Meet SME Dr. Jean Mathews
Dr. Jean Mathews is the Lumeo Palliative Care Subjective Matter Expert, a Physician Champion and the Chief Medical Information Officer at Providence Care.
In recognition of World Hospice and Palliative Care Day, celebrated annually on the second Saturday of October, Dr. Mathews shared details about his role in the Lumeo project and how the project will bring compassionate communities together.
1. What is your role in the Lumeo project?
As the physician leader for medical informatics, I work in collaboration with other members of the Lumeo leadership team at Providence Care. I help drive physician engagement for effective adoption and implementation of the health information system transformation. I am also the Lumeo subject matter expert for palliative care at Providence Care.
2. How will Lumeo transform care at Providence Care?
One of the many ways that Lumeo will transform care and improve the patient experience is through the new Goals Of Care (GOC) documentation tool. Patients have the right to express their wishes and values regarding healthcare decisions and to have them respected by healthcare providers. Patients with serious illness who have documented GOC discussions with their care providers are more likely to have their end of life wishes known and respected, and less likely to receive potentially inappropriate aggressive medical care near death. This leads to improved patient and family satisfaction with care.
Currently, the six organizations involved in the Lumeo transformation have variable practices to document GOC discussions. Our region has one of the highest rates in the province of emergency room visits and acute care admissions in the last year of life. Lumeo offers a novel patient-centered solution to communicating and documenting GOC discussions using a standardized electronic tool. This will improve the documentation and communication of GOC discussions and also represents a high-value intervention in patient care. Lumeo will improve patient outcomes and stewardship of limited health care resources.
3. What is Lumeo’s biggest strength?
Our biggest strength is the vision of one patient, one record, in one system, across hospitals in the region. This happens to tie in with the theme of World Hospice and Palliative Care Day, which is celebrated annually on the second Saturday of October. The theme this year is about bringing compassionate communities together. Lumeo will connect six healthcare organizations in the southeastern Ontario region, and will deliver one compassionate care experience for our patients.