As part of Nova Scotia Health's Surgical Access and Quality Improvement Strategy, a new single-entry model (SEM) for managing and coordinating surgical consult referrals in Nova Scotia launches March 31. The model is supported by an eReferral tool (Ocean) and Central Intake Office and allows for referrals to both Nova Scotia Health and IWK Health surgeons.
This initiative is also among the priorities and commitments in government's Action for Health Strategic Plan and will support efforts to improve access to surgical care, reduce wait times and improve the overall experiences of our patients.
The Ocean tool supporting surgical eReferrals, will also be used to support the new Diagnostic-Imaging eRequisition Model launching later this year. This means that providers set up to use Ocean will be able to use the tool for both surgical and diagnostic imaging referrals.
Help and Support:
- What does March 31st look like?
- View the recording or presentation from our March 27 Webinar with Doctors Nova Scotia.
- View our Frequently Asked Questions.
- Visit our Nova Scotia eReferral Resource Hub for training guides, videos, tip sheets, contacts and more.
- View recordings from Ocean eReferrals Tutorials
Expected Benefits:
For Patients
- Improved communication about consult status / what to expect
- Continued choice / more informed choice (wait times, etc.)
- More equitable access to services
- Help reduce waits for consults
- Timely triage to prioritize care
For Providers
- Consistent and complete referrals
- Less administrative burden for primary care providers
- Comprehensive / up-to-date surgeon registry
- Continued choice by referrer
- Less administrative burden for surgeons and specialists with appropriate referral information
- Helps surgeons build practices, supporting recruitment / retention
System Benefits
- Access to consult queue data to better plan and allocate resources
- More consistency and coordination
- Opportunities to better distribute demand across system
What is Planned?
The single-entry model proposed for Nova Scotia includes the following components:
- Central intake – a single point-of-entry through which referrals are received and service provision is arranged
- Centralized consult wait list
- An electronic referral tool / application to support timely, complete, decision-ready referral
Provider engagement
We recognize you may have questions or feedback regarding what this could mean for your practice and patients. We are committed to working with referring providers, surgeons, patient representatives and others to explore options, answer your questions and find the approaches that will work best for our patients and health care teams.
How can you get involved and stay informed?
- Provider surveys: Surveys were open to surgeons and referring providers in the summer of 2022. These were aimed at helping us understand how referrals are now submitted / managed and to seek provider perspectives related to this initiative. You can view a high level summary of results here. The compiled responses were shared with the project steering committee and working groups to support planning.
- Learn more or offer feedback:
- Check back on this page for ongoing updates
- SIGN-UP to receive Single-Entry Surgical Referral Project Updates
- Visit our Nova Scotia Referral Resource Hub - www.referralsNS.ca
- SUBSCRIBE to Perioperative Network Highlights for regular updates on the Surgical Access and Quality Improvement Strategy, Single Entry Access Model and other Perioperative Services initiatives and topics
- Share your questions / suggestions with zone leaders (i.e. Chiefs/Heads of Surgery or Family Practice, site leads or others).
- Message our Perioperative Services Network - Perioperative.Services@nshealth.ca
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