Conference Presentation
The following is a text version of the presentation given at the Conference on Timely Access To Health Care, held February 8-9, 2007 in Toronto, Ontario.
Ontario's Wait Time Information Strategy
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Presentation Outline
Ontario's Wait Time Strategy: A Multipronged Approach
Wait Times is an Information Problem . ..
In November 2004
- Surgeons maintained their own patients' queues in their offices
- Hospitals/surgical chiefs had no way of knowing what the access picture looks like
- Hospitals allocated resources (OR time) with minimal if any regard to access issues
- Government allocated resources to hospitals with minimal if any regard to access issues
- Patients and primary caregivers referred to surgeons based on relationships and hearsay
- Public could not hold government and system accountable on the most critical issue of the day
Principles
- Leverage other work
- Wait list management AND wait times reporting are equally pressing goals
- One solution
- Focus on "big five" scope - to build out later
- Transparency in all respects
- Field expert-driven and defined (and redefined)
- Momentum outweighs alignment and perfection
Wait Time Information System . . .
How it works . . .
- WTIS captures actual waits in near real-time electronically from surgeon's offices, diagnostic imaging departments and hospital information systems
Implementation has exceeded objectives
90% of Cataract Surgeries Completed Within
Surgeons can track and assess patient queues
Government has a more detailed understanding of regional differences to target improvement efforts
Patients using information to decide about care
Public/media can hold government to account
Public information is engendering competition and innovation
 Ontario Wait Times
www.ontariowaittimes.com
Next?
- Build out piece by piece to reflect and help clinicians, administrators, patients and their families navigate through the whole system
- Continue bottom up and pan-canadian collaboration
- Ontario and the Western Health Information Collaborative leading this effort
- Critical mass requires greater structure, support and investment
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Leverage current investments, and advocate for more
- Broad transformation effects have significant benefit
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