Health Links as an Approach to System Integration - Case Study Example

Health Links Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Instructor’s Name Date Health Links Introduction Health Links can be defined as the self-organizing and voluntary system which represents a new approach to working hand in hand with the delivery and planning of health care (Evans, 2014). Health Links will seek to empower the health care of a particular community in its entirety towards the development of communicated, coordinated, and definite plans which will strive to allow the patients to obtain improved care in appropriate settings. The fundamental goal of the development of Health Links is to integrate and organize health care to enhance both the health outcomes and people’s experience (Evans, 2014). Health Links has been regarded as a practical approach to enhanced integration and transformational change of the health care system in Ontario. The paper will seek to evaluate the Health Links as an approach to health care system to integration as well as the key roadblocks which need to be addressed in the process of this integration. Health Links as an Approach to System Integration The Health Links initiative encourages better integration and collaboration between the local health care providers which includes home care, long-term care, family care providers, specialists, hospitals, and the other community supports (Tawfik-Shukor et al., 2007). Since Health Links provide this coordination, then the patients will receive faster health care services, while at the same time spending a lot less time waiting for the services to be offered to them (Tawfik-Shukor et al., 2007). Additionally, the Health Links seek to ensure that the family care providers are at the core of the health care system (Tawfik-Shukor et al., 2007). The Health Links will assist the family doctors to be able to connect with their patients quicker through bringing the local health care providers together for them to work as a team. This is what makes the Health Links approach an effective integration system. The Health Links will possess a coordinating partner like the Community Health Centre, Family Health Team, hospital, or the Community Care Access (Evans, 2014). The other members of the Health Links need to have the ability and will to collaborate so that they can coordinate the health care services quicker especially for the high-need patients (Evans, 2014).. Thus, so that a Health Link can be established, there is the need for a strong representation from the Community Care Access Center and the local health care providers which are a representation of integration (Evans, 2014).. The primary aim of Health Links is to integrate health care to the Ontarian citizens. Health Links is regarded as one of the innovative initiatives which the Long-Term Care and the Ministry of Health of Ontario launched to express the purpose of improving the health care of Ontarian citizens who possess some of the most complicated health needs (Mercer, 2001). The need for integration is undisputable because there are many disconnects and fragmentation in the healthcare system in Ontario. This initiative seeks to transform the health care system through enhancing the access to quality and integrated services to the complex patient population of Ontario’s citizens (Mercer, 2001). Thus, the Health Links have resulted in tangible gains in the improvement, integration, and the transitions between the health care services among the Ontarian citizens. The initiative of the Health Links is based on voluntary participation. Although each of the Health Links is required to develop measures and baseline data that will enable the assessment of the initiatives, their primary emphasis is based on the innovation and sharing information which will, in turn, enable the health care providers in responding to the local needs to the citizens (Ducharme et al., 2009). Therefore, the approach of the Health Care Links seeks to foster an environment which assists the healthcare teams in the development of new and better means of integrating the health care delivery for the Ontarian citizens who live with some complex chronic illnesses (Ducharme et al., 2009). Health Links initiative is also a part of a strategy which encourages the inclusion of all the solutions which oversee the rollout of the Health Links in tangible and real ways (Goodstadt, Simpson, & Loranger, 2006). The Health Links are working on the strategies which seek to incorporate almost all the solutions which were brought forward as means of enhancing the health care system. Some of the issues that have been identified as the core principles of the initiative of Health Links include an integrated and coordinated model of health care which seeks to bring together all the health care providers and patient from all the across the continuum (Goodstadt, Simpson, & Loranger, 2006). Rationale of the Health Links as an Integrative Approach The Health Links approach is regarded as a critical component for enhanced integration as it recognizes