Screening and prevention: Real-world examples

As part of our Screening and Prevention Program (SaPP), our Health Information Coordinators (HICs) use EMR data along with provincial guidelines to identify screening goals that would benefit the largest number of patients in panels.

The opportunities for potential quality improvement (QI) projects within this program are vast. To showcase how the process works and supports a panel’s health, we’re sharing two recent QI project examples.

Bone mineral density project:

The goal of this clinic-wide project was to identify eligible patients in the physicians panel who were overdue for a bone mineral density (BMD) scan.

To do this:

1. The HIC determined the criteria for a BMD scan as outlined in provincial guidelines.
2. Based on these criteria, the HIC pulled a list from the physician’s EMR of female patients aged 65-plus who did not have a BMD scan on file.
3. The Patient Care Coordinator (PCC) contacted patients to book appointments with their physician to receive a requisition for a BMD scan.
4. To ensure no one is missed, the HIC will continue to pull a list of eligible patients on an annual basis.

All physicians at this clinic participated in the project together.

Pneumococcal vaccination project:

With this project, the physician wanted to increase pneumococcal vaccination rates in their panel. To do this:

1. The HIC determined who was best suited for the project based on panel data and provincial guidelines.
2. The HIC pulled a list of patients aged 65-plus who had not had a pneumococcal vaccination.
3. The PCC contacted patients to book an appointment with their physician to receive the vaccine.
4. This project increased the screening rates for patients in the physician’s panel by 20 per cent.

You can learn more about our programs and services overview web page.