In winter 2022, our business analysts in CIUSSS du Nord-de-l’île-de-Montréal were asked to analyze potential tools to support four oncology specializations in specific tumor sites.

They realized that commercially available solutions were both expensive and inefficient, requiring nurses – for whom time is at a premium – to enter the same information twice.

These were therefore out of the running, so we opted to develop an in-house solution.

Our team hurried to cull the required data from other information systems. Our developers worked closely with the clinical team, including nurses and doctors, using drivers from imaging and appointment systems.

At the same time, the developers set up the user interface and database.

The first version of the application was delivered within four weeks. Nurses were immediately able to use it to automatically oversee the whole patient cohort, group items on timelines, and facilitate information exchange between doctors and nurses.

The efficiency gains the app affords has garnered attention from many other institutions as well as the Ministère, all of whom envision implementing our solution province-wide.

Project submitted by Sébastien Leduc, Department Head

Other contributors: Rémi Lepage, Computer Science Analyst, Emmanuel Chaput, Computer Science Analyst, Claire Foucher, Nursing Coordinator, Carole Chable, Head of Nursing, Dr. François Beaucage, Respirologist, Rim El-Koussa, Planning, Programming and Research Officer, Sylvain Toupin, Computer Science Analyst, and Julie Richard-Mayeu, Clinical Nurse