IH Spreading Quality Improvement (SQI)

• Support successful physician led QI projects to be "ready" to spread
• Provide coaching to original project sites and to spread Sites
• QI education, training, and resources to support spread of endorsed projects
• Data support – data collection methodology and analysis and visuals to tell the data story
• Physician funding support for both original and spread sites
• Project coordination and facilitation across operational leadership

• Patient-centered care: Every improvement is focused on enhancing patient outcomes, safety, and experiences
• Evidence-based: QI projects are informed by data and research, ensuring that changes are supported by solid evidence
• Continuous learning: SQI fosters a culture of learning, where feedback is embraced, and improvements are ongoing
• Teamwork: Engaging all collaborators – including health-care professionals, patients, and community members – in the improvement process

• QI coaching and mentoring
• Medical and operational local leadership connections
• Project coordination and support
• Marketing and communication tools
• QI education specific to spread
• Navigation of the health authority leadership structure

• Project led by a physician and team who are willing to provide mentorship, share expertise and support new sites
• Project aligns with Interior Health strategic priorities
• Project has a measurement strategy that has shown success for a minimum of six months
• Interest from other sites to learn and integrate the improvement 
• Documentation of change ideas
• Completion of Level 1 or 2 QI training by the physician lead(s) is preferred

Quality improvement projects with measurable sustained change are eligible for SQI consideration. If you have or know of a physician led project that has generated interest and has potential to spread to other areas, please contact us: SQI@interiorhealth.ca.

• Overview: Tarmac Triage is a hospital closure procedure that safely addresses patient transport decisions to an alternate hospital during planned ED closures and during unplanned service disruptions. Specifically, the Protocol addresses the two hours prior to a closure. 
• Project Details: The central practice change for the Tarmac Triage Project involves an ‘in the ambulance assessment’ by the ED physician. This project requires a collaborative relationship between our Health Authority and BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS), targeting education and support for frontline Paramedic Teams and Emergency Department (ED) Staff. There are six spread sites involved in the project. Data dashboard has been established.

• Overview: To elevate practice by delivering skin-to-skin within five minutes of operative delivery and throughout the Golden Hour. The Golden Hour is defined as the first hour following delivery. Continuous skin-to-skin contact between newborns and birthing families during the Golden Hour has been proven to promote newborn thermoregulation, decrease oxidative stress, promote vital sign stabilization in newborns and birthing mothers, and increase breastfeeding success.
• Project Details: Project sites include Penticton Regional Hospital (Penticton), Shuswap Lake General Hospital (Salmon Arm), Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital (Trail) and Kelowna General Hospital (Kelowna). Data dashboard has been established.

• Overview: Joy in Work for health-care workers improves camaraderie, increases team engagement, and may reduce moral injury all of which may contribute to a reduction of sick time and overtime and positively impacts patient care. The resource materials of this project have gained provincial, national and international recognition.
• Dyad team: Dr. Marianne Morgan and Jessica Barker .   

Toolkit: Finding Joy in Work through Spreading Quality Improvement (SQI)

• Overview: Mental Health and Substance Use (MHSU) Transformation and the Emergency Services Network (ESN) identified Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) in the emergency department (ED) as a priority area to improve health outcomes for people living in the region aligning with Interior Health’s vision of health and wellbeing for all. This work followed the Suboxone® in Emergency Departments project which was implemented across all IH EDs between 2021 and 2022 and followed work on standardizing AUD care at two pilot ED sites in Princeton and Oliver BC, led by the late Dr. Jeff Harries and the Canadian Alcohol Use Disorder Society (CAUDS). The project team co led by MHSU Transformation and ESN consulted internal and external partners and AUD experts to adapt the pilot standardized patient care pathway for scale and spread. The planning for this pathway began in August 2022 and implementation was rolled out in phases across the region from July 2023 – July 2024.
• The project has been taken on by Health Quality BC who have run multiple 4 month actions series ‘APPLAUD” (Approaches and Pharmacotherapies for Patients Living with Alcohol Use Disorder) which provide an AUD clinical care pathway for primary care teams
• Learn More: https://healthqualitybc.ca/improve-care/substance-use/approaches-and-pharmacotherapies-for-patients-living-with-alcohol-use-disorder-applaud/