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Quality Improvement

ARTIC Projects

Read about current and past ARTIC projects bringing evidence-based ideas into practice across Ontario’s health system.


Choosing Wisely: An Idea Worth Spreading

A project to reduce unnecessary medical tests and treatments

Choosing Wisely logo

Rapid Access Clinics for Musculoskeletal Care

This is your source for evidence-based tools and resources to support the implementation of Rapid Access Clinics for musculoskeletal care across the province.

A nurse assists an older patient using a walker

Patient Oriented Discharge Summary (PODS): New Tool Offers Better Post-Hospital Care

PODS increases patients’ confidence to care for themselves once home

Female physiotherapist assisting two male patients


Primary Care Memory Clinics

A program helping primary care providers in rural, remote and underserved Ontario communities to better care for those living with memory disorders

Senior couple talk with health professional

The DA VINCI Project: Depression and Alcoholism – Validation of an Integrated Care Initiative

For people suffering from major depressive order and alcoholism

Man contemplating

Read more about past ARTIC programs that have brought the best evidence-based ideas into practice across Ontario’s health system.

 

Antimicrobial Stewardship Project in Intensive Care Units

In recent years, there has been increasing prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant organisms and C. difficile, accompanied by reduced development of new classes of effective antimicrobial agents and increasing costs. The Antimicrobial Stewardship Project team has experience in a variety of intensive care units showing an antimicrobial stewardship program can safely reduce the overall use of antimicrobials (qualitatively and quantitatively), while also reducing antimicrobial expenditures and antimicrobial resistance.

Members of the team have published a systematic review on antimicrobial stewardship interventions in the intensive care unit. This review demonstrated such interventions are associated with improved antimicrobial utilization, corresponding reductions in antimicrobial resistance and adverse events, and do not compromise short-term clinical outcomes.

Additional information can be found in the Antimicrobial Stewardship Project in Intensive Care Units Information Package or the Council of Academic Hospitals of Ontario’s website.

 

Canadian C-Spine Rule

The Canadian C-Spine Rule is a clinical decision rule that allows physicians to assess and clear the cervical spine injury without an x-ray. This helps to decrease patients’ immobilization times, which can cause patient discomfort and stress emergency department resources. This Rule has been widely adopted by emergency department physicians and has recently completed testing for accuracy, reliability and safety amongst triage nurses.

The Canadian C-Spine Rule was successfully implemented across eight Ontario hospitals. It demonstrated a 26 percent reduction in emergency department wait times for applicable adult trauma patients, and it increased efficiencies by maximizing the use of education resources and ensuring collaboration between nursing and physicians.

For additional details about the Canadian C-Spine Rule, visit the Council of Academic Hospitals of Ontario.

 

HandyAudit™

The HandyAudit™ is an innovative hand hygiene auditing system for recording and analysing hand washing behaviours. Developed by researchers at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, it eliminates the need for auditors to assess whether hand hygiene compliance has occurred, removes the need for manual transcription of compliance results, and simplifies report generation. This project was expected to reduce costs and increase the reliability of mandatory hand hygiene auditing.

As of December 2011, the HandyAudit ARTIC Project is complete, and 15 of the 16 participating Ontario hospitals renewed their contracts with HandyMetrics, a newly incorporated Ontario based company who holds the licence to market and distribute HandyAudit.

For additional details about the Canadian C-Spine Rule, visit the Council of Academic Hospitals of Ontario.

 

Implementing an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Guideline to Optimize Outcomes following Colorectal Surgery

Implementing an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Guideline to Optimize Outcomes following Colorectal Surgery project used an innovative strategy that helped coordinate care amongst surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses, physiotherapists and dieticians to ensure smooth patient transitions through the multiple points of care. The program has been shown to decrease postoperative complications, decrease in the average length of hospital stay and may decrease pain and fatigue. The program has been implemented across 15 Ontario hospitals.

For additional details about the Implementing an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Guideline to Optimize Outcomes following Colorectal Surgery project, visit the Council of Academic Hospitals of Ontario.

 

Implementing the Transitional Discharge Model

The goal of the Implementing the Transitional Discharge Model is to help bridge the transition for people with mental illnesses from hospital discharge into the community. Specifically, the program reduces the length of stay and readmission rates and improves the quality of patient care. The project created partnerships and collaborations amongst nine hospitals across Ontario and demonstrated a reduced length of hospital stay and readmission rates.

For additional details about the Implementing the Transitional Discharge Model, visit the Council of Academic Hospitals of Ontario.

 

Mobilization of Vulnerable Elders in Ontario (MOVE ON)

The MOVE ON project aims to improve in-hospital mobilization of elderly patients through implementation of an education intervention. Developed jointly by Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and St. Michael’s Hospital, the project challenges the notion that “rest is best,” utilizes existing resources, and fosters inter-professional collaboration. Between 2010 and 2013, MOVE ON was successfully implemented across 14 participating Ontario hospitals.

For additional details about MOVE ON, visit the Council of Academic Hospitals of Ontario.

For more information about ARTIC, please email us at ARTIC@hqontario.ca.

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