Spotlight on Shannon Blois, Practice Facilitator in Central Zone

When people think about healthcare staff, physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, administrative staff and other frontline providers come to mind. But behind every clinic is a larger team of people working to help things run as smoothly as possible.

Shannon Blois is a practice facilitator with the Primary Health Care and Chronic Disease Management Practice Support team at Nova Scotia Health. Shannon works behind the scenes with clinics across Central Zone to improve workflows, create efficiencies, and make it easier for healthcare teams to do their jobs.

As one of about a dozen practice facilitators in Central Zone, rather than being assigned to a single clinic, Shannon and the team work collaboratively across primary healthcare sites. They respond to requests, share ideas and spread successful approaches from one clinic to another. During morning meetings, the team discusses new projects and determines who is the best person to provide support.

"It's very team-centred," says Shannon. "If somebody has already worked on a similar project, there's no need to reinvent the wheel."

"I see our role as helping clinics run smoother so they can focus on patient care," says Shannon. "When clinicians spend less time dealing with administrative processes like charting, they have more time to spend with patients."

Originally from Cape Breton, Shannon studied Psychology at St. Mary's University and has spent more than a decade working in healthcare. She has worked on clinical research studies, supported dementia care initiatives and continues to work as a psychometrist on weekends.

According to Shannon, no two days look quite the same for a practice facilitator.

A typical morning starts with the team huddle. Shannon might be reviewing clinic workflows, helping a team make better use of its electronic medical record (EMR) system, supporting the launch of a new clinic, or working through a quality improvement project.

One of the team's biggest areas of focus right now is helping clinics transition from paper records to electronic systems and ensuring those systems work as efficiently as possible.

"Sometimes it's as simple as reducing the number of clicks it takes to complete a task," says Shannon. "Small changes can add up to a lot of time saved." By reducing duplicate work, streamlining processes and standardizing how clinics operate, healthcare teams can spend less time on paperwork and more time caring for patients.

While technology is a big part of the role, Shannon says practice facilitators are often mistaken for IT staff. "A lot of people think we just work with computers and EMRs, but a huge part of the job is relationship-building," she says. "We spend a lot of time working with teams, building trust and helping people navigate change."

"I wanted to work in a field where I could help people," she says. "I'm not seeing patients directly, but I'm still helping. It's just a different way of making an impact."

Practice facilitators are part of the Primary Health Care and Chronic Disease Management Practice Support team. For more information about Practice Support, visit PHCQuality.ca. 

Photo of Shannon Blois and her dog, Nismo.