PROJECT PROFILE

Improving the Pace of Patient Care: Self Service Technology Reduces Patient Registration Time at William Osler

William Osler Health Centre continues on its mission to PACE Makes Its Case in Dialysis Unit build the strongest community health centre in the province In July 2006, Osler deployed the PACE system in the Dialysis by improving service to the nearly one million residents in its Unit at Peel Memorial Hospital, where patients are now regis- service area. Offering acute and ancillary healthcare, William tering for treatment on their own with a quick swipe of their Osler (www.williamoslerhc.on.ca) is the largest community health card at the PACE kiosk. Upon arrival patients simply hospital in , serving the growing and diverse communi- swipe their health card, verify their information on a touch ties of Etobicoke, and surrounding areas through its screen and are successfully registered. The entire process? Under Etobicoke General Hospital, Peel Memorial Hospital and soon 10 seconds on average. via the new , scheduled to open in PACE can reduce patient registration time by as much as fall 2007. 95% and help hospital staff focus on patient care. At any given Improving the efficiency of patient care is an ongoing goal, time, staff can access consistent and accurate patient or sched- as the population in the area grows at an unprecedented rate. uling data. The area served by Osler is one of the fastest growing regions The PACEPACE integrated workflowworkflow for the DialysisDialysis in the country. UnitUnit waswas conceivedconceived andand implementedimplemented withinwithin One challenge to efficiency has been processing OHIP claims three months. accurately. Often data entry errors during patient registration result in incomplete transactions that interrupt insurance claim Deployment Set to Expand cycles, resulting in late filing or incomplete, inaccurate claims. FurtherFurther PACEPACE implementationsimplementations areare beingbeing In an effort to resolve these inefficiencies, Osler envisioned rolled out in phases. a way to automate the patient registration process, standardize TheThe pprototyperototype iintegratedntegrated wworkfloworkflow wwasas collection of patient data, validate Ontario Ministry of Health presentedpresented inin June.June. TheThe pilotpilot phasephase isis cards online in real time, and fully integrate to Osler’s ADT underwayunderway – startingstarting withwith thethe DialysisDialysis (Meditech) system to confirm appointments – and ultimately UnitUnit system at PeelPeel MemorialMemorial Hospital.Hospital. eliminate patient registration errors. KiosksKiosks aarere bbeingeing ddeployedeployed ttoo tthreehree That vision became reality at the June Annual General additionaladditional areasareas atat thethe EtobicokeEtobicoke Meeting, when Osler unveiled PACETM, the Patient Automated General and Peel Memorial sites. Care Experience system, designed for patient registration. PACE This new kiosk technology is being is a self-service kiosk – much like an ATM machine – that can be evaluated carefully to ensure realiza- conveniently located anywhere in a healthcare facility to speed tion of all the projected benefits. up, streamline and guarantee accuracy in the patient registra- Future PACE kiosks may feature tion process. Wayfinding, Recurring and Clinical One of the first of its kind in Canada, PACE was launched in registrations, patient questionnaires April 2006 in collaboration with Aurillion Micro Systems (www. and health information. aurillion.com), an innovative software development company William Osler Health Centre is focused on healthcare products designed to improve produc- raising the standard of patient care tivity and workflow for patient care. Powered by Aurillion’s – and challenging other healthcare Waveforms® integration and workflow technology, PACE can facilities to keep