September 2017
A partnership of Doctors of BC and Ministry of Health
What's New
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Save the dates
January 22, 2018: The Joint Clinical Committees (JCCs) and the BC Patient Safety & Quality Council invite you to participate at the upcoming Summit on Surgical Improvement: Advancing Pre-Surgical Optimization and Enhanced Recovery more information here.
February 21, 2018: The JCCs continue our partnership with BCPSQC’s Quality Forum with our pre-Forum event Champions of Change – more information here.
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Feature Story
LEAN principles improve perioperative efficiency
St. Paul’s Hospital initiated a LEAN project to improve efficiency in the surgical daycare and operating rooms. The goals were to improve access, patient flow, patient and provider satisfaction and communication. A team at St. Paul’s Hospital involving surgeons, anesthesia, surgical department head, surgical managers, clinical nurse leaders, surgical directors, decision support and a consultant worked to reduce delays and improve the experience of surgical daycare patients.
Team approach streamlines musculoskeletal care in Kelowna
As the third largest metropolitan area in BC, Kelowna faced a growing concern over the timely and appropriate treatment for people in their community with musculoskeletal issues (MSK).
Orthopedic surgeons, Drs John Oliver and Curtis Myden submitted a proposal to the SSC and received funding to undertake a quality improvement initiative to increase patient access at the Kelowna Bone and Joint Health. MSK care was offered through eight separate orthopedic surgical practices operating at this site.
Palliative Medicine
Palliative medicine is such a complex and amazing field – it is where the art of being human and the art of medicine truly come together. Palliative care doctors constantly face patients with life-threatening illnesses. And it is not just their patients who need care, family members also need support, as their loved ones are often moving towards the most profound stage of any life – the end stage.
Other News
PQI continues to expand
Physician Quality Improvement (PQI) is an SSC initiative spreading to all health authorities that began with Fraser Health (FH). FH recently celebrated the graduation of the second cohort of 12 physicians and a pharmacist. During an evening celebration, the first SSC Inaugural Leadership Award was presented to Dr Curt Smecher for his dedication and commitment to the PQI initiative. More about PQI.
Chronic pain policy
A new policy statement by Doctors of BC recommends that the BC Ministry of Health, in collaboration with key stakeholders, develop and implement a Provincial Chronic Pain Strategy that supports timely access to quality multidisciplinary chronic pain services in BC. See chronic pain policy statement here.
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Promoting psychological safety for physicians
Doctors of BC seeks to promote psychologically safe workplaces where physicians are encouraged to speak out on issues relating to patient care. The Council on Health Economics and Policy (CHEP) has developed a policy statement on psychological safety. For more information, see Promoting Psychological Safety for Physicians.
IM/IT guiding principles
An updated IM/IT statement of principles from Doctors of BC allows us to effectively advocate on IM/IT issues. The principles clarify our position on ensuring the physician voice is considered early and often on all IM/IT health care projects, and patient care remains at the forefront. See full IM/IT statement here.
News from other Joint Collaborative Committees
GPSC-GP Update
Provincial Divisions newsletter - Divisions Dispatch
Shared Care – The Link
JSC - RCCbc's BC Rural Update
About Us
SSC is one of four joint collaborative committees that represent a partnership of Doctors of BC and the Ministry of Health. Formed in 2006 under the Physician Master Agreement to help the Doctors of BC, BC government and health authorities collaborate on the delivery of specialist services and support improvement of the specialist care system in BC.
Physician engagement is the cornerstone of SSC’s work. Sharing your knowledge is important - if you have stories to tell, information to share or feedback to give, please send us an email: sscbc@doctorsofbc.ca