Ontario's Minister of Health and Long-Term Care Helps Launch CAHO ARTIC Program Project
Adoption of the Implementation of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Guideline across multiple hospitals will help improve the quality of patient care
TORONTO, Feb. 28, 2013 /CNW/ - More than 70 people gathered in Toronto today, including Ontario's Minister of Health and Long-Term Care to launch the Implementation of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (iERAS) Guideline, an innovative evidence-based model for improving patient care in general surgery.
Dr. Robin McLeod of Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto is the iERAS ARTIC Project Lead. She said, "Enhanced Recovery After Surgery programs include a bundle of interventions, supported by strong evidence, that lead to improved recovery, decreased complications and decreased length of hospital stay in patients having colorectal surgery." According to Dr. McLeod, there are approximately 14,000 colon and rectal operations performed in Ontario every year.
Dr. McLeod said, "Hospitals affiliated with the University of Toronto have piloted iERAS implementation over the past few months. With CAHO's investment, we will use a multi-pronged implementation strategy which includes nurse, surgeon and anesthetist champions, and development of communities of practice, audit and feedback and patient education to demonstrate the feasibility of implementing an ERAS program at 15 partner hospitals. We want to demonstrate that we can implement the ERAS program across multiple hospitals."
Speaking at the Project launch, the Hon. Deb Matthews, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, said, "Our government is committed to building a patient-centred, evidence-based health care system that gets better value for taxpayer dollars. Projects like the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Guideline show how relatively low-cost research innovations can have a high impact by sharing and implementing evidence that improves the quality of patient care."
"Better use and implementation of evidence can increase the quality and reduce the cost of health care", said Karen Michell, Executive Director of CAHO. Michell further added, "The CAHO Adopting Research to Improve Care (ARTIC) Program is helping to construct Ontario's evidence implementation pathway. Ontario's research hospitals are working collaboratively to bring high impact evidence from one member institution to improve the quality of care across all of our member hospitals."
Minister Matthews also stated that, "Evidence-based decision-making is the cornerstone of the government's strategy for increasing the quality of care at reduced cost. Through our research partnership with CAHO and the ARTIC Program, we can leverage the collective efforts of Ontario's academic hospitals to expand the adoption of innovative evidence implementation projects across the health care system."
The Minister continued, "I applaud CAHO and the iERAS Project leaders for advancing our understanding of how evidence implementation can improve the quality of care for thousands of Ontarians who require surgical care. "
Initiated in 2010, six innovative evidence implementation projects are currently in place through investment from the CAHO ARTIC Program. The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care has invested $7 million in the ARTIC Program over four years.
Ontario's 24 research hospitals are significant players in Ontario's innovation ecosystem. In 2011 CAHO member hospitals invested $1.2 billion in health research revenue and were home to 15,000 researchers and research staff.
Background
About CAHO
The Council of Academic Hospitals of Ontario is the non-profit association of Ontario's 24 research hospitals and their research institutes. CAHO provides a focal point for strategic initiatives on behalf of our member hospitals. As research intensive hospitals, CAHO members are fully affiliated with a university medical or health sciences faculty. Our hospitals provide the most complex and urgent care, teach the next generation of health care providers and foster health care innovation derived from discovery research. For more information, visit www.caho-hospitals.com
SOURCE: Council of Academic Hospitals of Ontario
Chris Paterson
Director - Stakeholder Relations
416-205-1404
[email protected]
www.caho-hospitals.com
@CAHOhospitals
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