In this Issue:
- The Health Equity Questionnaire: Standardized Entry of Social Determinants of Health into EMRs
- Resources for social determinants of health
- Food for thought
- Updated Primary Care Data Reports for Ontario Health Teams
- Help shape the future of virtual health care in Ontario
- Phase I Guidance for Clinically Appropriate Use of Virtual Care for Primary Care evaluation survey
- Virtual Care Guidance Statements Checklist for Clinicians and other resources
- Upcoming Events
The Health Equity Questionnaire: Standardized Entry of Social Determinants of Health into EMRs
To provide the most equitable care for our patients we need to know their social determinants of health. Current EMR specifications don’t require that this information is included in the dataset for each patient and EMRs don’t provide a standardized way to enter it.
The Health Equity Questionnaire (HEQ) has been developed to allow social determinants of health information to be entered into EMRs efficiently and in a standardized way, allowing it to be easily accessed, updated, and searched.
Questions and data elements from an extensive set of existing tools were collected, prioritized, and distilled into a practical new format designed around provider workflows. Many stakeholders, including several EDI specialists, were consulted.
At the time of a visit, clicking on the ‘HEQ’ button in the chart will bring up the Questionnaire form. The provider can then enter any information that may be relevant to the patient’s care and save it to the chart. Clicking the button again will bring up a new copy of the form which is pre-populated with any previously entered data and can be updated as needed. The form is designed to display all the information in an “at a glance” view which means that all the information is shown in one window without any clicking or scrolling.
The questions can also be sent directly to the patient via secure messaging. They can then answer any of the questions that they’re comfortable with and their responses will be automatically entered directly into their charts. If an HEQ form is not already in the chart, then a new one will be created. If there is an existing form in the chart, then it will simply be updated with their responses.
Care must be taken to ensure that the patient understands why the questions are being asked, that the information will be treated with the same confidentiality as the rest of their medical information, that it will only be used to provide them with the best care possible, and that they only need to provide whatever responses they’re comfortable with.
A video demonstration of the tool is available here.
The toolkit can be downloaded from the TELUS Health Practice Solutions Community Portal by navigating in Chatter to Groups, Active Groups and then the East Wellington Family Health Team group. Plans are in progress to migrate the toolkit to the other main EMRs as well.
Questions and feedback are welcome and can be directed to Dr. Kevin Samson kevin.samson@ewfht.ca.
Resources for social determinants of health
Webinars and conference sessions
- Supporting Caregivers Supports Patients- The Critical Role of Primary Care in Preventing Caregiver Burnout
- Advancing Equity in Cancer Screening for Gender-Diverse Clients
- Curing Hepatitis C: A team-based approach to treating a silent epidemic
- C1 – Eat.Move.Repeat: A cross cultural, action based approach to lifestyle and wellness programs
Select Resources
- QI in Action eBulletin #120: Striving for Health Equity and Better Health Outcomes
- IPHCC Wise Practices Guide
- Social Prescribing in Practice , one of the resources listed in QI in Action eBulletin #100- Rx: Social Prescribing
- The war in Ukraine and refugee health care: considerations for health care providers in Canada
- 2SLGBTQI identity and dementia: an introduction for healthcare and social service professionals
- Rainbow Health Ontario
- Evaluating program planning using an equity framework – Queen Square FHT. Article published in Healthcare Management Forum. Please note that you need to pay for the full article.
- Ne-iikaanigaana Toolkit ‘All Our Relations’: Guidance for Creating Safer Environments for Indigenous Peoples
Food for Thought
- For family caregivers, cost of unpaid care work is both personal and professional
- Wealthier neighbourhoods had more access to virtual mental health services in the pandemic: study
- Heteronormativity is institutionalized within health care. This needs to change
- Full nurse practitioner scope of practice led to greater workforce diversity
- Forgiveness vs. self-preservation: the difficult decision of caring for an abusive parent
- Women are suffering needlessly through menopause transition, physicians say
- Black Canadians less likely to receive preventive health services and often receive lower-quality care
Updated Primary Care Data Reports for Ontario Health Teams
INSPIRE PHC has posted the updated Primary Care Data Report for all of Ontario. These reports track key primary care health system indicators and guide attachment strategies in Ontario Health Teams (OHTs). The Primary Care Data Working Group produced reports specific to each OHT and are intended to provide a deeper understanding of the attributed population of each OHT. Find out more.
Help shape the future of virtual health care in Ontario
Help shape the future of virtual health care in Ontario! We are looking for patients and caregivers in Ontario to take a 15 to 20-minutes survey on the experiences and expectations with virtual care appointments as a patient or caregiver with a doctor, nurse, or another healthcare professional in a family practice. This study from the University of Toronto and the Bruyére Research Institute is led by Dr. Rachelle Ashcroft and Dr. Simone Dahrouge.
To take the survey, please click one of the links below:
- Patient: https://bit.ly/PatientVirtualCare
- Caregiver: https://bit.ly/CaregiverVirtualCare
As part of the recruitment efforts, primary care clinics will have the opportunity to receive a customized report based on the template regarding the experiences of their patients with virtual care. In addition, you can view the report last year on virtual care that was shared broadly to key decision makers. Should you be interested in participating or learning more, please contact Simon Lam, research coordinator, at sck.lam@utoronto.ca.
Phase I Guidance for Clinically Appropriate Use of Virtual Care for Primary Care evaluation survey
Ontario Health is conducting an evaluation of the ‘Phase I Guidance for Clinically Appropriate Use of Virtual Care for Primary Care’ developed in collaboration with an Expert Panel. You’re invited to complete this survey to capture your awareness of, access to and adoption of the Phase I Guidance for Clinically Appropriate Use of Virtual Care for Primary Care.
You may access the survey here.
The survey should take approximately 5-10 minutes to complete, and your responses will remain anonymous. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the survey, please do not hesitate to contact Mimosa Zhao by email at zhao@theevidencenetwork.com.
Upcoming Events
Sickle Cell Disease: A New Quality Standard for High-Quality Care in Ontario
February 22, 2023, 12:00pm
This session will introduce Ontario Health’s recently released Sickle Cell Disease quality standard and describe how it can drive quality improvement and improve care for Ontarians across the health system. Register here.
Media Messaging on Equity: How do we do better?
March 6, 2023, 4:30 pm
The third-annual Vohra Miller Lectures in Critical Public Health Issues in collaboration with the Institute for Pandemics puts a spotlight on the media’s handling of equity issues, including health equity, during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. What are the forces that shape media coverage of equity matters? What does the future of the media landscape hold and, what are the possibilities? Register here.
In Case You Missed It: Check out eBulletin #125 or other back issues here!
Questions? Comments? Contact us at improve@afhto.ca.
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