A New, Better Way to Communicate

Welcome to our first issue of Renal News – the BC Provincial Renal Agency’s (BCPRA's) new electronic newsletter. This new publication replaces our two former publications, Renal News and Nephrology Bulletin.

With Renal News we intend to deliver more timely information on topics of interest to members of our provincial renal network. The new publication will also offer more photos than our previous publications and provide a wider range of background information related to its stories through links to web pages and PDF documents.

Renal News will be produced every two months and distributed by email. We encourage renal managers to share the publication with their front-line staff by forwarding the email version or by printing and posting Renal News on staff bulletin boards.

The next issue of Renal News will appear in February.

Keeping Track of Our Success

Every golfer is familiar with using a scorecard to keep track of results.

And for much the same reason, the BC Provincial Renal Agency now uses a "balanced scorecard" for evaluating the effectiveness of renal care delivered by the renal network to patients province-wide. In fact, all Provincial Health Services Authority agencies now use balanced scorecards for similar purposes.

The BCPRA’s balanced scorecard is organized around three broad categories:

Each of these categories includes a number of measurable and clearly defined priority strategies. For each of these strategies, the agency’s progress is tracked in relation to a target measure. As a result, the agency can see how well the renal network is performing from year to year in the areas we all consider most important.

For example, as one measure of effectiveness in the client category, the agency tracks the one-year survival rate for patients on dialysis. The minimum target is set at 80 percent, while the current survival rate is 85 percent. In the service coordination and delivery category, the agency tracks the occupancy rate for dialysis units to ensure it has the capacity to meet the growing demand for dialysis. The target occupancy level is 80 percent, while the actual occupancy rate is 79 percent.

These are just two of the 11 measures currently tracked on the agency's scorecard. And for the record, the renal community is doing pretty well.

New DVD for Patients Highlights all Aspects of Care

The latest BCPRA informational DVD for patients, with sections on the full continuum of kidney care, is now available.

The new DVD, called Patient to Patient, provides information about all aspects of kidney care, including pre-dialysis and kidney care clinics, dialysis care (facility-based hemodialysis, independent hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis), transplant and conservative care.

The DVD features extensive interviews with a variety of kidney care patients and uses animated graphics to explain the function of normal kidneys and the impact of kidney disease. The DVD features multiple language versions on the one disk, including English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Punjabi and Tagalog.

Copies of the DVD will be sent to renal units for distribution directly to patients. To receive a copy of the DVD, contact us at bcpra@bcpra.ca

New Contract for Pharmacy Partners

The BCPRA is in the process of awarding new, three-year contracts to 31 community partner pharmacies in the province. The contracts will take effect January 1, 2008.

In many cases the agency has renewed its contracts with current partners,  but new pharmacy partners have been contracted in the following communities:

  • Creston
  • Langley
  • North Vancouver
  • Richmond
  • Terrace
  • Victoria
  • Williams Lake 

As well, additional pharmacies have been given contracts in Vancouver and Surrey.

Click here for a list of our current community pharmacy partners.  

All patients will receive a letter informing them if these changes affect their current pharmacy. Patients will also be advised that, in addition to dispensing their medication, their pharmacy is required to provide:

The BCPRA information sheets are also available online.

All community pharmacy partners will receive a letter advising them that under the new contract it is their responsibility to deliver medications to patients. Pharmacies may not "drop ship" medications to renal units for patient pick-up as they have done in the past. As part of the new contract, pharmacies are also responsible for medication reconciliation.

Although BCPRA will only fund renal medications supplied by our partnered pharmacies, patients can choose to buy their medications from other pharmacies if they wish.

MacDonald's Prescriptions in Vancouver will continue to provide all patients with erythropoetic replacement hormones and intravenous iron preparations. This arrangement is necessary due to storage and shipping requirements.

In the next six months all patients and renal care teams will receive a survey form by mail with questions about the services provided by our community pharmacies. When you receive the survey, please take a few minutes to provide us with your feedback.

 

BC Nephrology Days a Success

Approximately 450 members of the BC renal community, along with renal professionals from elsewhere in Canada and the U.S., converged on the Renaissance Marriott Harbourside Hotel in Vancouver for BC Nephrology Days 2007.

This annual event brings together renal care and other health professionals, including general practitioners, to discuss and debate the latest research, emerging trends, new breakthroughs in clinical treatment and more.

At this year’s event, marking the tenth year of the BCPRA, executive director Dr. Adeera Levin provided a look back on the achievements of the renal network since the agency's formation in 1997. Successes of the renal community during this first decade were also celebrated in a video shown at the event.

This year's event, which drew more than $100,000 in sponsorship and more GPs than in previous years, also featured a greatly expanded program. Feedback on the conference program, which included more content streams and speakers than ever before, was positive.

Planning is already underway for Nephrology Days 2008. Among other things, efforts will be made to attract more GPs to the 2008 event and to increase the number of presentations relevant to their professional interests.

Click here to download presentations made at BC Nephrology Days 2007.

PROMIS Helps Support Integrated Care in IHA

The BC Provincial Renal Agency’s groundbreaking PROMIS database system has been recognized as a key element of a major initiative for Interior Health’s new Integrated Health Centre in Penticton.

The multidisciplinary health care team at the centre required a robust new information system to support delivery of integrated chronic disease management for patients in the South Okanagan with one or more of the cardiovascular cluster of chronic diseases.

The new system was required to: 

The project team assembled to develop the new system included information technology staff from IHA and the BCPRA, as well as clinical staff from the centre. The project team worked closely to merge the needed functionality from both PROMIS and IHA’s electronic health records system into a new integrated care support system. The result is a software platform that can be used to support the expansion of the integrated care model for chronic disease management throughout the province.

The project team responsible for the success of this initiative was recently singled out for recognition in the team category at the 2007 Public Information Technology Awards in Victoria.  

Gaining Advantage from Provincial Contracts

As every shopper knows, it's usually cheaper when you buy in bulk.

Applying the same logic, BCPRA and the renal community use the services of Medbuy to negotiate its contracts for medical supplies. Medbuy is a national organization that is able to leverage significant concessions from suppliers through group purchasing on behalf of its members. For the renal community, this translates into millions of dollars every year that can be used to improve renal care in the province.

For community and home hemodialysis equipment and supplies, our contracted supplier is Fresenius, while peritoneal dialysis equipment and supplies are provided under contract by Baxter.

Under their current provincial contracts, these suppliers together provide the renal network with value-added benefits amounting to $4.7 million a year. This money is held in a trust fund, with most of it allocated to the health authorities to support enhancements to their renal programs. The balance is directed every year to initiatives that help improve care for kidney patients across the province. For example, trust fund money was used to support two pilot projects that assessed the suitability of new renal patients for PD. Trust fund dollars are also used to support staff and patient education and have funded many other important initiatives.   

In addition to these value-add benefits, our membership in Medbuy also provides us with i-Sight, a software system for managing service and product issues related to our contracts with Baxter and Fresenius. The system effectively links our renal programs, their suppliers, and MedBuy. As a result, all contract-related problems and resolutions are handled more efficiently and are transparent to all parties involved.

Profiles in Kidney Care

Dialysis patients who live in BC’s Northern Health region are benefiting from two programs aimed at maximizing independence: one supports patients to dialyze at home regardless of where they live, and the other, for people who live in or near Prince George, supports patient involvement in dialysis unit-based treatment.

See the BC Renal Agency Website for the full story.