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In collaboration with the Ontario eConsult Centre of Excellence, the eHealth Centre of Excellence is leveraging the Ocean eReferral Network as part of an eConsult/eReferral Proof of Concept (POC). This POC will work to understand how integrating technologies can support clinical workflows, increase efficiencies, enhance patient care, and improve both provider and patient experience.

 

Currently, there are 10 specialists in the fields of Cardiology, Endocrinology, Neurology, Orthopedic Surgery, Paediatric Psychiatry, Sports Medicine, and Urology participating in the POC. Within their Ocean eReferral form, there is language indicating that they may respond back to the referral request with an eConsult if clinically appropriate.

 

eConsult eReferral POC


Click the image above to view a demo of the POC workflow.

 

We’re excited to share that this past month, the POC had its first end-to-end eConsult completed through Ocean eReferral (with the previous 9 eConsults proceeding as an eReferral).

 

Currently, primary care providers can send an eConsult directly to specialists through the OTN Hub. eConsults have been shown to reduce the number of unnecessary referrals, with one primary care provider noting that 8 out of 10 eConsults she conducted to date avoided referrals to specialists.

 

This timely access to experience-based specialist knowledge means patients do not have to wait to be seen in-person by a specialist, enabling them to stay home and reducing their risk of exposure to COVID-19.

 

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We’ve had another busy and productive year here at the eHealth Centre of Excellence, and we’re proud of what our team and partners across the community have achieved. We’d like to share a few of our highlights from 2019.

 

We were delighted when our Managing Director, Dr. Mohamed Alarakhia, was recognized as this year’s recipient of the Canadian Health Informatics Award (CHIA) Digital Health Executive of the Year. Well deserved!

 

Our team was out spreading the word on the benefits of digital health adoption. We presented at several events and conferences, including but not limited to:

  • eHealth Canada 2019
  • AFHTO (Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario) – where we received top marks for best group presentation for our talk on our digital health toolbox!  Presentation pictured right.
  • And most recently, we participated in the eConsult Centre of Excellence forum

eCE team at AFHTO

 

Our digital health tools also hit some big milestones! Read more below:

 

Virtual Visits

 

There have been over 18,000 virtual visits (as of December 15, 2019) in the Waterloo Wellington region since our program launched in March 2018 – the most in any region in the province!

 

We were featured in the Waterloo Record and on 570 News!

 

In May, the virtual visits team received the Patient Care Innovation Team Award at the 2019 Canadian Health Informatics Awards (CHIA) Gala and in November, received a jury-selected ITAC Ingenious Award for our work. Thank you to the Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN) and Think Research for being great partners.

 

                            Virtual visits award

 

eConsult

 

In the Waterloo Wellington region alone, nearly 12,000 eConsults have been sent since we launched the program locally in October 2016, with the eConsult Centre of Excellence providing great leadership. 

 

Click here for an updated list of specialists from our region who are currently accepting eConsults. 

 

The OTN eConsult platform underwent a big upgrade in November, enabling clinicians to access their local specialty groups more efficiently.

 

Tablets

 

We expanded the forms available in tablets to include not only mental health assessments but other questionnaires as well. Patients are now available to update their personal information in the tablet. All information entered into a tablet is uploaded directly to the provider’s EMR.

 

All Community Health Centres (CHCs) in Waterloo Wellington are now using tablets!

 

EMR Tools & Coaching

 

Our Community Portal launched! You can now download our EMR supports directly from the portal, and make use of the community forum to ask questions and provide feedback.

 

We made some great new updates for two of our EMR tools: the palliative care toolkit and our lower back pain tool.

 

EHR Tools

 

For 2019 latest about the Electronic Health Record, take a look at the latest connecting South West Ontario (cSWO) newsletter!

 

 

eReferral

 

As of December 15, 2019, over 93,000 eReferrals have been sent through the Ocean eReferral Network, the solution supported by our System Coordinated Access (SCA) program since we launched in August 2017! We would like to thank Think Research, CognisantMD, and the Centre for Effective Practice for the great collaborative effort.

 

In a recent survey (with more than 1500 participants), 96% of patients agreed that eReferral is an easy process and that eReferral notifications improve the patient experience.

 

                              Patient testimonial

 

We're looking forward to seeing what 2020 will bring! One thing is for sure: the future of healthcare is here.

