Stakeholder responsibilities

The Réseau québécois de la télésanté (RQT) is made up of stakeholders at the local (institutions), territorial (TCCs) and provincial (MSSS) levels.

Institutions

Each institution sets up a team to develop and support local telehealth activities. The team is usually made up of a manager, a clinical respondent and a technology respondent.

Telehealth Manager

Executive or health professional appointed to supervise and coordinate all telehealth services within his or her establishment.

Strategic planning: Develop and implement telehealth initiatives to maximize service efficiency, while ensuring that services meet user needs.
Compliance and regulation: Ensure that telehealth practices are aligned with corporate orientations and comply with health, safety and privacy laws and regulations.
Coordination and collaboration: Ensure coordination between the various resources involved in telehealth and promote interdisciplinary collaboration to improve the quality of services offered.
Operations management: Oversee day-to-day telehealth operations. This includes managing human, financial and material resources.
Accountability: Provide accountability to responsible authorities to maintain transparency in the management of services.

Clinical Respondent

Professional responsible for supervising and coordinating the clinical aspects of telehealth activities. Ensures that care paths comply with clinical standards, protocols and best practices.

Promote telehealth;
Facilitate telehealth committees or working groups;
Coordinate telehealth projects and services and support clinical teams in their implementation;
Work in close collaboration with the institution’s Technology Respondent;
Participate in the Territorial Telehealth Operations Coordination Committee (TTOCC);
Act as a liaison with the TCC in his/her territory.

Technology Respondent

Professional or technician responsible for ensuring the optimal use of telehealth technology solutions in line with the institution’s infrastructure and processes.

Coordinate the technological component of telehealth projects and support clinical teams in their implementation;
Act as a technological advisor in telehealth developments;
Ensure the management of the institution’s telehealth equipment;
Coordinate front-line technological support activities for users;
Participate in the Territorial Telehealth Operations Coordination Committee (TTOCC);
Act as a liaison with the TCC in his/her territory.

Local Tactical Committee

Each institution must set up a Local Tactical Telehealth Committee. In addition to the respondents, this committee includes various clinical stakeholders, a representative of the entity responsible for the institution’s service corridors, a quality and performance expert, as well as a person responsible for the technology sector.

Assist the clinical and technological respondents in the promotion of telehealth;
Encourage initiatives to develop or optimise services through the use of telehealth;
Prioritise requests for new telehealth services;
Adopt annual local planning of telehealth activities;
Liaise with the institution’s project office when necessary;
Recommend mechanisms for coordination of telehealth projects;
Support respondents in project implementation, evaluation of sustainability of deployed services, and updating of the provincial telehealth inventory;
Approve the annual review of the institution’s telehealth activities;
Contribute to the dissemination of indicators and results achieved to clinical and management teams.

In the absence of such a committee, the institution must ensure the participation of telehealth respondents in the strategic committees that determine organizational priorities in order to integrate telehealth orientations.

Telehealth Coordination Centres (TCCs)

The Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS) has mandated the Telehealth Coordination Centres (TCCs) to support institutions in the Quebec health network in the deployment of telehealth. To carry out this mandate, the TCCs rely on interdisciplinary teams made up of clinical and technological experts as well as players in the fields of project management and quality/performance management.

Promote and enhance telehealth;
Ensure the territorial organisation of telehealth;
Monitor best practices and technologies in telehealth;
Accompany institutions in the implementation of new services;
Offer consulting expertise on clinical, technological and organizational levels;
Evaluate the performance of services;
Ensure operational technological management.

Territorial Telehealth Operations Coordination Committee (TTOCC)

This committee is composed of a TCC team, the clinical and technological respondents of the institutions in the territory concerned and other members invited as needed. It meets five times a year.

Identify potential optimisations of assets and projects of the institutions served by the CCT;
Agree on plans to implement the ministerial orientations on telehealth;
Identify issues, challenges and risks related to telehealth in institutions and report to the PCCTO to facilitate policy development;
Contribute to the identification and updating of the directory of telehealth services and agree on actions to ensure the sustainability of services.

Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux

At the MSSS, two coordinators are responsible for telehealth at the provincial level. Their mandate includes leading the provincial telehealth operations committee.

Ministerial Clinical and Technology Coordinators

They ensure the coordination of provincial projects and the development, implementation and ongoing monitoring of clinical and technological orientations in the field of telehealth. They work in collaboration with MSSS directorates, TCCs, network institutions and other partners. Finally, they are responsible for analyzing data related to the network’s telehealth activities in order to ensure accountability.

Provincial Coordinating Committee for Telehealth Operations (PCCTO)

This committee is composed of the Ministerial Telehealth Clinical and Technology Coordinators and the heads of each of the four TCCs

Define telehealth orientations and contribute to the ministerial strategic planning, in collaboration with the MSSS;
Identify potential optimizations of the service offer, tools and processes in telehealth;
Share all experiences related to the activities of the TCCs;
Ensure the updating of the TCC service offer;
Provide advice and recommendations to improve the components of telehealth environments.

Telehealth Governance