Dr. Lisa Stevenson dislikes information gaps. When her patients attend the emergency department, have surgery or a hospitalization, she wants know what happened before they return to her clinic. Participating in the Community Information Integration / Central Patient Attachment Registry initiative has made that possible.
The lead physician at the Richmond Square Medical Clinic in Calgary has been actively involved in panel management of her patients for many years and could see early on how CII/CPAR would be the logical next step in her journey. She says she wanted to better define who her patients were, so that she only offered them proactive care without duplication.
“I did not want to waste my time or their time. I also wanted to close the gap and know in a timely way when my patients presented to ER, had surgery, were hospitalized and why, before they showed up in clinic expecting me to know this information.”
Dr. Stevenson says the eNotifications feature has been very valuable for patient care:
“I had two cases over the last month of two of my elderly patients in the community with dementia, who were hospitalized and were placed in long term care on discharge and no longer had to be actively managed by me. This was a relief for me to know they were being taken care of, and I was able to chat with their family members to ensure their care loop was closed.”
“I received notifications that two of my patients had their babies and I was able to connect with them through my staff to arrange a visit for their newborns reassuring them that ‘we were open for business’ and not on vacation as one patient thought.”
“I have received notifications that my patients are having surgical procedures that they have been waiting for, and one that had a complication that I could connect with through our portal to make sure she was doing okay.”
Dr. Stevenson credits her clinic manager and the help she received from her PCN as key ingredients for the successful implementation of CII/CPAR, and she encourages other physicians to get onboard. She says the initiative is an excellent way to ensure every patient has a primary care physician who knows them, proactively takes care of them, is aware of others participating in their care, and who can provide support along the way.
Primary care providers can get more information on CII/CPAR
here and should tell their PCN that they are interested in participating.
