Can We Build a More Collaborative Healthcare Experience?

A fully integrated approach offers a seamless experience and better health outcomes.

Download our White Paper on Integrated Healthcare

Healthcare in Canada has long been a deeply disjointed experience. It’s built for silos, centred around location, type of care and billing method–not the patient or community. For years, healthcare leaders have been working on strategies to implement patient-centred, collaborative healthcare models. Developing a more integrated approach has also meant tackling a massive change management effort and a complete rethink of the processes and technology systems to support it.

Virtual Care is Here to Stay

Eighteen months into the pandemic, it’s become even more critical to remove the redundancies and roadblocks that prevent care collaboration and better access for patients. The adoption of virtual care has exploded as a tool to deliver high-quality care that is both safe and efficient.

According to a study by Canada Health Infoway, 90 per cent of Canadians reported that they were satisfied with the virtual care they received. The 2021 Calian Care and Medication Index found that nearly 50 per cent of Canadians want to continue accessing virtual care post-pandemic. Not only can virtual care significantly reduce wait times, but it also enables providers to see more patients and share expertise and resources.

Seamless Care Yields Better Patient Outcomes

Multiservice care hubs and regional health teams are other rising trends that extend the concept of patient-centred care out to the community. The idea of accessing healthcare providers and allied services in one place–and having the choice of in-person and virtual modalities–offers a seamless experience for the patient and better health outcomes.

If I’m seeing my primary physician because my bloodwork suggests that I’m at risk for diabetes, I can go to an appointment in the same place for a consultation with a dietician who has my patient history and up-to-date notes from my doctor. Or if I start a post-op virtual call with my orthopedic surgeon to discuss my rehabilitation program, I can stay in the same session for a review of exercises with the physiotherapist assigned to my case.

Integrated Healthcare Model

Achieving the transformation from disconnected care to a fully integrated approach requires an adaptive technology framework. Consider that most hospitals have 200 or more applications and systems in place–then multiply that by the number of partners in your network–and the complexity and ongoing maintenance of all those systems soon becomes cost-prohibitive.

Electronic health records (EHRs), booking systems, intake and clinic management tools, and video conferencing are just a few of the technology pieces that need to work together in a single environment. An extensible and adaptive integration platform as a service (iPaaS) foundation is a key capability for CIOs to connect existing systems while maintaining the flexibility to respond to the changing needs of their patients and communities.

The ability to reuse existing technologies, select the best applications based on the needs of each clinic or service, and ensure secure collaboration and communications among the entire circle of care are just a few of the considerations for selecting the iPaaS platform that can support your patient-centred healthcare network.

Interested in reading about the 5 key iPaaS capabilities for integrated healthcare systems?
Download the white paper: Breaking the Silos: Implementing Agile Systems for Integrated Healthcare

Digital Healthcare White Paper - Calian