REACH: Redesigning urgent oncology care
In April 2008, the government of Ontario announced a $109 million investment to reduce Emergency Department wait times1. In response to this initiative, the REACH (reducing emergency and acute care hospitalization) pilot was launched at PMH in June 2009.
The REACH clinic is physically located on 14C at PMH and is available for oncology patients who present to clinic with an urgent care issue. This has decreased the need to transfer patients to TGH emergency department for emergency care and has improved patient centred care for our oncology population.
The REACH clinic functions on an interprofessional model of care with 2 RN’s an NP and one Physician as well as access to support services such as psychosocial care, chaplaincy, nutrition services, and wound care. The clinic also has access to PMH in-patient beds when necessary for complex unstable patients.
In addition, the utilization of several projects introduced through CICC have been woven into REACH clinic operations. This includes collection and analysis of health care provider feedback through Rypple and the implementation of a procedure cart to facilitate organization and efficiency when conducting procedures such as central venous access device removal or paracentesis.
The REACH clinic continues in the pilot phase. To date both clinician and patient feedback has been extremely positive.
Ontario Wait Times Strategy available at www.ontariowaittimes.com.