Regional Relations and Special Projects

SW LHIN Patient Access & Flow Project

Project Description: At the present time there is no protocol among the hospitals in the SW LHIN to govern or guide the transfer or referral of patients who need emergent/urgent acute care beyond the mandate of CritiCall. As such, each hospital and each physician who is in a position to make a transfer or refer one of these patients to another hospital, or correspondingly, is on the receiving end of the transaction, operates on their own - without an agreed upon inter-hospital protocol to guide and inform their decision-making.

Project Goal: To develop standardized, LHIN-wide rules of interaction and communication between hospitals and physicians that will improve the patient referral and transfer process so it is more transparent, understood by everyone, more effective and more efficient.

Target Group: Adults in an acute care hospital with emergent/urgent physical health care needs that require specialized care that cannot be provided by the facility in which they are located. Emergent/urgent care is defined as patients who need treatment within 48 hours.

Bulletins

• #3 February 17, 2010
• #2 October 21, 2009
• #1 September 2, 2009

Updated March 2010