the crucial role that the primary health care providers play in the transformation agenda of the health system (Armitage et al., 2009). This link identifies the need for the local partnerships in the form of the patient care networks. Additionally, while the Local Health Integration Networks (LHIN) and Ontario Ministry of Health will offer assistance in the development and implementation of the Health Links initiatives on the local level, the initiative will still have some coordinating partners (Armitage et al., 2009). Some of these coordinating partners include the community health center, hospital, and the family health team (Armitage et al., 2009). Thus, when viewed from this perspective, the Health Links approach is indeed an integrative health care system or approach in health care management. The Health Links is a representation of the foundations for the future evolution of the health system in Ontario. The Long-Term Care and the Minister of Health termed this initiative as a significant transformational milestone where it will represent the transformation on a tangible and very real level all across different people, practices, and processes (Sutcliffe, Deber, & Pasut, 2006). Additionally, this is an integrative approach since it is built upon the patients together with their families. This, therefore, means that the programs and services will need to adapt to the individuals. In the same light, the Health Links is a representation of the opportunity for the re-imagination of the health care system on the local level which comprises of integration, composition, and leadership initiatives which will then be flexible when based on the local needs (Sutcliffe, Deber, & Pasut, 2006). Thus, the Health Links is not about developing some short-term solutions for a particular group of individuals. Rather, the initiative is concerned with developing s system which is responsive and sustainable over time which is what makes it an essential component of the improved integration (Sutcliffe, Deber, & Pasut, 2006). Coordinating the health care services is a major step towards having a high-performing health care system. Therefore, the Health Links will seek to integrate the services in such a way that there will be enhanced patient satisfaction, safety, access, efficiency, and quality in the system (DiCenso et al., 2010). Through joining the efforts with the aim of improving health care for the Ontarians, there is a renewed partnership which is being rebuilt with the Ministry of Health which will improve the patients’ outcomes and experiences (DiCenso et al., 2010). Given that about 5% of people in Ontario have the greatest health care needs and then utilize about two-thirds of the Ontario’s health care funds, better integration will lead to substantial savings in the health system which can result in sustainability in the public health care system (DiCenso et al., 2010). Health Links focuses on offering better support during the transitions between the health care settings. This approach supports providers and patients through the time reduction between specialist consultation and the primary care referral as well as through the reconciliation of the medications as the main transition points (Ducharme et al., 2009). In the same light, the Health Links will provide new opportunities for active portrayal and promotion of healthy aging and also showcase the advantages of always being active when one becomes old through volunteer work, physical activity, meaningful empowerment, and continuous learning (Ducharme et al., 2009). Therefore, through the renewed commitment to both health literacy and education, the Health Links will, in turn, empower the patients to make better choices regarding their health across a broad range of community, social, and health services (Ducharme et al., 2009). This is, therefore, one of the reasons as to why the Health Links initiative is regarded as a critical component for improved integration. Roadblocks One of the barriers that need to be addressed in the Health Links initiative is the multi-stage approval process of the Ministry which has been time intensive from the perspective of the Health Links (Leung, Middleton, & Morrison, 2012). This leads to the loss of engagement and momentum that jeopardizes the efficiency that the Health Links intend to achieve. Some of the Health Links programs are often forced to wait some months for every stage so that it could be approved and funded (Leung, Middleton, & Morrison, 2012). This undermines the goal of the attempts of the low-rules to break down the roadblocks to collaboration and action. Therefore, since the Health Links has proven to be an essential component in healthcare system integration, the Ministry needs to re-strategize its approval process so that it would take a shorter time for the initiative to be approved and get funded (Leung, Middleton, & Morrison, 2012). The second roadblock that needs to be addressed is the lack of standardization. There is no standardization process across the Health Links which may lead to the