Jul 14 2020 27 mins
Show Notes
Our first full episode of "Fixing Faxes".
There is a backlog of surgeries due to COVID-19, how is Canada going to deal with those. How do referrals work in the first place and how will Clinnect help? Do we need faxes?
Fact Checks
In the opening Angela mentions being at home with her children for 73 days, that was incorrect it was actually 74 days according to her calendar.
Here is the CMAJ article that Angela refers to.
The "large" number Angela refers to is around 100,000 surgeries across Canada canceled or postponed due to COVID as of April 25, 2020.
To really hit home on the fact that our reliance on fax machines in Canadian healthcare is antiquated and not secure; here is an opinion piece published by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta that we could not stop saying "exactly" throughout. The physician, Dr. Sandy J. Murray (twitter: @Diver_Doc) also talks about the theatrics of Canadian healthcare and how we pride ourselves on innovation yet rely on a foundation of fax machines. We think Dr. Sandy J. Murray needs to take a look at Clinnect ;) and we agree: "Axe the fax. Let’s make this change together."
Resources on the issues of patient referrals:
https://policybase.cma.ca/documents/policypdf/PD15-01.pdf
https://www.aafp.org/news/practice-professional-issues/20180130ehrreferrals.html
There is a lot of information for physicians and care providers to sift through when managing referrals, at Clinnect we believe that physicians and care providers should do what they do best and we make it easy for them to follow best practices and policy by ingraining it into the product. Simple. Central. Secure.
Find Us Online
Angela Hapke - @angelahapke - https://www.clinnect.ca
Jonathan Bowers - @thejonotron - https://www.twostoryrobot.com
Credits
Produced and Hosted by Jonathan Bowers and Angela Hapke
Music by Andrew Codeman (CC BY 3.0)
Transcript
Angela: Can I say the f word on.
[00:00:02]Jonathan: You can, but then we have to beep it out or we get flagged as explicit in Apple.
[00:00:06] Angela: Yes. Can we go for the explicit in Apple flag?
[00:00:10] Jonathan: This is an explicit podcast, not for children. I think. I don't know how it works. I have to, I have to explore that a little bit. I've just, I'm just figuring out the recording and production piece. Uh,
[00:00:21] Angela: I love it.
[00:00:22]Introduction
[00:00:22]Jonathan: Hi, I'm Jonathan Bowers. I am a software entrepreneur from Kamloops, and I haven't slept much this week because Zach is experiencing a sleep regression.
[00:00:40]Angela: Hi. I'm Agela Hapke. I am the CEO of Clinnect a digital health startup in Kamloops, and I sent my children to daycare for the first time in 73 days.
[00:00:56] Jonathan: Oh my goodness.
[00:00:57]How do you feel about that?
[00:01:02] Angela: Um, Jonathan, I have never felt like deeply felt bitter sweet like this week.
[00:01:12] I have spent 73 days seeing them every single day,
[00:01:19]kissing their smushy little faces,
[00:01:22]watching them grow, and I have to now give them away for eight hours a day again.
[00:01:27]Jonathan: Wow.
[00:01:28]Angela: And on the other hand, mama gets to do, whatever mom wants to do for eight hours a day again.
[00:01:38] Jonathan: That's so exciting. I'm so jealous and so scared for you at the same time.
[00:01:42] Angela: That's, this is what I mean by bittersweet. I've never felt the deep visceralness of bittersweet in my life before.
[00:01:49]The Backlog of Surgeries
[00:01:49]Jonathan: well, this is a podcast about healthcare and healthcare technology. So let's, let's talk about, uh, what's going on in your world right now.
[00:02:02]Angela:
[00:02:02] so interesting things happening right now in the world of surgery. Um, the CMAJ, which is a Canadian Medical Association Journal, just published, um, a article around how they believe that the backlog of surgeries will be not solved. But part one, part of, of a large solution would be central intake for referrals.
[00:02:28] Jonathan: Oh, interesting.
[00:02:30]Angela: It's being echoed everywhere. And as myself and one of my colleagues talked about, he says, I don't think anybody understands how hard it is. And I was like, I would, uh, I would agree. Um, And it's, it's not the software around it, but it is the cohesiveness of groups to agree to a central intake. And especially especially in the case where there is the perception of surgeries being divvied up.
[00:03:01] Like let's just each take, uh, our equal pieces of the pie and do it that way. And the other person is maybe arguing in the fact that. Well, I can get done way more gallbladders than you can, so maybe I should just take more to them
[00:03:20] It's an interesting one because when we talk about a divvying up just strictly referrals, what you're divvying up there is, um, consultations and potentially procedures down the road. But when we're talking about divvying up procedures.
[00:03:35] There's a much higher price tag attached to those, right? Um, it's also short term thinking,
[00:03:41] Jonathan: In what way?
[00:03:42]Angela: So if you think about the way that connect is built is we're built, um, with the longterm in mind. We are building it so that groups can get to on the same platform, divvy up those referrals in a way that is equitable or purpose, purposefully inequitable. With the idea that you're going to get good data from this, you're going to get accurate go times with your wait times, right? You're going to, um, get a baseline of where you're at when you do equally, based on constraints if you want to equally, level load those referrals, and then maybe six months time, start to taking a look at wait times and going, Oh, well, you know, if we tweaked this here, tweaked this here, then we could do, uh, then we could maybe shorten wait times for everyone for category A or B.
[00:04:38] It's that longer term view that gets you sophisticated data, accurate wait times, um, reports and data to go to governing bodies or sit at tables with and go, Hey, this is, this...