The Small Steps, Big Idea initiative provides funding for VPSA members to develop concepts that engage physicians and their colleagues, improve patient care, develop better communication, and/or build relationships across specialties, departments, health authority leadership, and community members. Funding can be used for sessional payments, meals, venue costs, and/or speaker or consultant fees.
Three projects conducted over the 2022/23 fiscal year serve as inspirational examples, including our very own EMED study spearheaded by Dr. Jessica Moe.
Dr. Jessica Moe has used Small Steps, Big Idea funding for two phases of her project entitled Understanding Healthcare Provider and Patient Experiences with Emergency Department Suboxone. The latest funding was used to build on the enthusiasm and momentum built during the launch of the VGH Emergency Department’s Suboxone program in 2019.
“We were a multidisciplinary team, and we developed an iterative, concerted engagement plan,” said Dr. Moe. “During activities, we intentionally incorporated opportunities for clinicians to provide feedback about our Suboxone program. We then incorporated this feedback into the next rounds of engagement activities to ensure we were continually responsive to providers’ needs.”
Dr. Moe and her team are proud to have met their program objectives and desired outcomes. They attribute their success to intentionally incorporating multidisciplinary feedback into their program processes, and their flexibility to adapt to identified needs.
“My team and I are incredibly grateful for VPSA’s support, which enabled this important work,” said Dr. Moe. “We’re currently building capacity in our health-care provider group to take shared ownership of our Suboxone program and drive and shape it into the future. We continue to advocate for more institutional and regional support of our program at meetings that include VGH and VCH leadership to enable our continuation beyond the project period.”
To read the full article from the Vancouver Medical, Dental and Allied Staff Association (VMDAS) and Vancouver Physician Staff Association (VPSA), visit here: Small Steps, Big Idea funding paves way for project successes.