Statistics Canada<\/a>. <\/strong>This growth also means increasing demand for long-term care (LTC) facilities. In 2024, the Ontario government announced an investment of $155 million to fast-track more new construction of long-term care facilities. But adding more LTC beds is only part of the challenge to meet today\u2019s care demands and optimize health delivery for an aging population.<\/p>\nEach year in Ontario, there are approximately 37,000 patient transfers between hospitals and long-term care homes. Unfortunately, for most of these cases of transition of care, patients are too sick or cognitively impaired to describe their symptoms, outline ongoing treatments, or relay their prior medical problems \u2013 including potentially lethal allergies.<\/p>\n
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Historically, when this essential health information is shared between facilities, it tends to be delivered as a stack of paper that arrives with the patient or sent by fax, requiring manual sorting and data entry into the hospital\u2019s or LTC home\u2019s unique electronic medical record system. Unclear or incomplete information from paper records may lead to subsequent phone calls between healthcare providers.<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately, these old paper and fax processes are outdated, complex, time consuming, and may never provide all of the necessary information quickly enough,\u201d says Dr. Dan Perri, a St. Joe\u2019s internal medicine and critical care physician, the Hospital\u2019s chief medical information officer, and affiliate scientist with The Research Institute. According to Dr. Perri, these conditions create opportunities for \u201cunnecessary delays in appropriate care and potential risks to patient safety.\u201d<\/p>\n
[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”1848″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Project AMPLIFI aims to facilitate the exchange of electronic health information between Ontario hospitals and long-term care facilities.<\/em><\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content” full_height=”yes” parallax=”true” parallax_image=”1847″][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”750″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css_animation=”slideInRight” css=”.vc_custom_1726845385949{background-color: #ffffff !important;}”]<\/p>\nProject AMPLIFI Team in 2024 (left to right): Erin Doherty, Sarah Culgin, Robert Steele, Dr. Dan Perri, Carina Andreatta, Jessica Miles, Sabrina De Stasio, Raneel Dhillon.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n
Seamless inter-operability of health data systems plays a crucial role in minimizing care fragmentation at transitions of care for vulnerable populations. Studies from the US show that the digital exchange of health information results in a reduction of mortality and an increased likelihood of older adults, particularly those with dementia, to return to the community.<\/p>\n
In 2020, during the initial wave of the pandemic, researchers at St. Joseph\u2019s Healthcare Hamilton, led by Dr. Perri, completed their analysis of a pilot project that digitally integrated the hospital\u2019s information system with the electronic medical record of its health system partner, St. Joseph\u2019s Villa, a long-term care facility in Dundas, Ontario. This pilot project, funded by the federal government\u2019s CAN Health Network, demonstrated value through improved efficiencies for care providers and saved time by integrating patient records electronically.<\/p>\n
Not long after, the Ontario government announced that improving patient transitions was a key priority and committed funding to support the sharing of clinical data across the province. As the first Canadian hospital to achieve digital integration with a long-term care facility, St. Joseph\u2019s Healthcare Hamilton was selected to lead the implementation of a province wide digital health information inter-operability project between hospitals and long-term care homes.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content” full_height=”yes” content_placement=”middle” parallax=”true” parallax_image=”1850″][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”750″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css_animation=”slideInRight” css=”.vc_custom_1726700626102{background-color: #ffffff !important;}”]<\/p>\n
Map showing locations of hospitals and long-term care facilities in Ontario that are part of the Project AMPLIFI network.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
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Project AMPLIFI is the clinical data exchange project led by St. Joe\u2019s Digital Solutions team and funded by the Government of Ontario\u2019s Ministry of Health and Ministry of Long-Term Care. The St. Joe\u2019s team consists of individuals with both clinical and non-clinical backgrounds, including medicine, nursing, education, health informatics, IT, project management, and digital health leadership. It has provided co-op and other educational opportunities for students in undergraduate and graduate programs in nursing, engineering, computer science, health informatics\/eHealth, and business.<\/p>\n
Through Project AMPLIFI, care providers will have real-time access to secure, electronic health information when patients visit participating hospitals or long-term care homes to receive care. This includes the ability for bi-directional exchange of discrete data like allergies, medications, immunizations, and problem list (a list of current and active diagnoses, as well as other past diagnoses relevant to the patient\u2019s care). Also sent electronically between organizations is the Continuity of Care Document (CCD) \u2013 a summary of care document that includes, among other things, the latest patient vital signs and goals of care.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″]