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This fall, the Alliance will host our third Learning Collaborative: Increasing efficiency to improve access to care.

On September 28, 2023, from 12-1 pm, the Alliance’s Learning Health System team will host a Lunch & Learn to share information about our upcoming learning collaborative, Increasing Efficiency to Improve Access to Care, and to answer questions about the opportunity.

Attending this Lunch 'n' Learn (either live or via recording) is is required to participate in the Learning Collaborative. However, attending the Lunch ‘n’ Learn is not mean you’re committed to joining the Learning Collaborative.

#What we’ll cover in this Lunch ‘n’ Learn

Quality Improvement & Performance Leads Stephanie Bale, Lauren Tessier, and Jennifer Sarkella, and QI Coach Lorri Zagar will be your hosts for this Lunch ‘n’ Learn, where they will:

• Describe in detail what a Learning Collaborative is
• Share what is involved when participating in a Learning Collaborative
• Provide examples of improving efficiency work previously done in CHCs
• Describe the supports you will receive while participating in the Learning Collaborative
• Answer any questions you may have about the learning collaborative

#The Learning Collaborative Area of Focus

While the Quadruple Aim describes what the health care system is trying to achieve on a societal basis, the six dimensions of quality are helpful in defining quality at the centre/practice level. Clients expect to receive care that is effective, efficient, equitable, safe, client-centred, and timely. These six dimensions are intertwined, and focusing improvement on one dimension will often impact another simultaneously. This learning collaborative will support teams looking to increase efficiency at their centre, which can have the added effect of impacting some or all of the other dimensions, particularly timeliness (access to care), effectiveness (better health outcomes) and client-centred care (client experience).

Although improving efficiency is often thought of as reducing resource use (decreasing waste), for the purpose of this learning collaborative, increasing efficiency will focus on maximizing the use of resources. Increasing efficiency in this sense has the potential to build capacity for more client visits or even an increase in your panel size. Better is always possible!

This learning collaborative will marry various Quality Improvement methodologies, including the Model for Improvement and Lean thinking, with the principles of access and efficiency to support teams in their work. Teams who participate in the learning collaborative will choose their own opportunity to increase efficiency. This could include small efforts to reengineer workflows, empower all team members, maximize technology, etc., which could yield the capacity for additional client visits and potential increases in panel size. Examples include but are not limited to:

• Improving efficiency in the intake process.
• Optimizing the care team to ensure all are working to their scope of practice.
• Optimizing rooms, equipment, and staff.
• Improving chronic disease management.