Developing a Capacity Estimator (CapEs) to Support Canadian Primary Care Planning in a Time of Crisis

Elka Humphrys and Morgan Price of the UBC Innovation Support Unit share their recent research project “Primary Care Teams Capacity Estimator”.  This study’s goal was to estimate how clinical capacity changes when different healthcare providers are embedded in primary care teams. 

In this study, the team completed 7 modified Delphi sub-studies to co-develop evidence about shared primary care with 7 healthcare professions: registered nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, dietitians, social workers, pharmacists and physician assistants. Delphis were completed with an average of 10 experts (healthcare professionals, primary care providers, as well as policy makers or researchers). The quantitative data were then used in the CapEs software to simulate primary care capacity of teams in primary care using a dynamic simulation model. Both the Delphi and the software are shared.

This work was part of the CIHR funded grant: Primary Care Teams Capacity Estimator (CapEs): Synthesizing evidence and developing the CapEs simulation software to support Canadian primary care policy makers and healthcare planners better reason about primary care team capacity in a time of crisis.

Policy briefs will be available through the ISU’s website. To learn more about this innovative work, view a recording of this research rounds session!