The Quebec government is preparing for a new IT project: the “CRDS 2.0”. He wants to modernize the Service Request Dispatch Center (CRDS), a platform allowing family physicians to obtain a consultation with a medical specialist for their patients. Quebec recently awarded two private contracts to consultants and intends to enter into another, noted The duty in the electronic tendering system.
The Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) has mandated certain health establishments to enter into agreements with consultants as part of the “CRDS 2.0” project. In January, the CIUSSS du Centre-Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal awarded a contract for “project management and appointment system implementation” to VoilàCTIC. He also entered into an agreement on February 13 with CIM Conseil en immobilisation et management, to provide him with consulting expertise “in project management and information system implementation”. The value of the contracts (respectively for a one-year and two-year term with option to renew) amounts to nearly $700,000.
The CIUSSS du Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean intends to use Entreprises Nbr to optimize the CRDS. The mandate is broad. If the firm obtains the contract (the posting of the notice of intent ends on March 16), it will have to “identify the issues associated with the administrative and clinical processes of access to specialized services, reporting and to the relevance of requests for services “, in collaboration with the managers of the CRDS of the province, the medical federations and the ministerial officials, can we read.
Among other things, he will have to propose solutions and “adapt the CRDS optimization plan in order to allow a transition to the digital health file”, another major IT project of the MSSS.
The CIUSSS du Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean specifies in its opinion that the consultant retained will have to “collaborate in the implementation of rapid solutions having a strong impact for access to specialized services. In Quebec, hundreds of thousands of patients are waiting for a consultation with a medical specialist.
Hundreds of thousands of patients waiting
The MSSS, the Federation of Medical Specialists of Quebec (FMSQ) and the Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec (FMOQ) are working together to implement “CRDS 2.0”. “We have monthly meetings with the ministry, just on the CRDS”, says the Dr Rafik Ghali, director of professional affairs at the FMSQ.
The union of medical specialists hopes that a pilot project, aimed at testing the new CRDS in a region, will be launched within six months to a year. But “perhaps” that the failures of the SAAQclic platform of the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec have “cooled down the ardor” of the MSSS, notes the Dr Ghali. “What we want is for it to work,” he said. If it has to take a little longer, we’ll all agree that if at the end of the line it works, we’ll be happier than a project that came out too quickly. »
The medical federations are proposing many changes to the CRDS. They want the new platform to allow family doctors and medical specialists to “talk” to each other. Currently, the CRDS does not have a mailbox. The reports of the specialists, once the consultation has been carried out, are not there.
“We have no idea where the request is made and what is the expected timeframe for the patient to be seen,” says Dr. Sylvain Dion, first vice-president at the FMOQ. That must be part of CRDS 2.0. That we are able to have continuous information on the progress of the request, that we can be able to say something to our patient who comes back to see us. »
The FMOQ and the FMSQ believe that an algorithm could help family physicians determine whether a request for an appointment in a specialty is required. “The algorithm could advise us to make a request for digital advice, cites the example of Dr Sylvain Dion, first vice-president at the FMOQ. A patient visit to a specialist would be avoided. »
The FMSQ would like this digital advice tool, already offered in practically all specialties, to be used more by family physicians. In December, some 3,000 digital advices were offered, in particular in gynecology, hematology-oncology, internal medicine and orthopedics, indicates the FMSQ.
In order to reduce delays, operations to purge the waiting lists are also underway to determine who still needs specialized services and care. Text messages are sent to patients to let them know if a consultation is still needed.
“We know that there are 15% of patients who [sont] duplicates, which we are able to eliminate because they have already been seen, specifies the Dr Ghali. There is another 15% where the patient no longer really needs a consultation. »
Thanks to these purification operations, the medical specialists hope to avoid the absence of patients at appointments. “It’s not fair that a medical specialist does not see the patient, it’s that a patient who could have been seen is not seen, says the Dr Ghali. This is above all the tragedy of missed appointments. »