Crossing Death Valley: Bringing Neurotechnology to Psychiatric Clinics in Alberta, Canada.

Depression is a major public health problem, with a lifetime and 12-month prevalence estimated at 18 and 6% of adults. Depression is costly in terms of treatment and lost productivity and is the main burden of mental illness across the globe. Existing pharmacological and psychological treatments for depression result in clinically meaningful improvements in <60% of patients. An emerging treatment approach is non-invasive brain stimulation of depression-related brain targets through transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). In this perspective, we detail our efforts on bringing TMS to clinical populations in Alberta by utilizing a novel organizational structure that bridges the gap between academia and the health care system. The Addictions and Mental Health Strategic Clinical Network worked with stakeholders to (1) examine the evidence, (2) develop clinical tools for patient selection and protocol application, (3) create overall implementation and evaluation plans to aid in further scale and spread, and even (4) fund the purchase and deployment of devices. Through this work, five publicly supported clinics now exist in Alberta.

Alberta's Strategic Clinical Networks: A roadmap for the future.

Clinical networks are groups of clinicians, patients, operational leaders, and other stakeholders who work together to solve health challenges, translate evidence into practice, and improve health outcomes and clinical care. Networks enable health, community, and academic partners to align their efforts, address priority issues, and advance quality improvements, health innovation, and transformational change on a local and system-wide scale. Clinical networks have existed in some countries for nearly 20 years. Alberta first implemented clinical networks in 2012 in specific areas of health. There are now 16 Strategic Clinical Networks (SCNs) in Alberta, embedded within a province-wide health system. The SCNs have developed an action plan that builds on their experience and identifies common areas of focus. This article describes the SCNs, their impact to date, and the objectives, areas of focus, and processes Alberta's SCNs will use to improve health outcomes and health system performance over the next 5 years.