integrated care pathway (ICP) for schizophrenia, which affects some 350,000 Canadians, costing over $7 billion annually. The team hopes the ICP will benefit patients with other mental health and addiction diagnoses and serve as a catalyst for the transformation of mental health systems across Canada.
"This year's projects have the potential to make a real difference to healthcare in Canada. In fact, the EXTRA program's approach to healthcare improvement is so successful, many healthcare organizations who have submitted teams in the past have returned again this year," said Dr. Jean Rochon, Chair of EXTRA's Advisory Council which selects the participants (known as Fellows) on behalf of CFHI and its EXTRA partners.
Full details on this year's improvement teams and descriptions of their projects can be viewed here.
More information on the EXTRA program can be found here.
The Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to healthcare improvement and transformation for Canadians and is funded through an agreement with the Government of Canada. CFHI collaborates with governments, policy-makers, and health system leaders to convert evidence and innovative practices into actionable policies, programs, tools and leadership development.
SOURCE: Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement
For more information, please contact:
Paulette Roberge
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