News: PathWays helps Capital Health reduce continuing care wait times by more than 400%

Edmonton, Alberta — Apr 20, 2005 – The average wait time for hospital patients waiting for a bed in a continuing care facility has decreased by more than 400 per cent in the past 12 months, Capital Health announced today.

Utilizing PathWays, an automated waitlist management system, Capital Health’s Community Care Services (CCS) can now more efficiently manage and transition clients from hospital or community settings to facility and supportive living environments. The electronic system, which offers real time reports to help clinical and administrative staff, standardizes the admission process across the region, ensuring beds are managed in an equitable and expedient manner resulting in reduced wait times.

“PathWays allows us to track client progress through the placement process, allowing us to offer a superior level of service to our clients,” said Caroline Clark, Capital Health senior operating officer for Community Care Services. “We can closely monitor specific intervals to identify slow-downs or impediments throughout the region.”

PathWays, in place since April, 2004, has decreased the average waiting time for continuing care beds from 34 days to just eight in Capital Health’s urban hospitals.

The program also allows all Community, Discharge or On-site Coordinators entering client information to use one client assessment tool, reducing paperwork while enhancing the security of patient information. Urgent and regular waitlists have now been consolidated, and those clients on transfer waitlists have also been integrated into the new process.

“Reassessments and updates now occur in real time as clients move from one stream to another, or from one care centre to another,” said Clark. “The implementation and immediate success of Pathways has exceeded our expectations and reinforces Capital Health’s position as a leader in Community Care Services.”