Building Operational Excellence: Home-Based Palliative Care, focuses on meeting patient and caregiver expectations through continuous improvement of the operational processes and the culture of home care service provider organizations. The project focused on the following priority areas:
- Translating advance care plans and health care wishes into the planning and delivery of services in the home.
- Early and ongoing identification of the needs and strengths of patients and caregivers and ways to incorporate assessment results into shared care plans.
- Strategies and methods to ensure effective and efficient communication, shared decision-making and care coordination.
- Timely access to, efficient management of and safe disposal of equipment, supplies and medications in the home.
The project made a significant contribution to operational excellence in home and community-based palliative care. Gaining a clear understanding of gaps and opportunities from the provider and patient/caregiver perspective enabled the team to target specific areas and identify leading practices that would have an immediate impact on quality care. Sharing the knowledge gained throughout the initiative was an important component of the work.