Ultimate Blogging Championship

Author: sitesuper

  • AFHTO calls for quick action on government’s Primary Care Guarantee

    800 Primary Care Providers meet in Toronto to share best practices and push for enhanced primary care.

    Toronto, ON (October 16, 2014): The Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario (AFHTO) called for the Wynne government to take quick action to implement one of its election commitments: a guarantee that every Ontarian has access to primary care. “The evidence is in. When patients have access to high quality, team-based primary care they stay healthier longer, get sick less, and we save the health system money by staying out of hospital,” said Angie Heydon, Executive Director of AFHTO. “Evidence from around the world, and more recently in Ontario, demonstrates that the introduction of primary care teams are providing patients with better care, at the best value.” The Association’s members provide primary care in over 200 communities, serving over 3.5 million patients throughout Ontario. AFHTO announced support for the government’s election commitment to guarantee timely access to primary care in Ontario. They also rolled out several key solutions they believe will help ensure the government meets the commitment:

    • Introduce immediate measures to help primary care teams recruit and retain health care professionals like dietitians and nurse practitioners that are leaving primary care
    • Expand access to interprofessional primary care teams in the province
    • Enhance the capacity of primary care teams to measure and track patient outcomes

    The Association’s annual conference is taking place October 15 and 16 in Toronto. During the conference AFHTO also announced their third annual Bright Lights Awards, which recognize individuals for their leadership and work to improve the value of services delivered by primary care teams in Ontario. Winners were selected from over 60 submissions in a nomination process that took place in August of this year. A full list of winners can be found below. Profiles of the winners and their work are detailed here. About AFHTO: The Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario is a not for profit organization representing Ontario’s interprofessional primary care teams. AFHTO works to support the implementation and growth of primary care teams by promoting best practices, sharing lessons learned, and advocating on their behalf. Evidence and experience shows that team-based comprehensive primary care is delivering better health and better value to patients.

  • Announcing AFHTO 2014 Bright Lights Award Winners!

    AFHTO has awarded 12 innovators in ten categories for their work in making meaningful changes toward improving the patient experience, improving health outcomes and reducing healthcare costs. There were seven total themes and three special awards. Six of the 12 award recipients will receive education grants. The Bright Light Awards were presented during an awards dinner on the evening of October 15th, in the midst of AFHTO’s 2014 Conference, “In Partnership with Patients: True Integration of Care.” The dinner was attended by over 200 people including AFHTO members, senior representatives from government, key agencies and associations. Keynote speaker, Dr. Joshua Tepper, family physician and president and CEO of Health Quality Ontario, joined in celebrating the successes of the award nominees and winners. The awards recognize individuals for their leadership and the work being conducted to improve the value of services delivered by primary care teams in Ontario. Winners were selected from a nomination process of over 60 submissions that took place in August of this year.

    Bright Lights Award recipients

    Click on the links in the names below to read a summary of their achievements.

    Founder of the Bright Lights Awards Program | Dr. John McDonald, PrimaCare Community Family Health Team

    • Recognizing the bright light behind the Bright Lights Awards

    Board Special Award | Dr. Stewart Kennedy

    • A singular commitment to creating a unified voice for primary care

    Emerging Light Award | Two Rivers Family Health Team, Newborn Support Program

    • What’s best for baby: encouraging breastfeeding in Waterloo

    Accountability and governance for patient-centred care | Queen’s Family Health Team

    • With patients, for patients: A new kind of board of directors for a new kind of care

    Engaging patients in their care | Alliston Family Health Team

    • Breathing easier with education and support

    Responding to community needs | Prince Edward Family Health Team

    • Breaking down big barriers for small babies

    Team collaboration in patient-centred care | Two award recipients: 

    1. Sunnybrook Academic Family Health Team, Homebound Senior’s Program Taking care back home: broadening the use of house calls to protect frail patients
    2. Centre for Family Medicine Family Health Team, The Mobility Clinic Creating a flexible clinic for mobility problems

