Referral Information
Who is eligible to participate in the CaNVAS-IBD pilot program?
No matter where a person with IBD lives, it is essential that they can access their healthcare team. The CaNVAS-IBD program is dedicated to serving patients living with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis who live in underserviced locations across Canada.
Eligibility criteria may vary between provinces depending on the needs assessment of each province. People with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis are eligible to participate in this IBD virtual care pilot project if they live more than 100km* away from an IBD Centre.
Referral forms to virtual care (CaNVAS-IBD program) must be completed by a physician or nurse practitioner. In some provinces, the IBD patient can self-refer to virtual care.
Eligibility criteria and referral process varies between provinces due to differences in provincial systems and needs assessment.
To ensure appropriate referrals, please refer to your province-specific referral information.
In addition to referral forms, please fax all IBD-related health records for the patient which includes:
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Endoscopy and pathology reports
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Diagnostic imaging results
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Past IBD health records (i.e., health records from gastroenterologists, colorectal surgeons)
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IBD-related specific complications including other specialists reports
If you are unsure about the referral process, please do not hesitate to contact the virtual care coordinator for your province or the national virtual care manager.
- Alberta
How will patients be referred to the program?
Patients will be referred through the Calgary Zone Central Access. Requests will be reviewed and triaged as designated for the virtual care pathway by the virtual care coordinator.
Who will refer patients to the program?
Referrals may come from primary care, internal medicine or other specialists in the zone of need, in addition to gastroenterologists/ IBD providers (including nursing /IM in North Zone) who require/ benefit from support.
What is the process for referring patients to virtual care? (Current processes, if any exist?)
This will require some engagement from those currently working rurally however there is currently a well established and recognized centralized referral process. All referrals will then be tracked (including geographic site, referrer, reason for referral). The process will be simple and streamlined to ensure it is not a barrier to the referrer.
- Saskatchewan
How will patients be referred to the program?
Patients would be identified from within the current patient roster at the IBD clinic in Saskatoon. There is no formal multidisciplinary IBD program in Regina yet, but Dr. Bhasin is working on establishing this. For now, patients from Regina would likely be identified from Dr. Bhasin's practice.
Who will refer patients to the program?
Currently patients are referred to the IBD centre in Saskatoon (or to Dr. Bhasin in Regina who is GI with IBD training) from general practitioners (GPs), General Surgery, and from GI who do not focus on IBD. New patients who are referred in to the IBD center would be flagged if they are in remote locations as these patients would benefit most from the virtual care program.
What is the process for referring patients to virtual care? (Current processes, if any exist?)
For the past 2 years, the majority of patients have been seen virtually. If on initial virtual assessment they are found to require an in person visit, this is then arranged (visit for physical exam, visit for scope or IUS, etc).
Clients must be referred by a Gastroenterologist affiliated with the Multidisciplinary IBD Clinic at the Royal University Hospital.
Schedule: Clients will be followed through clinic appointments or by individual appointments depending on the needs of the individual patient.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease
https://www.saskatoonhealthregion.ca/locations_services/Services/cdm/Pages/Home.aspx
Referral form:
https://www.saskatoonhealthregion.ca/locations_services/Services/cdm/Documents/Referral%20Forms/FillableCommonReferral.pdf
- Manitoba
How will patients be referred to the program?
Patient requirements; only bona fide diagnosis of IBD (not for people who are worried they have IBD). Patients or physicians with IBD patients can call the clinic directly.
Who will refer patients to the program?
Patients can be self-referred or a physician or nurse practitioner caring for a patient with IBD can call in for advice or to refer the patient.
What is the process for referring patients to virtual care? (Current processes, if any exist?)
The nurse practitioner will have a phone visit with the patient and/or health care provider. The program’s gastroenterologists can then elect to have a virtual care visit with the patient either by phone or by video or if needed an in-person visit.
- Ontario
The Ontario IBD virtual care program is dedicated to serving patients living with Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis who reside in underserviced locations throughout Ontario. Referrals are accepted for adult patients living at least 100 kms from Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.
How to be referred to the Ontario IBD virtual care program
The PACE IBD telemedicine program accepts referrals from physicians and nurse practitioners for the following reasons:
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to assist with the diagnosis of IBD,
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to assume ongoing IBD management, or
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for a second opinion regarding treatment and care of IBD
Along with the completed referral form, the referring health care provider should include:
The referral form and supporting documents should be faxed to the IBD Telemedicine: 416-586-5971 or emailed to PaceIBD.MSH@SinaiHealth.ca
PACE IBD Referral Form
For further information, please contact:
Peter Habashi, RN
Mount Sinai Hospital
Zane Cohen Centre for Digestive Diseases
Phone: 416-586-4800 x 7820
Fax: 416-586-5971
Em: PaceIBD.MSH@SinaiHealth.ca
- Quebec
How will patients be referred to the program?
The referral process will be as follows:
(1) Patients already being seen at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) IBD clinic but live remotely,
(2) Lead gastroenterologist (GI) triages all IBD referral to the clinic and will identify eligible referrals,
(3) Corridor of service with Hull/Gatineau already established and will offer virtual care service
(4) GIs routinely travel to Northern QC area for colonoscopies and will identify eligible IBD patients.
Who will refer patients to the program?
See above (1) as well as referral from local family medical doctors (MD's) or GI's.
What is the process for referring patients to virtual care? (Current processes, if any exist?)
No current virtual care for remote patients at the MUHC IBD clinic.
- Nova Scotia
How will patients be referred to the program?
Virtual Hallway (VH) is a platform that embeds evidence-based referral algorithms. In instances when a physician or NP from a rural or underserviced region is referring to Nova Scotia Collaborative IBD Program (NSCIBD) Centre of Excellence (COE), these referrals will come in via VH through a smart referral algorithm that will incorporate clinical decision support at the time a referral for an IBD flare is made. The intent of this platform is to improve the quality of the referral and to improve efficiency and appropriateness of the referral process.
Who will refer patients to the program?
A physician or NP from a rural or underserviced region will refer patients. In Nova Scotia, given lack of resourcing for dedicated virtual care nurses, as well as underservicing in primary care, the proposed model will engage community-based internists and general gastroenterologists, offering them and their patients the support services of the Virtual IBD Nurse Navigation (VINN) to empower and incentivize local IBD care delivery.
What is the process for referring patients to virtual care? (Current processes, if any exist?)
To be determined.