Webinar

The Ontario Joint Task Force on Medication Management in LTC Report is Out - Join us for a discussion on how it may impact you!

Webinar for Ontario Long-Term Care Homes

Wednesday, March 24, 2010 at 12 noon EST

Webinar Material:

  Joint Task Force on Medication Management in Long-Term Care .pdf

In November 2009 the Joint Task Force on Medication Management in Long-Term Care submitted its final report with recommendations intended to address and mitigate systemic barriers faced by Long-Term Care (LTC) homes in creating safer medication management systems. The Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (the Ministry) has released this report to the sector (www.ltchomes.net) and is in the process of analyzing options and responses with other program areas in the Ministry and with partner organizations.

This one-hour webinar presentation will outline briefly the activities of the Task Force, the resultant recommendations and the context in which the Ministry is considering next steps. Suggestions for areas that homes could consider for improvement and resources will also be included.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this session, participants will be aware of:

• the task force recommendations;
• the areas of focus over the next year by the Ministry through its QI partners;
• ideas that homes could work on to improve their medications systems; and
• resources available to assist with change activities.

Related Links:

• Ontario Ministry LTC Task Force Report (Login ID and Password required)
• Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care

Contact Us: webinars@ismp-canada.org

Speaker(s)

Emily O'Sullivan PIC Branch, MOHLTC Emily joined our branch in November 2008 as a Manager of Implementation in the PIC Branch. She is responsible for the implementation of a portfolio of tactical improvement opportunities across the Health System in Ontario. Emily participates in cross divisional activities related to performance improvement, policy and program development and implementation planning, in alignment with ministry strategy. As a Registered Nurse, a PMP certified project manager through PMI, an Information Technology graduate, and an MBA graduate, Emily continues to be licensed as a Registered Nurse. She has extensive experience in on the healthcare vendor side where she provided consulting expertise with regards to clinical transformation focusing on CPOE, and bar-coding medication administration for both nursing and pharmacy.

Kris Wichman Task Force Co-Chair, ISMP Canada Kris joined ISMP Canada in September 2004 as the Project Leader for the Medication Safety Support Service initiatives in Long Term Care, Emergency Medical Services (Land Ambulances), and Community Pharmacy. Kris has many years of experience in a variety of roles both administrative and clinical in acute care and long term care hospitals. As well she has work experience as a senior executive for a pharmacy professional organization; her position just prior to joining ISMP Canada was as Vice President Professional Affairs with the Ontario Pharmacists. Association. In addition she has held executive positions as volunteer with the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists. Kris has been active in teaching undergraduate and postgraduate pharmacy students. Kris has provided consulting services to complete pharmacy department operational reviews in a number of Ontario hospitals.

Marsha Nicholson Director Resident Care, City of Toronto, Long-Term Care Homes and Services

Background

On November 4th, 2009 the Joint Task Force on Medication Management in Long-Term Care submitted its final report with recommendations intended to address and mitigate systemic barriers faced by Long-Term Care (LTC) homes in creating optimal medication management systems. The Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (the Ontario Ministry) has released this report to the sector (ltchomes.net) and is in the process of analyzing options and responses not only with other program areas around the Ontario Ministry, but also with partner organizations and the LTC Associations. The creation of an action plan is in process to address many of the Joint Task Force's concerns.

The Ontario Ministry has a provincial quality agenda that focuses on system change. As part of the stewardship mandate, the Ontario Ministry's Health System Strategic Plan articulates three goals, one of which is the achievement of a healthier system that is to be realized and sustained through improvements in quality and productivity.

The Ontario Ministry directly delivers, or partners with quality improvement (QI) organizations and other stakeholders to deliver a variety of programs that aim to build QI capacity while supporting key government priorities. The Ontario Ministry funds four QI organizations, each having a different area of expertise and focus (Ontario Health Quality Council (OHQC), Quality Improvement and Innovation Partnership (QIIP), Centre for Healthcare Quality Improvement (CHQI), and Quality Management Program . Laboratory Services (QMP-LS)). Further, the Ontario Ministry also has partnered with other QI organizations on a project basis to support government priorities, e.g. Quality Health Network (QHN), Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada (ISMP Canada), University Health Network (UHN), North York General Hospital, etc.

"Residents First: Advancing Quality in Long-Term Care" is a recent initiative that has been launched to help enable shared learning relating to quality improvement, to facilitate the spread of best practices, and to accelerate the application of these best practices across the long-term care sector. This initiative will last for five years and was launched in January 2010. As part of this quality agenda for the province of Ontario, Medication Safety has been identified as one component of a greater approach to systemic quality improvement. In addressing Medication Safety in LTC, the Ontario Ministry is working in close collaboration with our quality improvement partners to better support long-term care homes in the province with regards to safer medication practices.

The Joint Task Force on Medication Management Report including the appendices offers many ideas for Best Practices within a quality improvement environment. The Ontario Ministry, the sector and the Associations each have a role and responsibility with regards to the Task Force's recommendations on medication safety in Long Term Care.

Contact Information