Delivering on a PROMIS

“We can organize better to do things more effectively. The future is bright, and this is the future.” That was the statement Dr. David Puskas made about a new tool to enhance patient wait list management.

Puskas is an orthopaedic surgeon at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, and was speaking to other physicians and health care leaders at an information session on May 1. He, along with Caroline Fanti, Director of the Hospital’s Regional Orthopaedics Program, were celebrating the launch of PROMIS, a digital health system.

Why the buzz? PROMIS comes with many benefits. “It ultimately enhances access to care,” explained Fanti.

PROMIS was developed by the Regional Orthopaedics Program to centralize referrals and bookings for our regional, multi-site program. It supports operating room scheduling and wait time management for surgeons, tracks wait time and other performance metrics, and helps standardize pre-operative processes.

“Leveraging the PROMIS platforms for electronic central intake for consultation and surgical waiting lists results in more efficient planning to meet the needs and priorities of our patients, families, community and region,” said Fanti. “The technology enables us to offer patients the first available surgeon and first available surgical site – delivering on our PROMISE to provide timely access to care and care close to home.”

Right now, PROMIS is used to manage orthopaedic surgeries for Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, as well as four regional sites: Dryden Regional Health Care, Riverside Health Care in Fort Frances, and Lake of the Woods District Hospital in Kenora.

“We are the first in Canada to extensively implement this wait time oversight system, and the opportunities to expand to other specialities are unlimited,” Puskas said. Twelve LHINs will implement PROMIS according to their own timelines.