The focus of the ICC
is that we have such an enormous opportunity
to improve the experience of care
for patients.
And I think that that resonates
with everyone, that's really why we're here.
We're putting our patients first in everything we do.
An integrated care collaborative is an opportunity for us in the hospital
to really
decrease the gaps for patient care along their journey.
So we have a good process but
this is an opportunity for us to really make it better.
i think we offer
really good care
here but where I see we can improve is
in connecting the different parts of the journey.
We do a pretty good job of getting patients into our diagnostic centre very quickly and
working them up
and our surgical timelines are very fast.
But sometimes there is a gap on to the next step, and sometimes it feels, I'm
sure for the patient, very segmented.
So I think we would like to smooth out
that journey. I think we just need to tie the loose ends a little bit better together and
coordinate it a bit better.
An ICC is a model of care
whereby we
look at a disease
or a chronic condition
and we map out the pathway
starting from screening,
prevention,
diagnosis,
treatment
and aftercare.
And it's across the continuum because we no longer believe that we, as a healthcare institution, deliver care in isolation of everybody else.
We want this to be
a very
charming experience for the patient.
And that's why I think the ICC has a big role
because
nowadays patients do expect to have a very smooth journey.
So with the ICC
we can standardize
our approach and
at the same time we can be efficient
and cost effective.
If you look at ICC from the standpoint of giving care across the continuum,
we're talking about
diagnosis of patients
preparation and planning for treatment,
monitoring the patient during their recovery phase and also continuing to
monitor the patient into the community.
So we're pretty much bridging all our gaps.
In addition, we're engaging all our stakeholders:
the frontline staff, the physicians,
the community, the primary physician, it's just a great way to go.
And we believe
that we are going to have positive outcomes
for the patient experience.
We have a vision to have two
patient navigators for the Breast ICC.
It's a person who's here,
who can help you with information,
with support,
with decision-making needs,
if you need information or how to do something or how to get something
he or she can help you with that
and also really just to be your guide along this pathway
so that
you do have somebody to call all the time through the whole journey.
Everybody is really excited about it and really committed to it which
is great. It's not just being spearheaded by
one or two people. There's a real community within the hospital that are
focusing on it.
What patients will see is a much better coordinated system.
They won't get lost in the system. They'll understand
how the system works
how we connect all the disparate points of care today.
It's how we connect
through portals, technology, but also how we build partnerships
with primary care: the patient's physician
again community care and other service providers
so it's seamless for the patient.