Healthcare Improvement Challenge Vote Results

We asked people who work in healthcare across Nova Scotia to send us common sense, low cost, and easy to implement ideas that can make a difference for patients, families, and those working in the field.

The submissions were narrowed down to a shortlist of 20 options and Nova Scotians were invited to vote on the ideas that would decide the top 10 that government will consider priorities and work with health-system partners to implement.

Thank you to everyone who submitted an idea or voted for one.

The results are in. The top 10 Healthcare Improvement Challenge ideas are:

• A no show or missed appointment is an appointment someone else could use to receive care. Set up a text notification system that reminds patients of their appointment date, time and location.
  
  
• Provide patients the option to receive appointment letters by email instead of posted mail. This would save money, reduce no shows and missed appointments, and reduce waste.
  
  
• Allow for Audiologists to send direct referrals to Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) physicians instead of making patients must go to their primary care provider (family doctor or nurse practitioner) to get this referral.
  
  
• Support Continuing Care Assistants to work to their full scope of practice (for example let them take vitals). This change would reduce the pressure on nurses who can spend that time providing better patient care.
  
  
• Install screens or monitors in all emergency departments that show publicly available wait times, public health information, and other related information about what a patient should expect in the emergency department.
  
  
• Enable hospital caller ID, so patients can see when the hospital calls. Many people don't answer unknown numbers and if the patient doesn't list their name in their voicemail, a message can't be left. This creates delays in patient services.
  
  
• Stop using emergency departments for pre-operative bloodwork for patients scheduled to have a Monday morning procedure. It creates added pressure in emergency departments. Instead, offer them priority bloodwork appointments before the weekend.
  
  
• Allow patients to pre-register online by sending them a link to fill out a form in advance of their surgery or specialist appointment. This will make intake for nurses working in clinics or pre-operative settings faster.
  
  
• Develop a registration app. Patients enter their information and it generates a QR code. Clerks can scan this on arrival for their appointment. It would save time, remove data coding errors and could be linked with the new e-referral initiative.
  
  
• If you can book a diagnostic imaging appointment (MRI, ultrasound, etc.) online, you should be able to cancel online. Give patients the option to cancel these appointments online

Learn more about how we are working to change healthcare in Nova Scotia.