Cardiac Health
What is the project doing?
The Cardiac Health project will create and implement consistent clinical criteria for two types of cardiothoracic surgery (Coronary Artery Bypass Graft and Valve Replacement) to ensure fair and equitable access for patients.
The criteria will proactively identify patients at risk before their symptoms become acute and will include outcome measures from the Australasian Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons (ASCATS). The measures will cover the lead up to surgery and 6 weeks post-surgery. This will enable measurements to be benchmarked across NZ and Australian Cardiac Services.
There are five DHBs that provide Cardiothoracic Surgery facilities (Auckland, Waikato, Capital and Coast, Canterbury and Otago). This project is being piloted at Auckland DHB. Once the learnings from the pilot are available, a phased national rollout is planned.
To support the project, a Cardiac Network, including cardiac interventionalists and cardiac surgeons, has been established and has agreed to a formal process of working more closely together and forming clinical guidelines for the treatment of cardiac patients. The Network has agreed on an approach that will cover the continuum of care using a care plan concept which will include monitoring of outcomes.
Why is it being done?
The driver for this project is to more effectively and appropriately treat heart conditions at the most clinically appropriate time in order to provide better outcomes for patients. It is also to ensure equitable and fair access to surgery anywhere in NZ by establishing consistent clinical criteria to enable the right treatment to the right people at the right time.
To enable cardiac health professionals to work in a more collaborative way, it has been identified that information on treatment and outcomes for cardiac patients needs to be collected consistently and according to a set of data standards.
What change will be noticed?
The Cardiac Health project will provide a framework for more consistent and timely care to patients through all professionals in cardiac services working together to a patient’s treatment plan.
Long-term, the project will enable the cardiac services in this country to be benchmarked, and because we are using outcome measures from the Australasian Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons, we will also be able to measure our performance against Australian cardiac services.
Project Phase
Scoping and Design
Milestone Dates
· Prioritisation Solution RFP (Jan – Mar 2011)
· New Solution / Partner selected (Jul – Sep 2011)
· Pilot at Auckland DHB (Sep – Dec 2011)
· National rollout (Sep – Dec 2012)
Governance
Cardiac Health Network
Who is Involved
Arjan Schenk, Auckland DHB
Dr Andrew Hamer, Nelson DHB
Contact Us:
If you have any feedback or questions please email the project team on enquiries@ithealthboard.health.nz with the name of the project and your comments. We will respond to you within 5 working days.
References
