Improving the quality of life of patients and families begins with a sense of support and a seamless experience between institutions. A number of projects have been developed within the scope of MUSCO to allow patients and their families to feel supported and to streamline and facilitate the corresponding administrative procedures. This involves providing tools and resources to improve logistics and families’ experiences throughout their care trajectory.

MUSCO Projects

Inter-establishment Navigators

Educational Technology

Relay

Patient Trajectory

AMS Pathway Review

Collaboration

Inter-establishment Navigators

Project leaders

Annie Castro Interim Nurse Manager, The Montreal Children's Hospital

Gwenaelle Trottet Assistant to the Director of Nursing, CHU Sainte-Justine

Kelly Thorstad Director of Nursing and Patient Services, Shriners Hospitals for Children — Canada

Valérie Vermette Director of Multidisciplinary Affairs, Mental Health and Rehabilitation, CHU Sainte-Justine

The project

Recruit inter-establishment navigators to facilitate the trajectory of patients and their families

MUSCO Strategic Goal

Guide the patients and their families toward the appropriate care and services.

Project Objectives

1

Facilitate patient continuum of care between institutions by bypassing obstacles
2

Improve the efficiency of the support and care offered to patients
3

Establish inter-institutional referral mechanisms
4

Avoid duplication and ensure more cost-effective outcomes
5

Enable better pre- and post-operative follow-ups
6

Enhance the quality of life and the satisfaction of patients and their families
7

Strengthen innovation in practice

Progress Report

Stephanie Gould, MUSCO Inter-establishment Navigator

Camille Brosseau, acting MUSCO Inter-establishment Navigator (

The Inter-establishment Navigator position was officially created in May 2019. The scope of the position has since come into focus and can currently be broken down into three components:

CLINICAL ROLE – Interventions with professionals to facilitate family care
INTER-ESTABLISHMENT PROCESS IMPROVEMENT ROLE – Implement operational processes and mechanisms to provide lasting solutions to the most frequently encountered clinical issues, facilitate emerging clinical collaboration at the request of healthcare professionals, support for the improvement of processes and administrative procedures and for the Patient Trajectory project
FAMILY ENGAGEMENT ROLE – Collect information on an ongoing basis from patients and families about their experiences, needs and challenges in order to identify priorities for action, facilitate the Advisory Pole and recruit Patient Experts and Patient Resources

Several efforts are underway to introduce and promote the role of the Navigator within the partner institutions and a greater number of interventions concerning component 1 has been observed. Considering the increased workload, a second Navigator position has been confirmed in September 2021.

Across their entire role, the IENs work with 99 different job titles, with 23 different professional titles, through 30 different services within the four partner establishments, but also in the wider healthcare network.

The added value of the IEN position is increasingly being emphasized by the teams on the ground in the institutions. It was highlighted during Accreditation Canada’s visit to Shriners Hospitals for Children – Canada and Marie Enfant Rehabilitation Centre.

The role of the IEN has evolved since its creation and will continue to be refined and tweaked over the next year in order to optimize the support provided to healthcare professionals who interact with families. Work is underway to develop impact indicators and a timeline with a view to making the IEN role permanent.