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On Nov. 1st, the Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN) will be providing an upgrade to the eConsult platform that will allow clinicians to access their local specialty groups more efficiently.  We are pleased to let you know that new Waterloo Wellington Regional Groups will now be available!

 

In order to use this functionality, you will be prompted to set your priority groups. This is a one-time setting. Selecting this priority feature will ensure that all eConsults will go to local specialists followed by your next priority selection.

 

For example:

Priority groups

 

 

The system will attempt to send your question to the first selected group. If no specialists exist in that group, it will look for the next group on the list, and so on, until it defaults to the Provincial group.

 

 

Watch for more information from the Ontario eConsult Centre of Excellence regarding this exciting new upgrade coming soon!

 

 

For more information, please email Wendy Lang.

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eConsult is a secure email messaging system that uses the Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN) to connect primary care providers with specialists, giving them timely access to experience-based specialist knowledge. The team here at the eHealth Centre of Excellence is providing support to both primary care providers and specialists looking to adopt eConsult into their practice workflow.

 

Through eConsult, primary care providers can reach out to specialists such as Dr. Catherine Alderdice, who specializes in Rheumatology and Osteoporosis.

 

Dr. Alderdice completed Medical School at Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1976 and went on to do her Family Practice Residency in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She then did her Rheumatology fellowship at University of Toronto and was Associate Professor at Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland and Head of Rheumatic Disease Unit from 1982-2003.

 

Dr. Alderdice made the move to Guelph ON in 2003, where she opened a private practice in Rheumatology and Osteoporosis. She counts herself lucky for being one of the few clinicians allowed to report BMDs, outside of Radiologists.

 

Dr. Alderdice is excited to be joining the eConsult service providing her expertise in Rheumatology and Osteoporosis.

 

 

 

Are you a family doctor or specialist interested in using eConsult in your practice? Connect with us today to get started!

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eConsult is a secure email messaging system that uses the Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN) to connect primary care providers with specialists, giving them timely access to experience-based specialist knowledge. The team here at the eHealth Centre of Excellence is providing support to both primary care providers and specialists looking to adopt eConsult into their practice workflow.

 

Through eConsult, primary care providers can reach out to specialists such as Dr. Brian Lyttle, who specializes in Pediatric Respirology.

 

Dr. Lyttle completed his Medical Degree at the University of Western Ontario and subsequently has been Board Certified in: Family Practice (University of Calgary), Pediatrics (UWO and Dallas Children’s Hospital), Pediatric Pulmonology (Harvard School of Public Health and The Boston’s Children’s Hospital).

 

Dr. Lyttle’s primary clinic is located in London ON, where more than 5000 children and young adults are followed regularly for their asthma, some for as long as 25 years. He also is active in the the London Pediatric Sleep Clinic.

 

Dr. Lyttle has participated in over 50 clinical trials, largely in asthma and Cystic Fibrosis. The studies demonstrated the efficacy and defined the ‘side effects’ for inhaled steroids, montelukast and combination products. He is currently involved in studies with newer biologic asthma medications.

 

Dr. Lyttle is excited to join the eConsult service providing expertise in Pediatric Respirology for our area and beyond.

 

Are you a family doctor or specialist interested in using eConsult in your practice? Connect with us today to get started!

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More and more primary care physicians are using eConsult to obtain advice from specialists to improve timely access to patient care.  In our region alone, over 6,000 eConsults have been sent.  We have had many of our local specialists join this program over the last few months. Click here for an updated list of specialists from our region.

 

Dermatology is one of the highest requested eConsults…. after all, a picture says a thousand words. 

 

Would you like learn more about improving the quality of pictures for dermatology consults?  Click here for tips and tricks on how to take great clinical images.

 

If you are interested in learning more about eConsults or would like a refresher, please contact Wendy. [email protected].

 

 

 

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Across the province, the use of eConsult – the service that helps physicians and nurse practitioners get answers about their patients’ care quickly – is growing! The response from healthcare providers and patients is overwhelmingly positive.

 

The College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada support eConsult as a standard of practice.

 

The Ontario eConsult Program was created to enable timely and equitable access to specialist advice for all patients in Ontario. Physicians and nurse practitioners receive a response within days, often eliminating the need for an in-person specialist visit. 

