Transcript Province offers more cash for speedy ER service

Article by John Bermingham
The Province March 3, 2009
By Nerkeza Andjelic
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BC government started a pilot project in 2007
The Vancouver Coastal Health Authority first
piloted the project and four hospitals have been
part of a project
Recently the program is being expanded to four
hospitals in the Fraser Health Authority
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To each emergency room is given the baseline
tome target for different categories of patient
When targets is met the hospital gets cash bonus
that vary from $100 to $600 per patient
The pay for performance model put in $20-million
into emergency departments to move patients
within targeted amount of time
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The money is reinvested back to health care and
given to hospitals
It can be used to buy new equipment or further
improve the facilities and acute care
The unique projects can be funded and help to
meet target
The decision how the money is spent is up to
emergency room doctors to make
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25% drop in wait times
Patients admitted within 10 hour target:
◦ 100% improvement is seen at Richmond Hospital
◦ 54% improvement is seen at Lions Gate Hospital
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30,000 more patients were seen within the target
time for discharge from ER or admission to the
ward (Dr. Bill Mackie, president of the B.C. Medical
Association)
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The level of care would drop because of pressure
to move patients out of ERs
NDP health critic Adrian Dix named the model
“speedy care”
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The ability to improve patient care is the main
motivation for medical staff.
The staff and medical professionals will feel more
empowered and needed changes will lead to more
creativity and innovations.
Providing good quality timely care can lead to
competitive advantage and create superior value
for ER patients as well as profit for medical staff.