Project description
An integrated care pathway (ICP) is an anticipated care placed in an appropriate time frame, written and agreed by a multidisciplinary team.* There are a number of examples of this approach being executed globally; however in terms of implementation, these approaches are paper based and categorized under ‘care plans’. ICPs are outcome oriented and evidence based and facilitates continuous quality improvement from the clinical teams for patients.
An electronic solution will enhance the existing clinical record while documenting the care given, including patient milestones and clinical interventions noted on the day or stage that they are expected to occur.
*(National Leadership and Innovation Agency for Healthcare 2005, p.8)
Goal
Develop an ICP model in Toronto that can adapt to any treatment. This will help the clinical team keep track of client outcomes and assess trends, adding value to the quality of care the patient receives. This is done through an aggregated data summary shown on a summary dashboard to illustrate 'where is the patient in their care?' And 'how they are doing', increasing patient involvement and monitoring of utilisation.
Solution
Our 8 person team consists of a balanced mix of health professionals, developers, and designers. Together we worked on developing a visual tool that captures information and relays it back in real time. This allows for clear communication between staff to ensure reduction in redundancy and improvement in collaboration. When in use, it captures patient self assessments for the interdisciplinary clinical team and provides a clean visual dashboard to share with the patient on their road to recovery. It also lets the team monitor and review data from previous points of the individual’s development on the care pathway including pathway decision points, milestones and medication algorithms.
Process
This project was initiated and completed during a three day Health Hackathon, our team put together a working visual dashboard as an initial proof of concept. We went through a typical outpatient treatment protocol for individuals with Major Depression and Alcohol Dependence together and developed scenarios to understand the process with feedback from health professionals.