RVH is developing a new tool to reduce the “administrative burden” for doctors

PRESS RELEASE
ROYAL VICTORIA REGIONAL HEALTH CENTRE
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After a Canada-wide competition, a team of researchers from the Royal Victoria Regional Health Center (RVH) has been awarded a $668,968 grant to help reduce the administrative burden doctors face when conducting goals-of-care discussions .

Led by RVH intensivist and chief scientist Dr. Giulio DiDiodato, the two-year project – made possible by the Health Care Unburdened Grant program established by the Canadian Medical Association, MD Financial Management Inc. and Scotiabank – will support the dissemination of an innovative electronic Tool that facilitates a new clinical standard for how hospitals, family health teams and long-term care homes conduct goal-of-care discussions.

Goals of care discussions are conversations between patients, families, and physicians and are vital to understanding the patient’s values, preferences, and desired outcomes for medical treatment.

“Knowing what is most important to our patients in terms of health, quality of life and personal values ​​is considered an essential component of high-quality care,” says Dr. Chris Martin, grant co-applicant and head of RVH. critical care. “This is particularly important for life-threatening illnesses, where goals of care discussions may focus on more complex life-prolonging treatments, but may also involve significant burdens or risks.”

Despite the critical nature of these conversations, there is no systematic or standardized practice for conducting goals-of-care discussions. And of the few tools that have been developed, none can be applied to all diseases, nor can they provide validated prognostic models that ensure widespread use across the health system.

“Currently, physicians bear sole responsibility for primary goals of care discussions, which should occur for every patient encounter involving a major clinical decision,” says Dr. DiDiodato. “But with so many patients to see, it can be difficult to find time to have these very personal, very empathetic conversations.”

Even the most skilled doctors may still struggle to find the right words at the right time when discussing sensitive and emotional topics with patients and their families.

“By using our electronic tool to guide the process, any trained caregiver can now initiate and navigate goals of care discussions for any condition in a safe and confident manner,” adds Dr. DiDiodato. “We are pleased to save hundreds of thousands of administrative hours each year for physicians across Canada.”

Over the past five years, Dr. DiDiodato and the team at RVH have developed and validated these new clinical standards, first through a small pilot study, then through a large randomized clinical trial supported by a grant from the Alectra Health Fund and social innovation. in 2022.

Building on these initial successes, the Health Care Unburdened Grant paves the way for us to share this proprietary innovation with our health care colleagues across the province, says Dr. Jesse McLean, RVHs director of research and co-author of the grant. “We will also be working with several community partners to help spread the tool, including teams from Georgian College’s School of Computer Studies and the Henry Bernick Entrepreneurship Centre, as well as the Barrie and Area Ontario Health Team, and the family of the University of Toronto. located at RVH”.

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