Winter Highlights 2020: AFHTO Leadership Council

The Leadership Council Members met on February 5, 2020. Below are the highlights from the winter 2020 Leadership Council Meeting.

Supporting AFHTO through reallocation funding

• Members are asked to consider supporting AFHTO’s governance and leadership program through in-year reallocation funding if year-end surpluses are available.
• The ministry recently clarified the additional information needed for reallocation requests to support OHT implementation and/or AFHTO projects. The requirements are posted here.

Organizing primary care and supporting OHT development

• AFHTO continues to develop supports and tools for OHT development.
• In partnership with OCFP and SGFP, AFHTO has been facilitating regional physician information sessions in communities. Sessions focus on providing clinicians with information on OHTs and supporting the development of regional physician networks.
• Physician engagement sessions are encouraged to help ensure OHTs are anchored in primary care and to identify local opportunities for change. If interested, please contact Bryn Hamilton.
• AFHTO will be releasing two documents – “Primary Care Physicians: Working Together for Change” and “Primary Care: Local Change Ideas” shortly!
• Tools and webcasts continue to be developed with our partners on collaborative governance strategies and OHT governance structures.
• The Primary Care Virtual Community continues to bring together leaders in health system integration, with a focus on 10 high-impact action items to strengthen primary care. Register now!

Advocating for team-based primary care in health system transformation

• The 2020 pre-budget submission was submitted in January to the Ministry of Finance. AFHTO will be meeting with Minister Elliott, MPP France Gelinas (NDP health critic), and Minister Tibollo’s staff in February to discuss the recommendations. A meeting already occurred earlier this year with staff in the premier’s office to provide them with an introduction to AFHTO and team-based primary care.
• AFHTO is working with associations who represent health care providers in team-based care to develop an advocacy platform on what we agree is needed from a primary care perspective for OHTs to be successful. We are still looking for patient quotes or short success stories about the impact of team-based care. Please contact Beth MacKinnon if you have one to share.

Quality improvement work continues

• The Quality Improvement in Primary Care Council has partnered with the eHealth Centre for Excellence to work on an environmental scan on post-hospital discharge.
• AFHTO is collaborating with partners through the Primary Care and Mental Health and Addiction Table on two projects: an OHT guidebook with innovative mental health and addiction models highlighted, as well as digital health and streamlining referral forms.
• Knowledge translation webinars continue, focusing on virtual care and online booking, as well as QI success in mental health and addiction. Please contact Sandeep Gill if there are any KTE webinars you would recommend.

Staying on top of coronavirus preparedness

• Daily calls continue with officials on coronavirus preparedness. All communications from the ministry can be found here. AFHTO will continue to share information as it’s made available.
• A sample policy on infection control prepared by Rapids FHT is available online.

Ministry update on OHT development

• An update on OHT development was provided by Allison Costello (Director, Integrated Care Branch) and Phil Graham (Executive Lead, Ontario Health Teams) from the Ministry of Health.
• There is a focus on setting a policy framework on large items like funding, accountability, and performance indicators, so it can be clear to teams on what to expect. However, this framework is still in development and not ready to be shared.
• OHT candidates that have been approved are being brought together on February 19 and 20 to discuss policy barriers and to work with support partners through RISE. OHTs are asking for some rules and parameters, and ones that teams would consider helpful will be discussed during this two-day session. This will include those for shared decision-making and home care.
• The budget setting process for the next fiscal is underway, and officials are looking at what can be done regarding supports. Clinical engagement is a priority and resources to support this are being considered. However, no commitments can be made at this time.

Calling all members!

• Would two EDs, two board chairs, and two physicians or nurse practitioners consider serving on a committee for external requests? Requests are frequent from stakeholders, and AFHTO is looking for feedback on suggested webinar topics, training tools, etc. regarding what would be of most value.
• Input would be requested once a month. It’s not expected to take much time.
• We’re still looking for one board chair and one physician or nurse practitioner for this committee. If you’re interested, please contact Bryn Hamilton.