Spotlight

The Network has launched a newly re-designed Rehab Finder to help referrers quickly find the right rehab program for their patients. The online, searchable tool now offers a much improved search function, maps to see where services are located and a more user-friendly print function. Rehab Finder provides easy access to comprehensive information on rehab programs/services provided by members of the GTA Rehab Network and also aligns with the provincial definitions frameworks for bedded and...

The Network has released its new Inter-Organizational Transfer of Accountability (TOA) Guideline to support effective transitions and improve patient safety and continuity of care. The new guideline focuses on six principles: Ensure health service providers understand and have knowledge of legislation and policies that guide effective transitions Communicate patient and caregiver preferences and goals to the next level of care Establish one key contact at each transition point...

Data from hospitals in the MOHLTC hip and knee bundled care pilot indicate more than two-thirds of patients require multiple rehab services following total joint replacement. The findings suggest the current funding model does not reflect the costs of providing care to complex patients. Working with its members, the Network tracked patients in the bundled care pilot who received inpatient and outpatient rehab between October and December 2018 and were identified as complex. (In inpatient...

A Network initiative has proposed alternate pricing for hospital-based outpatient rehab for the MOHLTC hip and knee bundled care pilot. The Network used its outpatient rehabilitation model for total joint replacements (which provides an optimal level of care) and an average pricing for hospital-based outpatient physiotherapy in Toronto Central LHIN to estimate a cost per hip replacement and knee replacement. To validate the pricing, the Network used 2017/18 quarterly outpatient data from...

A Network analysis of more than 3100 referrals to hospital-based outpatient rehab provides a clearer picture of patients who are declined. The data also begin to address a long-standing data gap that has made system-wide capacity planning difficult. The Network worked with seven Toronto hospitals to track all outpatient rehab referrals received from October to December 2017. The referrals were then monitored until March 2018 to determine whether they were accepted or declined, the reason for...