Moves being made to ease ER crisis
Christian Dubé introduced his cellule de crise this week to deal with the overcrowded ERs in town.
Two new clinics to be run by nurse practitioners are to be opened shortly, a phone line branching off 811 and a system to free up hospital beds are being added.
A recent report on the overburdened Lakeshore General ER is probably a microcosm of the situation all over Montreal.
Ephraim 15:42 on 2022-11-02 Permalink
And yet, some of the simplest of cost efficiency matters they aren’t doing. There is no centralized systems.
For example, for an MRI…. there should be one provincial lists for MRIs. You shouldn’t need to register at each hospital and clinic. The list should be managed by triage and when a space if open or cancelled, people should be offered that spot via email, text or even automated phone system if it is within a reasonable distance. It’s an important slot and shouldn’t be lost, simple because of a cancellation (or death). And if the triage can’t get someone into the system fast enough and we need to use the private system, a bidding system for private systems to offer slots to the government. It’s nice you have the machine and the technician, but if you haven’t sold the slot and you want to me a few $$$, then offer it to the public system and if the price is right, maybe we will take you up on it.
The government should be involved more in our healthcare as a cost cutting measure. For example, if someone has a history of cancer and they should be pre-screened, then the system to should reach out to them to offer appoints for that pre-screening. And that system should be able to offer official “doctor’s notes” to employer so that employers are informed (if they need it… but they should) that this person has a registered (legal) medical appointment that is required by the system. But it’s also in their best interests as it keeps the costs of the medical system down as well as ensured the longevity and health of their employee, which is a benefit to them.
And then can someone talk to the doctors and nurses and ask them where they think we could save costs? I have had a doctor tell me about the waste within the radiology system. And a nurse tell me the number of guards involved in verifying people wearing masks at a hospital… a small hospital had 2 people sitting there late at night and yet the Montreal General has 0!
Kate 18:08 on 2022-11-02 Permalink
Centralized systems would run on software written in English, Ephraim. That wouldn’t fly.
Ephraim 19:41 on 2022-11-02 Permalink
They can write local programs. They did for Clic Sante. MRIs should be on there. See a doctor today should be on there. There is supposed to be a centralized database of appointments. It will help the doctors too. Less missed apartments, less stress on the whole system