News Release
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Small, Medium and Large Northeastern Hospitals Collaborate to …
IMPROVE PHARMACY SERVICES
March 16, 2015 – The North East LHIN continues to work in partnership with the region’s 25 hospitals to enhance patient care, including targeting hospital pharmacy improvement opportunities.
Following a LHIN survey of all Northeastern hospital pharmacies to identify challenges and opportunities, 27 pharmacy representatives from across the region met face-to-face for the first time this month.
A new Hospital Pharmacy Peer Group prioritized issues, discussed opportunities, and developed a collaborative work plan to enhance pharmacy services in the North East LHIN.
Louise Paquette, CEO of the North East LHIN, opened the meeting by explaining that the pharmacy peer group is just one of many ways the North East LHIN is working to bring the region’s hospitals together to strengthen patient care services.
“Having the conversation together, about how to strengthen patient care across our vast geography, is the most important part of our work as we help transform the way community hospitals operate,” Paquette said. “Success comes from collaborative efforts and the fact that for the first time ever, pharmacy professionals from across Northeastern Ontario are openly discussing opportunities to enhance services, is telling of the willingness to build a more patient-centred quality system.”
Project Lead, Tamara Shewciw, the NE LHIN’s Chief Information Officer and eHealth Lead, told the group that the time is right for more sharing of resources to improve care for Northerners. There are opportunities for hospitals to work together on drug inventories, pharmacist coverage, accreditation policies and procedures, and technology.
Starting this year, all hospital pharmacies will be inspected by the Ontario College of Pharmacy, said Joanne Weingartner, a retired hospital pharmacist who has been retained by the NE LHIN to work on the survey analysis of NE LHIN hospital pharmacies. “I have a new appreciation for small, rural hospitals where human resources are often in short supply and it’s challenging to determine which medications should be on hand for when patients come back from surgeries at larger hospitals,” said Weingartner. “This Pharmacy Peer Group gives us an opportunity to better share knowledge and resources and improve best practices.”
As a representative community hospital, Blind River District Health Centre is coordinating the Regional Pharmacy Hospital Initiative with a North East LHIN investment of $140,000 in 2014/15.
The Pharmacy Peer Group will meet again in June, with work groups assigned to make progress on six projects they determined as their priorities.
FACTS:
· The Regional Pharmacy Hospital Initiative enables Northeastern hospitals to enhance patient safety and quality of care through the reduction of medication errors and enhanced care coordination.
· Community hospital transformation is about looking at innovative and integrated models of care to ensure all patient needs are being met through a strong system of care and high quality of services.
· The North East LHIN is responsible for planning, integrating, coordinating and providing funding to 145 health service providers in Northeastern Ontario. It oversees $1.4-billion in local health care investments on behalf of the 565,000 residents of Northeastern Ontario.
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