Providing an information Portal to accomodate healthcare sector growth — Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.

Background

The Ontario Government's Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care is responsible for administering, regulating operation and co-ordination of the healthcare system and for providing services to the Ontario public.

The Challenge

As part of the Long-Term Care Redevelopment Program, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care wanted to increase the necessary support mechanisms and infrastructure to accomodate healthcare sector growth. To support this growth, they needed to provide consumers with information regarding these new long-term care facilities and services, as well as provide employment information to individuals seeking careers within the ministry.

The Ministry of Health's goal was to make available 20,000 long-term care beds by 2004 and redevelop 16,000 existing beds. The influx of new beds would help the healthcare sector grow, however, they faced challenges in providing the necessary support mechanisms and infrastructure to ensure the successful start-up and operation to support the growing sector.

It was determined an information Portal would address the ministry's needs as they faced a number of challenges:

• The need to heighten consumer, family and health service provider awareness of long-term care, the availability of new beds and how to access them
• Meet the information needs of partners and stakeholders and better promote strategies designed to ensure successful start-up and operation of long-term care beds
• Work with long-term care support agencies and suppliers to remove barriers to redevelopment and address impacts and challenges of long-term care development
• Work with operators, associations and other groups to identify and remove barriers to recruiting and retaining staff in the new long-term care facilities
• Enable long-term care facility sector to compete for limited healthcare human resources.

The Solution

To promote long-term care facilities to both consumers and potential employees for the Ministry of Health, we focused on the creative and communication elements required. This campaign leveraged an information Portal in its recruitment and retention strategy, providing useful information to healthcare professionals including employment links, professional and facility information, as well as information such as facility locations to consumers. A key requirement was ensuring that the audience interacting with this site was able to find information quickly, easily and intuitively. This requirement drove how information about employment in the sector and each of the long-term care facilities was to be presented.

Through an online Facility Locator, facility information could now be presented and integrated into multiple sites. The Facility Locator helps consumers and potential employees locate one or more long-term care facilities across the Province of Ontario, either by clicking directly on the map or by using the search fields provided.

To further support the Long-Term Care Redevelopment Program, the Ministry of Health followed up with a Marketing and Online Presence Program specifically for the long-term care facilities in Ontario. This program offered information on how facilities could enhance their marketing initiatives and use the Internet to provide information to their prospective residents, resident families and potential employees.

The Ministry of Health successfully met their goals. By leveraging an information Portal, they were able to provide employment information to individuals seeking careers within the ministry and long-term care facility sector, as well as provide consumers with information regarding Ontario Government funded long-term care facilities and services.

Through our Custom Solution, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care offered:

• The ability to search and locate over 550 long-term care facilities within Ontario quickly, easily and intuitively through an online Facility Locator
• Direct access to jobs available and employment options in long-term care facilities in Ontario through an online Career Locator
• The ability to promote themselves and attract both consumers and staff by leveraging the Internet with a Marketing and Web Presence Program
• Averages of over 1000 unique visitors per week, 350 visitors per day where the visitor spent an average of 8 minutes online per visit
• The necessary support mechanisms and infrastructure to ensure operation through future growth