Regions: North Slave Region
| Principal Investigator: | Young, Kue (7) |
| Licence Number: | 15617 |
| Organization: | Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto |
| Licensed Year(s): |
2016
2015
2014
|
| Issued: | Feb 16, 2015 |
Objective(s): To evaluate the impact of the upcoming NWT Department of Health and Social Services centralized air ambulance triage, dispatch and coordination service entitled Med-Response.
Project Description: To evaluate the impact of the upcoming NWT Department of Health and Social Services centralized air ambulance triage, dispatch and coordination service entitled Med-Response. This project will track air ambulance and other medical travel services in the NWT and Nunavut (a separate licence in NU will be sought for this work). This is primarily a descriptive study of policy impact. Both territories maintain medical travel logs which are primarily for accounting purposes (i.e. reimbursement of air carriers). The database contains the following types of information: community of origin, destination facility, date, time, diagnosis, scheduled flight/air ambulance, age/sex of patient. A separate, but unlinked, database is maintained at the recipient facility indicating disposition of the arriving patient (admitted to hospital, treated and discharged, etc.). Neither contains personal information. Based on the data from these two sources, the research team will perform geo-spatial mapping of the volume of air ambulance dispatches and associated costs following the care pathway. The impact of the implementation of Med-Response in NWT will be determined in terms of the alteration of the existing pattern of travel and any improvements in patient outcomes and quality of care that could be attributed to the Med-Response. This is a project involves databases and no direct contact with individuals in communities. However, residents of NWT will benefit from an improved medical travel system, receiving prompt and appropriate care, potentially reduced separation from families and friends. The overall goal of improving quality of care will have widespread social benefits. Economic savings by GNWT and the health authorities will enable scarce resources to be allocated to other socially important issues. Results will be presented to GNWT Health, regional health authorities, and professional associations of health care practitioners in the territory. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from February 13, 2015 to December 31, 2015.
