Clinic targets region’s high rate of limb loss with new software
By Maya Ekman, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Source: NWOnewswatch.com
Someone loses a limb to diabetic wound complications every four hours in Ontario.
“And 85 per cent of those are estimated to be preventable,” said Micayla Harland, the project manager for lower limb preservation at Kenora’s Waasegiizhig Nanaandawe’iyewigamig (WNHAC) clinic.
In the north, that percentage is significantly higher.
“The problem really can be distilled down to health inequity, but to further elaborate on that, diabetic wound complications that lead to amputation which could have been prevented really, truly disproportionately affects those residing in Northwestern Ontario,” said Harland.
Indigenous populations in Northwestern Ontario experience rates seven times higher than the provincial average, according to Harland.
In order to tackle these numbers, WNHAC is starting to use a digital tool called Pixalere that allows general health-care providers in remote communities to connect with specialists.
“Folks that are at risk for an amputation, and that’s basically anybody with diabetes or vascular disease is at risk for an amputation at some point in their life, would enter into this pathway,” said Harland.
Assessments are entered into the tool, where the information and photo of the wound are analyzed. Then, the non-specialists are able to access recommendations from specialists.
“When our nurse practitioners, community health nurses, foot-care nurses go out to the community, they would have this tool … and they would do their charting directly into this tool, and it assists them in determining the best plan of care,” she continued.
It also allows them to remotely monitor wounds that are uploaded into the software.
“We have a specialist on the other end of it … who kind of does remote rounds,” Harland said.
“So, they’re monitoring all active wounds and making sure that they’re following the trajectory that we would expect them to, and when they’re not, they can intervene pretty quickly and say that we need to update this plan of care.”
Harland told Newswatch that, so far, the collaboration has been “incredibly productive.” The custom version they are working on is expected to roll out this fall.
While the goal is to reduce health inequity — and avoid amputations — Harland said, the software will also improve the experience of clinicians and save money for the health care system.
According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, each lower-limb amputation costs the province’s health-care system at least $45,000. “This software is less than the cost of a single amputation to the province, and has the potential to bring down that rate,” she said.
