VA Provider Digital Health Committee – Member feedback on group’s efficacy plus May meeting summary

The VA Provider Digital Health (DHC) Committee meets regularly; members work to identify Cerner changes that would be most helpful to providers. VPSA provides sessional funding to the nine physician representatives on the committee for time spent in meetings and doing other committee work.

Member feedback

VPSA surveyed committee members regarding the group’s work for its annual review with the Facility Engagement Initiative. Seven members provided responses.

• 67 per cent agreed/strongly agreed that their participation led to improved services (direct/indirect) at the facilities.
• 83 per cent agreed/strongly agreed that participating on the committee improved communication with their colleagues.
• 100 per cent of members agreed the committee pursued one or more of VPSA’s strategic priorities.
• 83 per cent of members agreed that the work of the committee has or will in the near future improve the experience of physicians working at Vancouver Acute with digital health tools including Cerner.

May meeting summary

Communications project updates

Ongoing consideration is being given to a communication platform that the new St. Paul’s Hospital is moving forward with and the broader implications across VCH, PHC, and potentially PHSA.

Committee members discussed whether to introduce an interim communication platform while a longer-term solution is being finalized.

Tokens project update

Committee members reviewed a proposal to reduce the administrative burden on clinicians by collecting live feedback on medication-related tokens while tools are actively being used. This would capture practical real-world insights and avoid relying on recall.

Sessions will be scheduled over the coming months.

There were concerns regarding auto-inclusion of full radiology reports in Emergency Department notes. There is a risk that reports may become outdated if amended later, which could lead to inaccuracies and clinical risk. This also contributes to note length and redundancy.

The committee agreed to proceed with in-person observational sessions for tokens feedback. The initial efforts will focus on medication-related tokens.

Teams app trial

There is interest in testing Microsoft Teams, but no decision yet about adopting it as a primary communication tool. Committee members agreed to continue piloting the app and gathering feedback before making any broader rollout decisions.

Benefits of the app include that it allows clinicians to make and receive calls without using personal numbers. It easily supports long-distance calling, and it includes features like voicemail transcription and quiet hours.

There are concerns, however, about too many notifications and message overload, a lack of universal adoption, and difficulty identifying who to contact (role-based rather than name-based workflows).

The Teams app allows for integrated health authority accounts that are secure and compliant. It also supports calling, chat, and video. There are limitations, including inconsistent connectivity and the notification set up is complex. It is not optimized for role-based communication or on-call workflows.

Committee members agreed to proceed with a pilot phase where users experiment with Teams in real workflows and provide feedback on usability, barriers, and value.

Next Meeting

The committee meets again on June 10th. If you have an item you wish to be brought forward at one of these meetings, please contact Laura Mc Evoy, Manager, Provider Strategic Initiatives & Engagement at VCH.