Helping patients & caregivers find healthcare options after-hours & during holiday surge

Case Study: Ontario-wide Emergency Department Diversion Initiative
(December 2018 - January 2019) 

EMPOWER Health implemented a Ontario-wide Holiday Surge project in partnership with the Toronto Central LHIN to demonstrate the robust capabilities of the data platform's ability to scale province-wide with minimal effort to ensure the public had access to reliable information while seeking care at a time when many healthcare organizations were closed or had reduced hours (mid-December to mid-January), and when many Emergency Departments & Urgent Care clinics had reduced staffing due to the holiday season.

• 35,565 holiday hours were collected
• holiday hours were collected from 4,608 healthcare facilities
• holiday hours were confirmed within a week of Christmas Eve/Day & New Years Eve/Day
• 90% of Ontario's primary care clinics shared holiday hours (Toronto Central LHIN - 98%; target surpassed)
• 63% of Ontario's pharmacies (Toronto Central LHIN - 90%; target surpassed)

The project demonstrated EMPOWER Health's ability to collect, confirm & maintain tens of thousands of holiday hours across thousands of healthcare organizations province-wide within very short timeframes & alignment to regional priorities (ie. focus was on awareness of primary care & urgent care service availability).  This also put in place data management frameworks that EMPOWER Health utilized for multiple national COVID-19 response initiatives focused on supporting LTC outbreak tracking, Vaccine access & COVID-19 testing/treatment awareness to protect millions of Canadians at each phase of the pandemic.