Yearly, 450 children and adolescents in Quebec receive musculoskeletal health care that will require at least one transfer between the specialized pediatric orthopaedic facilities located in Montreal. Such transfers, if not appropriately coordinated, may result in discontinuity in care, poor transmission of information and duplication of care, affecting the health and quality of life of the patient. This may cause increased wait times, a possible deterioration in health status, an increased burden of care, insecurity related to lack of knowledge of institutional resources, complications in the family organization, and system costs.

To improve this situation, the MUSCO Initiative proposes as an innovation, to create new links to improve coordination between the 4 facilities dedicated to pediatric musculoskeletal health in Montréal : CHU Sainte-Justine, Montreal Children’s Hospital, Shriners Hospitals for Children – Canada as well as Centre de réadaptation Marie Enfant.

The Trajectoires Patients MUSCO innovation will pair up each patient with a contact person (patient navigator) to guide them through the treatment pathway and the various services. Management processes will be harmonized and information tracking across the facilities will be optimized.

The My Way/Mon chemin evaluation project objectives are to assess and evaluate these new harmonized care pathways across the 4 facilities. We will measure the impacts of this innovation on the health and quality of life of young patients, on the well-being of families and health professionals, as well as its potential benefits and savings for the healthcare system and for the Quebec society.