This is the fifth in a series of 6 blogs about the 2016 Ingenious Award Winners:
Small/Medium Public Sector Winner: First Nations Integrated Health Solution
In 2007 InterRAI became the provincial standard for Albertans seeking placement in a provincial supportive living or long-term care facility.
Delays with some aspects of implementation of this standard meant that Home Care clients on-reserve were experiencing wait times of up to 18 months while most Albertans had a significantly shorter wait time. Analysis of the situation identified that two health care systems needed to become integrated enough to allow seamless service delivery on and off reserve.
“From an actual logistics and technological perspective, the biggest challenge was getting nurses working in real time in client homes in remote, isolated communities,” said Lorene Weigelt, senior officer with Health Canada. “The answer was software that could support an asynchronous connection. Assessments are done on a laptop in the home and the information gathered can be synched at a later date.”
For the 24 of 46 communities that have been completed, the solution has drastically reduced the time from assessment to care. The success of the project speaks to the power of collaboration and partnership,” noted Weigelt.
Watch the brief video introduction here.
Read the full story here.