2 | Optimizing your workflow to improve access and attachment

• Advanced Access and Efficiency Workbook for Primary Care (HQO) - see especially the table "Summary of Advanced Access and Efficiency Measures" in section 4.
• A Guide to Advanced Access and Efficiency for Primary Care Providers: Time For Change Module 3 (HQO and MacHealth) 

# Essex County Nurse Practitioner—Led Centre: Health Workforce Innovations

• In 2022, the Essex County Nurse Practitioner—Led Clinic (NPLC) was facing challenges related to staff morale,  job satisfaction, and employee retention issues. In response their board and leadership made a commitment to providing a safe, inclusive, and respectful workplace; fostering opportunities for learning and teaching; developing positive and collaborative relationships; and promoting work-life balance.

• To help them meet this commitment, they joined Health Care Excellence Canada's Health Workforce Innovation Challenge, which helps organizations experiment with innovations to enhance workforce retention and support.
• Through in-depth collaboration with staff, they implemented several innovations, including:
  • Introducing flexible work schedules
  • Implementing remote work options, taking advantage of virtual care and related tools
  • Reducing administrative burden with AI tools and other technology tools
  • Empowering interprofessional staff to work at their full scope of practice
  • Establishing a wellness committee with designated Wellness Champions at each of their sites
  • Group activities such as themed lunches, staff walks, participation in community events,
• To evaluate the impact of these changes, they quantified staff satisfaction at baseline and at the end of the challenge, using proxy measures such as sick leave utilization and retention rates as well as staff wellness survey scores. After completion of the challenge, sick time utilization was down; retention rates were up and survey scores were up. The results are showcased in this infographic.
• Testimonials from staff and clients has provided further evidence of improved staff engagement, efficiency, and access to care.

# London Intercommunity Health Centre: Using Data to Determine Roster Complexity in Primary Health Care

• This panel presentation from staff at the London Intercommunity Health Centre showcases a data-driven, collaborative approach to balancing your providers' client/patient panel complexity.

# Better Health Project (Smiths Falls, 2010). 

• This report describes how the Merrickville District Community Health Centre (now part of Rideau Community Health Services) provided rapid access to team-based primary health care for thousands of patients who had been "orphaned" by the loss of three family physicians in Smiths Falls.
• Among other things, they utilized group medical visits, moved clients towards self-management, brought together a collaborative multi-disciplinary primary health care team, and undertook data collection and review.
• Key enabling principles were responsiveness to individual and community needs, working collaboratively, integrating with other services, and engaging clients to be active participants in their care.  
• As a result, primary health care services were made available to those most in need in a way that benefited not only those individuals but the whole community and the health care system: Group medical visits received high attendance and and client satisfaction scores; emergency department visits and medication errors decreased; and the number of people with access to a primary health care provider increased.
• Appendix A in this document and this 2011 news article provide additional details.
• COMING SOON: Rapid Intake