Enhancing Emergency Care Delivery: Insights from Clinical Pathway Implementation to a Priority Primary Care Centre
Tracks
Concurrent Stream 2
| Friday, October 18, 2024 |
| 12:25 PM - 12:30 PM |
| Tuscan Room |
Overview
Emma Saddington
Speaker
Ms Emma Saddington
The Alfred Hospital
"Enhancing Emergency Care Delivery: Insights from Clinical Pathway Implementation to a Priority Primary Care Centre"
12:25 PM - 12:30 PMAbstract
Background
Priority Primary Care Centres (PPCCs) provide GP-led care to people needing urgent care but not an emergency response. Each PPCC is designed to partner with an emergency department (ED) and implemented in Victoria in 2023, aiming to ensure that patients had increased accessibility to PC and reducing the volume of presentations to ED’s. PPCC supports a variety of presentations across all ages, single system infection, minor lacerations, fractures, URTI/LRTI, ENT, skin, and first trimester concerns (minor). A single-centre prospective cohort study demonstrated safe and effective management of 4-5% of ED presentations at PPCC. The aim of this study was to explore from a clinicians’ and health-service lens operational processes to optimise the utilisation of PPCC from the ED perspective.
Study Design
The early experiences of ED as it established clinical pathways to PPCC was assessed from viewpoints of administrators and clinicians. Process logics, maps, problem statements, inputs, activities, outcomes and impacts were collated from inception of the program to current stage using the PDSA design.
Results
The study showed utilisation of a dashboard to monitor operational detail provides oversight on patient safety/flow. De-identified patient data from EMR into a Power-BI dashboard to synthesise patient demographics and clinical characteristics. Administrators reported this dashboard enabled real-time oversight of patient-flow, enabling system agility supporting clinical pathway from the ED to the PPCC, both from an operational lens, clinical workflow and workforce allocation. The contemporaneous data supported system review and timely response ensuring clinical pathways were efficient/effective, further supporting an iterative process of the clinical inclusion/exclusion criteria supporting patient safety, access/flow.
Discussion
Responsive health services that fostered a deeper understanding of the pivotal role collaboration has in optimising care delivery, supporting workforce and ensuring that the right care was delivered to the right person, in the right place, at the right time.
Priority Primary Care Centres (PPCCs) provide GP-led care to people needing urgent care but not an emergency response. Each PPCC is designed to partner with an emergency department (ED) and implemented in Victoria in 2023, aiming to ensure that patients had increased accessibility to PC and reducing the volume of presentations to ED’s. PPCC supports a variety of presentations across all ages, single system infection, minor lacerations, fractures, URTI/LRTI, ENT, skin, and first trimester concerns (minor). A single-centre prospective cohort study demonstrated safe and effective management of 4-5% of ED presentations at PPCC. The aim of this study was to explore from a clinicians’ and health-service lens operational processes to optimise the utilisation of PPCC from the ED perspective.
Study Design
The early experiences of ED as it established clinical pathways to PPCC was assessed from viewpoints of administrators and clinicians. Process logics, maps, problem statements, inputs, activities, outcomes and impacts were collated from inception of the program to current stage using the PDSA design.
Results
The study showed utilisation of a dashboard to monitor operational detail provides oversight on patient safety/flow. De-identified patient data from EMR into a Power-BI dashboard to synthesise patient demographics and clinical characteristics. Administrators reported this dashboard enabled real-time oversight of patient-flow, enabling system agility supporting clinical pathway from the ED to the PPCC, both from an operational lens, clinical workflow and workforce allocation. The contemporaneous data supported system review and timely response ensuring clinical pathways were efficient/effective, further supporting an iterative process of the clinical inclusion/exclusion criteria supporting patient safety, access/flow.
Discussion
Responsive health services that fostered a deeper understanding of the pivotal role collaboration has in optimising care delivery, supporting workforce and ensuring that the right care was delivered to the right person, in the right place, at the right time.
Biography
Emma, the current Senior Nursing Advisor at Safer Care Victoria, is a critical care trained registered nurse with an extensive educational background, holding multiple degrees, including a Bachelor of Science in Disability Studies, Bachelor of Nursing, Masters in Nursing, Masters of Public Health, and Masters of Health Administration. With over two decades of experience in diverse healthcare settings, Emma specializes in emergency and trauma care. She advocates for emergency nursing globally, focusing on workforce retention, capacity development, and health system collaboration.
Emma has held numerous leadership positions, including Partnership Program Manager for Latrobe Regional Health/Alfred Health Collaboration and Clinical Service Director for Infectious Diseases. Her roles at Alfred Health included disaster response, quality and risk management, and operations. Passionate about healthcare's future, she emphasizes succession planning and interdisciplinary team development.
