Purpose:  

1. Understand potential for current RVH infusion medicine patients to receive treatment in community 2. Understand if there are revenue generating opportunities in infusion medicine used at other Ontario  hospitals  

3. Understand if there are opportunities to optimize chair time in the infusion medicine clinic 4. Develop projections for staffing and chair time required to service the infusion medicine requests of RVH  credentialed providers 

- The outpatient medicine treatment clinic and infusion medicine clinic continue to evolve to accommodate  the requests of RVH credentialed providers and the needs of patients for outpatient medical support.  - Waitlist for routine iron infusions reached 15+ weeks in December 2024 (most providers order routine iron  within 6-8 weeks) 

- The incidence of iron deficient anemia continues to rise. Over the past year, the Maternal Child Program  has supported this need by providing 1:1 RN coverage in the outpatient clinic for prenatal infusions.  Initially, 6-8 OBS iron infusion were requested each month. In November 2024, 40 patients were  accommodated, followed by 49 visits in December 2024, including some “same-day requests.  

- WHO states that 30% of women between the ages of 15-49yrs and 37% of pregnant women suffer from  iron deficiency anemia. Then there is more detail about 52% of women in developing countries require  iron infusions. Therefore, with 2045 births last year we should be providing iron infusions for 750 women,  potentially. 

- Understanding the IVIG burden at RVH, and long-term strategies for managing highest volume of IVIG  requisitions in Ontario 

- Improved understanding of the community clinics (private clinics) and resources available in the  community for patients to receive iron infusions 

- Improved understanding of how partner hospitals support outpatient infusions

- Benchmarking exercise with other hospital-based infusion clinics in Ontario (Do they cover cost of iron?  Co-pay for missed visits? Co-pay for certain medications? Types of treatments provided? Infusion rates /  chair time reserved for each infusion type.  

- Improved understanding of the composition of patients booked into the RVH clinic, and identify  opportunities to optimize booking practices  

4. Student Involvement: 

(Describe the expected role of students, including tasks, collaboration type: remote/onsite, etc.) - Benchmarking 

- Data collection, organization and analysis 

- Combination of remote and on-site work (workstation available when on site) 

5. Resources Required (if any): 

(Are there specific tools, data, or access requirements needed for students to complete the project?, i.e.  electronic records) 

- RVH email address  

- Access to Microsoft tools (Excel, Word, PPT) 

- Access to RVH decision support for data requests 

- Privacy agreement sign off, as student could be accessing electronic health records 

6. Support Offered to Students (i.e. weekly meetings, mentorship, etc.): 

- Daily meetings first week, and transition to weekly meetings 

- Support with data analysis and tools for data analytics 

- Support with decision support requests 

- Support with contacts from partner hospitals for purposes of benchmarking  

- Program has laptop they could use for the duration on the project