Adult Psychiatry
Background
A key theme during consultations between family physicians and psychiatrists within the Kootenay Boundary region has been to find opportunities for more direct contact between family physicians and specialists for in-clinic patient support to help physicians manage their patients at home.
The Rapid Access to Consultative Expertise (RACE) model of service was identified as a solution to support this need. The RACE Line is a one-number telephone line that matches physicians with specialists to discuss non-urgent questions. Once the call is initiated, the specialist responds within a two-hour time frame.
These quick consultations provide direction and support for FPs meeting with patients in their clinics and have been shown to reduce admissions to ERs and acute services. It also offers opportunities for relationship development and co-learning. Both doctors on the call bill for their communications and report on their experience, and family physicians can earn CME credits for the training they receive.
The RACE line gives timely access to specialists to support the management and care of sub-acute patients, allowing them to remain at home and not readmit as frequently to acute services.
Adult Psychiatry Project Objectives >
Latest Adult Psychiatry News
Nov 2014 – Psychiatry Report Card – November 2014
Click here to check out latest highlights and impacts of Shared Care/Division KB work.
Sept 2014 – Adult Psychiatry Update
The phone lines were maxed out last week as the pilot Responsive Behaviours in Seniors rounds kicked off with the first case review.Facilitated by Dr Trevor Janz, and psychiatrists Dr Cletus Okonkwo and Dr Richard Magee, these monthly rounds provide an opportunity to review current patient cases with integrated care teams building skills and capacity for all.
By sharing strategies for managing challenging behaviours like elopement, resistance to personal care, wandering and others, these rounds will help care teams understand and gain maximal benefit from the geriatric consultation process.
Rounds are via teleconference every month on the third Thursday from 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. The next rounds will be on Thursday Oct. 16 with Dr Richard Magee.
Click here to view the CME calendar >
April 2014 – Psychiatry Report Card – April 2014
Click here to check out latest highlights and impacts of Shared Care/Division KB work.Jan 2014 – Provincial funding secured
The Shared Care Committee for the province approved a funding application for mental health project work in the Kootenay Boundary. The application, which supports the project work objectives, was reviewed by the provincial team in January 2014, allowing the RACE line and other goals to move forward.
Jan 2014 – Vancouver RACE team tours the Kootenay Boundary
In late January 2014, the Vancouver RACE team visited Castlegar, Trail, and Nelson to share their successful program with the region’s physicians. The presentations also offered the opportunity for the Kootenay Boundary to decide if they would like to develop their own RACE line, and what that might look like. Thirty percent of the region’s family physicians participated in the meetings, and their feedback was nearly unanimously in favour of developing a local RACE resource that links to the Vancouver services.