Synchronization of care: 4 questions to help us head for shore

A health system that is itself healthy will create self-fueling and ever-expanding loops of professional improvement based on clinical data in real time. Each manager will be tasked with reducing administrative delays so that focus is constantly placed on patient need. At the systemic level, this approach will result in increasingly high-quality, accessible and affordable care for the population of a given territory.At this point, the real purpose of the system will be attained, namely:Fewer and fewer patients will enter the system because they are healthier and healthier.Our current health system is not aligned with this goal. We need to rebuild it bysynchronizing patient flowsynchronizing our management efforts; andsynchronizing performance goals across the system, making them consistent with our ultimate goal.By synchronizing care—that is, by answering four fundamental questions—we will enable healthcare workers and managers to develop innovation solutions using real-time data in order to produce results tailored to their particular patient clientele:Of all the patients I could treat, which one should I treat now?Of all the processes that I could improve, which one should I improve first?What capacity do we need, where and when, now and in the future?What is the impact of the "what if" scenarios on the quality, safety, accessibility and financial aspects of care?Answering these questions will enable us to devote our next efforts to real needs. We will be able to establish new research and care improvement programs based on data that is transparent across the board. As for priorities in preventative care, the places most likely to benefit therefrom will naturally come to light by forming bottlenecks during the synchronization process.In actual fact, we need a lot less data than what is being collected at the current time. A stream seeks a river and a river seeks the sea - it is not by counting the rocks that prevent the water from flowing that we will help it move more quickly! In our current systems, we too often try to manage data that is collected and studied retrospectively, with no dynamic impact on patient flow in real time. Indeed, the greatest potential within our system lies in the management of real time data. By following and managing patient flow as it happens, we will be able to determine exactly what data we can stop collecting. This may well represent a significant amount!By following the process of synchronizing care on the ground, caregivers and managers will be better equipped to make pertinent decisions on local, regional and provincial levels. As for the political class, potential representatives will be much better informed of system data even before taking office. They will then be able to propose societal directions according to the will and cultural values of the population that trusts them to lead.The demonstration is thus made that in order to align the health network with its ultimate goal, we must start by synchronizing patient flow.What are we waiting for?Dr. Ruth Elaine Vander Stelt is a family physician in the Outaouais region of Quebec. She practices in community health centres and emergency departments, and also does home care. Since she started practising in 1995, Dr. Vander Stelt has spent about 25% of her time on healthcare management.Opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect those of CanadianHealthcareNetwork.ca or its parent company.

Synchronization of care: 4 questions to help us head for shore

Register for free access or login.

More Blog Posts in This Series

Managing needs and expectations in healthcare

It's time to talk about levels of care and advance medical directives

An ever-prosperous health system: Who is responsible?

Blog Author

Ruth E Vander Stelt