Long-Term Care Initiative
The dedicated LTCI coordination team supporting physicians in delivering exceptional long-term care across Richmond.
The Long-Term Care Initiative (LTCI) supports Richmond Family Physicians to build local, scalable, and sustainable solutions that improve the care of patients who live in long-term care homes throughout Richmond.
Richmond’s LTCI team encourages Family Physicians to explore ways they can enrich their practice by spending a portion of their time caring for residents in one of five Richmond long-term care homes. Learn how local family doctors can join Richmond’s Long-Term Care Initiative to improve care and enrich community practice.
History of the LTCI
By 2015, long-term care homes throughout British Columbia were struggling to find Family Physicians who would provide care to long-term residents. In response, the B.C. Ministry of Health launched the Long-Term Care Initiative (LTCI), which aims to standardize medical care across the province’s long-term care homes while attracting more physicians into long-term care environments. Under the LTCI, Physicians agree to provide the Five Best Practice Expectations of care and to promote system-level outcomes within their long-term care community.
Richmond’s LTCI program launched on May 1st, 2017 and is led by the Richmond Division of Family Practice in close collaboration with Vancouver Coastal Health.
Richmond family doctors are making a meaningful difference in long-term care every day.
Five Best Practice Expectations
- 24/7 availability and on-site attendance, when required
- Proactive visits to residents
- Meaningful medication reviews
- Completed documentation
- Attendance at case conferences
System-Level Outcomes
- Reduced unnecessary/inappropriate hospital transfers
- Improved patient-provider experiences
- Reduced cost per patient as the result of higher quality of care
Richmond LTCI Physician Supports
The initiative provides tangible supports for physicians to be able to integrate long-term care work into their family practice, including after-hours call coverage for LTC residents, and access to a physician community focused on long-term care.
- After hours call coverage for your LTC residents
- On-site and on-call physician medical leads
- Peer mentorship, when needed
- Access to an LTCI physician community, supports & resources
- Chat group
- Online resource portal
- LTC resources (physician & care home contact list, on-site & consultative LTC services list, care home contingency medication list, translation services, invoice forms, etc)
- Locum or permanent recruitment, when needed.
- LTC physician meetings & mixers
- LTC clinical learning events
- Opportunities to participate in quality improvement work.
- Financial remuneration for
- After hours on-call availability (in addition to billing)
- Active participation (in LTCI physician meetings, LTC continued learning events and quality improvement initiatives)
Physicians enhance their skills and collaboration through long-term care training sessions.