BackSuccess of SCOPE Halton Healthcare sees expansion to include more doctors and services
March 20, 2024
Oakville, ON – To better serve our growing population, Connected Care Halton Ontario Health Team in partnership with Halton Healthcare is expanding its SCOPE (Seamless Care Optimizing the Patient Experience) program. SCOPE allows primary care providers to provide better care by quickly connecting their patients to the specialized care they need, including rapid access to diagnostic imaging, palliative care, paediatrics, cardiology and long-term care, thereby substantially reducing emergency department visits. The program has also alleviated the administrative burden on family physicians.
Since its launch in November 2021, SCOPE Halton Healthcare has registered over 220 family physicians and nurse practitioners and fields about 140 calls a month. By quickly connecting primary care providers with Halton Healthcare specialists and community partners, about 80 percent of calls – over 2,600 to date – have resulted in patients being able to avoid going to an emergency department for care.
Due to the success of the program, SCOPE Halton Healthcare has continued to expand to other specialties and was the first in the province to include paediatrics. In only six months, the program has also added cardiology, orthopaedics and a remote care management service, which allows a Nurse located in the hospital to use technology to virtually monitor patients with complex chronic conditions in the comfort of their homes. Early detection of serious changes in patient health means earlier management and avoidable admission to hospital. A fracture clinic service will be added this spring.
SCOPE Halton Healthcare is a partnership between Halton Healthcare, Connected Care Halton Ontario Health Team, and the Halton Physician Association, supporting family physicians and patients throughout Halton Hills, Milton and Oakville. More information about SCOPE Halton Healthcare is available on our website.
QUOTES
“SCOPE is one of the few healthcare programs that has met with overwhelmingly positive reviews from family physicians. The program is designed for family doctors by family doctors. It lets us treat a patient with heart failure, find a diagnosis for a patient with puzzling symptoms, get an emergency CT scan for a head injury, get a sick kid seen quickly by a paediatrician — there’s so much that can and has been done through the SCOPE Halton Healthcare program! With support from the hospital and home care, family doctors like me get to use our full expertise to care for patients in the community, keeping them healthy and out of hospital — which is exactly what our patients want.”
Dr. Nadia Alam,
Primary Care Lead, SCOPE Halton Healthcare
“Our goal is to continue expanding SCOPE to better serve our communities and alleviate some of the pressure healthcare services feel with rapid population growth. We are always welcoming family physicians and nurse practitioners from across Halton to join SCOPE, to make it easier for them to provide rapid access to quality care for their patients.”
Jody Strik
Director, Transitions, Integrated Care & Rehabilitation Clinics, Halton Healthcare