Rapid Assessment Clinics are opening at the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance today.
Chief Nursing Executive Lisa Northcott says RACs are a way to better coordinate patients who need hip or knee surgeries.
“What will happen with the RAC is the primary care provider for the patient will send a referral to the RAC, and it’s a central intake through the LHIN. That patient will receive an appointment within two weeks of that referral going into the RAC and they will be seen at the RAC by a physiotherapist who has extra training in how to assess patients with osteoarthritis,” explains Northcott.
Northcott says typical wait times to see a surgeon could be weeks or months, and the Rapid Assessment Clinic will significantly shorten that wait time.
“What we’ve learned from other hospitals and LHINs who’ve implemented the RACs is that about 40% of patients that were presenting to orthopedic surgeon offices, didn’t in fact need to go on to have a knee or hip replacement. So we’re hoping that by seeing these patients in the RACs and identifying those patients early that don’t need to go on to see an orthopedic surgeon, that we’ll be able to reduce wait times for those patients who actually need a hip or knee replacement,” Northcott says.