 

There are 81 specialty groups now available to answer your questions about your patients care and many local specialists are now available on the system.

 

If you are not yet on the system, please try it: you will find it easy, efficient and effective. If you are signed-up but not regularly using the service, please try it again.

 

For more information about how to make eConsult a regular part of your practice, or for a refresher please contact Wendy Lang [email protected]

 

We also offer MainPro credits!

 

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Please click here to download the PDF.

 

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QBIC (Quality Based Improvements in Care) is a program hosted by the eHealth Centre of Excellence (eCE) that works to provide primary care providers within Waterloo Wellington with support to incorporate telehealthcare services, such as eConsult, into their practice workflow.

 

Improved access to psychiatric care is now available in the Waterloo Wellington Local Health Integration Network (WWLHIN) via eConsult. Using the Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN), primary care physicians and nurse practitioners can ask participating psychiatrists a question about current symptoms, medication issues or other treatment options and receive an answer in 3-5 days. With eConsult, many in-person visits can be avoided and patients will receive faster treatment without having to travel long distances to receive care.

 

Over 30 psychiatrists are now available on eConsult. In collaboration OTN and OntarioMD, the eHealth Centre of Excellence is actively recruiting psychiatrists in our region to join their colleagues in this exciting initiative.

 

The following psychiatrists from our LHIN are currently available to receive eConsults:

 

Dr. Susan Senior – General Adult Psychiatry

 

Specializes in general adult psychiatry but can also consult on those adolescents 16 years +

Special interests: collaborative care; workplace and mental health; mood and anxiety disorders; chronic disease management; sleep disorders; offering clinical management advice along with medication reviews/suggestions

 

“I value my role with helping the doctors in our area region as well as remote areas of the province where I have been fortunate to have been able to consult on the practitioners in northern communities.”

 

Dr. Senior is a Royal College Fellowship Trained Psychiatrist (2003) and McMaster Psychiatry Program Graduate.

 

Dr. David Sherman – Geriatric Psychiatry

 

“I am happy to eConsult on cases of patients over the age of 65 with mental health and cognitive concerns or patients younger than 65 with cognitive concerns.

 

I am recognized as a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada as a board certified Geriatric Psychiatry Sub-Specialist in addition to being certified in Psychiatry.  I completed my Geriatric Psychiatry Sub-Specialty training and Psychiatry training at the University of British Columbia in 2016.   I am an Assistant Clinical Professor (Adjunct) in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Sciences at McMaster University. I graduated from medical school at the University of Toronto in 2010.  Prior to that I received my Masters of Science in Neuroscience and Neuroanatomy from Dalhousie University and Bachelors of Science, with Honours in Psychology from Acadia University.

 

I am currently practicing outpatient and community outreach Geriatric Psychiatry at the Guelph Family Health Team and Consultation Liaison Geriatric Psychiatry at the Freeport Site of Grand River Hospital in Kitchener.”

 

Dr Vivian Polak – Perinatal/Reproductive Psychiatry

 

Specializes in patients experiencing psychiatric symptoms in the following situations: during pregnancy or in first year following delivery (women and men); fertility difficulties; miscarriage, stillbirth, termination, or death of baby or young child; pre-pregnancy assessments (i.e., for advice on the safety of psychiatric medications during pregnancy/lactation). Psychiatric symptoms or diagnoses include mood disorders (unipolar depressive disorders or bipolar disorders), generalised anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social phobia, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, psychotic disorders, comorbid substance use disorders, eating disorders, etc.

 

Also available on eConsult:
  • Dr. Mohammad Saleem
  • Dr. Sophiya Benjamin
  • Dr. Dinesh Benjamin
  • Dr. Natasha Snelgrove
  • Dr. Anjali Sharma
  • Dr. Alexandre Tavares
  • Dr. Rasyidah Halim
  • Dr. Shahzad Shahmalak
  • Dr. Robyn Fallen

 

To view our other eConsult spotlights, please click here!

 

NEW: Benefits Realization case study highlights the benefits of eConsult - click here to take a look!

 

 

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The QBIC (Quality Based Improvements in Care) team has enjoyed a busy and very exciting 2017!

 

 

?Stay tuned: two informative webinars coming up in early 2018. For more information, click here.

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Hannele Kivinen
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January 11, 2022
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