BC Renal website offers new one-stop access to reader-friendly reports
Each year, BC Renal and the health authority renal programs use special “value-added” funds from provincial renal contracts to implement a variety of quality improvement projects.
For the past several years, we’ve been creating reader-friendly reports that succinctly cover project highlights and challenges. In addition to reporting on the use of funds, these documents provide members of our provincial network with examples of work they may be able to draw from to improve their own practices. The reports also help renal programs around the province focus on unique new work, instead of “reinventing the wheel” by replicating what may have already been done elsewhere in BC.
New in 2022 is a BC Renal web page that makes available all recent reports.
“One of our key goals this year has been to improve the visibility of the phenomenal quality improvement work done provincially and regionally,” says Yuriy Melnyk, Project Manager, BC Renal. “Creating a one-stop repository for all project reports is a critical step toward achieving this goal.”
Two reports are created each year, one about province-wide and regional renal program (RRP) projects and one about peritoneal dialysis (PD) projects. The most recent reports available are for the 2020-2021 fiscal year, while the 2021-2022 ones will be released at the end of October 2022.
The Value Added RRP Dollars from Industry report for 2020-2021 includes numerous province-wide and regional projects. Just a couple of examples of province-wide ones include the funding of (1) professional development and (2) fellowships - clinical fellowships spanning advanced nephrology, palliative care, glomerulonephritis care, as well as administrative and research fellowships. These two initiatives serve to increase knowledge and skills development. See the report for the many province-wide and regional projects covered.
“These reports support our accountability for the value-added funds and help BC Renal and the regional programs to look more strategically at the work done across the province and plan future efforts,” says Yuriy.
While the total number of provincial and regional projects varies from one year to another, there are usually a few dozen pursued each fiscal year. For 2022-2023, the main themes include:
- Advance care planning and palliative care
- Analysis and optimization of local trends and practices in kidney care
- Environmental impact of kidney care
- Indigenous cultural safety in the context of kidney care
- Kidney care clinic optimization
- Patient engagement
- Patient experience
- Patient goal-setting and patient journey mapping
- Renal workforce education, retention, management and optimization
- Transition to home dialysis
- Transplant first (transplant before dialysis is needed)
The Value-Added Dollars from PD Contract report provides an overview of how the PD fund is used provincially and regionally to support program quality improvement.
“The PD support fund has been so valuable to our teams across the province,” says Sue Saunders, Director, Home Therapies and Palliative Care, BC Renal. “We are using it to improve the competency and skills of PD clinicians with supplemental educational opportunities, such as courses or workshops.”
The fund is also supporting professional development by enabling clinicians to showcase their work at international PD conferences such as ISPD 2022.
As well, an instructional video to support patients and families using BC Renal’s PD Assist program during times of major emergencies, such as natural disasters, is being created as a provincial initiative.
Learn from the reports
To read the latest 2020-2021 reports, see:
To access the new web page with all available reports (2018 onward), see:
