In 2020, clinics faced new challenges that required innovative ways of working and thinking to continue delivering outstanding care. Clinics that adapted quickly to operate outside of traditional assessment and treatment protocols helped meet the ongoing needs of patients in their healthcare community while supporting continuity of care.
As private virtual healthcare providers seek to capitalize on physical contact restrictions by offering patients remote episodic care, clinics that provide the same level of access for existing patients maintain continuity of care and protect clinic sustainability. As technology advances the ways care can be accessed by patients, it is clear that patients will access care in the most convenient way possible.
You know as well as we do that it is best for patients to maintain a consistent relationship with their providers, and we celebrate clinic innovators for supporting ongoing continuity of care and maintaining the integrity of the public healthcare system.
Patients have celebrated this shift toward more inclusive, convenient, and personalized care. While messages sent by patients continue to be the minority of messages generated on the system (clinics send 3 times more messages than patients do and there are 25 times more patients than clinics on Secure-Mail in Alberta), patient use tripled from March to May 2020 and hasn’t gone down.
Patient praise proves the benefits of this type of innovation in clinic access and communication:
“We’re loving this modern form of communication with our doctors! It reduces travel time and exposure risk to COVID-19. Using Secure-Mail instead of going in means we don’t have to hire a sitter for our other child just to attend an appointment.” Sarah
“I love how I am able to connect with my health team to manage my chronic health condition.” Priscilla
“What a great concept! I feel very safe and secure using Brightsquid Secure-Mail. My Dr. and I have been using this format to share diagnosis, x-rays etc securely. Great Work!” Michael
We have identified the top Alberta clinics that went above and beyond, establishing new workflows and augmenting processes with new technology to continue uninterrupted access. While data suggests a 20-30% decrease in clinic utilization following pandemic restrictions, these clinics continue to serve their community thanks, in large part, to their adoption of Brightsquid Secure-Mail
Meet the 2020 recipients of the Brightsquid Clinic Innovators awards:
- ACT Medical Calgary Downtown
- Saint-Thomas Community Health Centre
- Providence Pediatric Cardiology
- Family Health Clinic
- Revolution Medical Clinic | Meadows Mile
- Valley View Family Practice
- Drumheller Associated Physicians
- Dr. Shariff Prof. Corp and Calgary Pain Management Centre
- Gateway Pediatric Dentistry
- The Hoffman Centre for Integrative and Functional Medicine
- Katherine M. Savoia
- Beaumont Family Medical Associates.
- La Vita Medical Centre
- Kiwi Pediatrics
- Caleo Health
- Crowfoot Village – Blue Team
- Mosaic Primary Care Network
- Peak Medical Group
- Riley Park PCC – Admin
- Oasis Orthodontics
- Seton Medical Clinic
- Northland Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery
- Crowfoot Village – Yellow Team
- Signal Hill Dental
- Summit Family Medical Clinic
- Canada Place Dental
- Neurvana Health Inc.
- Skin Health & Wellness Centre
These clinics have implemented enhanced and inclusive communication to unite the healthcare community through a single channel of privacy compliant communication. Between May 2020 and the end of the year Alberta clinics exchanged nearly 300,000 messages with patients, and the number of Albertan patients using Secure-Mail is growing by the thousands each week.
The way clinics innovate with Secure-Mail varies broadly. Some use the secure email service to send COVID-19 screening questionnaires or collect patient history prior to appointments. Many clinics use it to receive and address patient concerns without requiring a scheduled appointment to provide better continuity of care while physicians were working remotely around disrupted schedules as a way to maintain continuity of care and take pressure off their phone lines and limited physical space.
Read the stories of these clinic innovators to learn how you can use Secure-Mail to adapt to the news ways healthcare is being accessed by patients and maintain continuity of care through the healthcare community.