duplication of work, the confusion among the health care providers and patients, and the variations in the quality and access of health of the people who cross the Health Link boundaries (Ducharme et al., 2009). Greater standardization is essential for the sustenance of the Health Links model. Therefore, to solve this problem, the involved stakeholders will need to develop a standardization process which will not lead to the Health Links inefficiencies that are caused by the lack of the process (Ducharme et al., 2009). Also, the standardization process will need to be integrated with the low-rules approach to enhance the performance of the Health Links. The other setback is the lack of integration of technology across the various partners and providers that are included in the Health Links initiatives (Paré, & Sicotte, 2001). There are various computer systems and programs which are involved in those Health Links are not coordinated with each other. Following this technological challenge, there is a great commitment to overcome it to enhance the communication between partners, providers, and patients (Paré, & Sicotte, 2001). For example, the IT integration in the Health Links could be delivered through the development of easy-to-use regional portals (Paré, & Sicotte, 2001). IT integration is essential in enhancing the performance of the Health Links in Ontario mainly because it concerns collaboration of various agencies. There is also a significant variation in the organization comforts together with the leaders who work through the Ministry’s approach to the low-rules (Armitage et al., 2009). These differences may lead to dysfunctioning of the various entities of the Health Links which would jeopardize its effectiveness (Armitage et al., 2009). Therefore, to reduce these variations in the low-rules approach, different strategies and various support systems may be needed to allow the success across the various leadership styles and different contexts. Conclusion Health Links is the self-organizing and voluntary system which represents a new approach of working hand in hand with the delivery and planning of health care. The Health Links seek to empower the health care of a particular community in its entirety towards the development of communicated, coordinated, and definite plans which will seek to allow the patients to obtain improved care in appropriate settings. The Health Links is an integration system that basically seeks to offer coordination between the patients and the various healthcare providers and organizations. The rationale for the Health Link approach is that it recognizes the critical role that the primary health care providers play in the transformation agenda of the health system. Coordinating the health care services is an essential step towards having a high-performing health care system. Some of the roadblocks to the Health Links include the lack of standardization, IT incompatibilities, and the delays from the Ministry of Health to offer approval and funding of the Health Links. References Armitage, G. D., Suter, E., Oelke, N. D., & Adair, C. E. (2009). Health systems integration: state of the evidence. International Journal of Integrated Care, 9(2). DOI:http://doi.org/10.5334/ijic.316 DiCenso, A., Bourgeault, I., Abelson, J., Martin-Misener, R., Kaasalainen, S., Carter, N., ... & Kilpatrick, K. (2010). Utilization of nurse practitioners to increase patient access to primary healthcare in Canada--thinking outside the box. Nursing Leadership (Toronto, Ont.), 23: 239-259. Ducharme, J., Alder, R. J., Pelletier, C., Murray, D., & Tepper, J. (2009). The impact on patient flow after the integration of nurse practitioners and physician assistants in 6 Ontario emergency departments. Cjem, 11(05): 455-461. Evans, J. M. (2014). Leading the implementation of Health Links in Ontario (Doctoral dissertation, University of Toronto). Goodstadt, M. S., Simpson, R. I., & Loranger, P. O. (2006). Health promotion: a conceptual integration. American Journal of health promotion, 1(3): 58-63. Leung, Z., Middleton, D., & Morrison, K. (2012). One Health and EcoHealth in Ontario: a qualitative study exploring how holistic and integrative approaches are shaping public health practice in Ontario. BMC public health, 12(1): 358-360. Mercer, K. (2001). Examining the impact of health information networks on health system integration in Canada. Leadership in Health Services, 14(3): 1-30. Paré, G., & Sicotte, C. (2001). Information technology sophistication in health care: an instrument validation study among Canadian hospitals. International journal of medical informatics, 63(3): 205-223. Sutcliffe, P. A., Deber, R. B., & Pasut, G. (2006). Public health in Canada: a comparative study of six provinces. Canadian journal of public health- Revue canadienne de sante publique, 88(4): 246-249. Tawfik-Shukor, Ali R., Niek S. Klazinga, and Onyebuchi A. Arah. (2007). "Comparing health system performance assessment and management approaches in the Netherlands and Ontario, Canada." BMC Health Services Research, 7(1): 25-27. Read More