Pan-Canadian survey of models of care of patients with thoracic aortic disease
Principal Investigator:
Dr. Richard Weisel, University of Toronto
Co-Investigators:
Dr. Mark Peterson, St. Michael’s Hospital
Dr. Tim Bradley, Hospital for Sick Children
Dr. Andrew Dueck, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Dr. Chris Caldarone, Hospital for Sick Children
Dr. Maral Ouzoinian, University Health Network
The Toronto Aortic Collaborative (TAC) was established as a multi-disciplinary group to integrate care delivery for patients with thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections (TAAD) from acute presentation to long-term follow-up. The coordination of acute and long-term clinical management of these challenging patients in the Greater Toronto Area is an innovative patient-centered model of care delivery, which will also permit scientific investigation into the causes of inherited and acquired thoracic aortic diseases. This project will facilitate coordination of care between downtown specialists and local physicians to achieve evidence based care delivery. In addition, we propose to conduct an inventory of models of care across the country with the ultimate goal of coordinating care delivery and establishing best practices for these patients. This proposal directly relates to Priority 2 of Theme I of the Canadian Vascular Network that calls for an inventory of models for the prevention and management of vascular conditions in Canada.
The clinical arm of TAC begins at a single point of 24/7 access through CritiCall Ontario to expedite management of patients with acute aortic syndromes. In addition to streamlining access to expert acute care, TAC will facilitate long-term follow up in multidisciplinary aortic clinics for medical management and surveillance imaging. Patients and their families will be assessed by genetic counselors following first TAC contact to facilitate early genetic diagnosis and family screening. The UofT Cardiovascular Data Management Centre (CVDMC) will support our Aortic Registry to collect, analyze and evaluate the impact of TAC on patient outcomes. In addition, our outreach program is intended to accelerate knowledge transfer (KT) and provide evidence-based guidelines for community cardiologists and other health care workers. Our Pan-Canadian inventory of models of aortic care will determine the current status of care of patients with aortic diseases and facilitate future KT initiatives.