    Integrating the community around the patient | Great Northern, Temagami, and Haileybury Family Health Teams

    • A far-reaching safety net for people who might fall

    Using data to improve transitions of care and care coordination | North York Family Health Team

    • Making it easier for teams to access data needed to improve care

    Clinical innovations in comprehensive primary care | Two award recipients: 

    1. Dr. Judith Davidson, Kingston Family Health Team Helping the sleepless with drug-free insomnia therapy
    2. McMaster Family Health Team, Adolescent Anxiety Group A safe space for teens at a tough place in life [envira-gallery id="19670"]

  • AFHTO 2014 Conference: Theme 1 – Accountability and governance for patient-centred care

    Theme Description: How does the board know that their organization is patient-centred? Presentations in this stream will include examples and stories of boards who have successfully incorporated the patient voice into strategic planning; created structures such as patient and family advisory committees; and processes for including patient stories in quality improvement planning. A1 – Implementing a Patient Advisory Council in an Academic FHT The presentation will take the participants through our internal process from conceptualizing a PAC to implementation and next steps for the evolution of the Council. WE will include concrete examples of how other teams can practically incorporate the PAC into their own environments and we hope to give opportunity for participants hear from one of our PAC members. B1 – How do we as governors ensure we hear and respond to the patient voice? Each panelist will present a brief synopsis of the techniques his/her organization employs to hear and respond to the patient voice and will then outline their successes, challenges, outcomes and recommendations. D1 – Creating cultures of quality improvement and patient safety The Queen’s FHT started their QI and safety journey in 2008 and a key part of this effort has been to examine and address issues of culture. This presentation will focus on defining the aspects of culture that impact QI and safety, how to recognize them in your team, and what steps you can take to improve the culture in your team. E1 – Rural Wellington Shared Governance Across Health Care Partners Presenters will provide a history of the journey the partner agencies have experienced to date, provide details of the steps used to create the vision and mission, challenges and lessons learned, and plans for future endeavors. The focus of the presentation will be on the change management approach that we have found to be successful.

  • AFHTO launches Data to Decisions 1.0: comparing measures across teams for the first time

    Data to Decisions 1.0: Advancing Primary Care (D2D 1.0) is the tangible result of our collective “get started” effort in team-based performance measurement across the AFHTO membership. D2D 1.0 is a summary of primary care data that are currently available, comparable and mean the most to AFHTO members in their efforts to advance quality of care for their patients. AFHTO members can access D2D 1.0 in the Members Only website.

    Why D2D 1.0?

    Measuring our performance helps us demonstrate the value of patient-centered, relationship-based comprehensive primary care.  It helps us fulfill our commitment to our patients by helping us find the gaps locally AND provincially so we can direct the attention of our funders and partners to work with our members to improve the system.  Measurement also helps us use our resources to develop processes and tools that can help ALL primary care providers use manageable and meaningful measurement to improve quality. The measures in D2D 1.0 were selected by members through a process that began with Indicator Working Group review of indicators defined by the HQO’s Primary Care Performance Measurement Framework and aligned with the Starfield principles, and culminated with a vote by members on a short list based on data availability and feasibility. Fifty members contributed their data in this completely voluntary initiative. D2D 1.0 can be used by ALL members – whether or not your team has contributed data. The report is accompanied by a suite of supporting materials to help teams use the data to advance their work to improve quality for their patients.

  • AFHTO Annual Meeting takes place Wednesday October 15, 2014 at 9:00AM

    All who work within an AFHTO member organization or serve on its board are welcome to attend the AFHTO Annual Meeting. It takes place just before the official opening of the AFHTO 2014 Conference, on:

    Wednesday October 15, 2014 at 9:00AM Harbour Ballroom A+B, Westin Harbour Castle One Harbour Square, Toronto, Ontario.

    At this Annual Meeting, the AFHTO board will present its Annual Report to the Members.

    • Click here for a PDF copy of the Annual Report.
    • A print copy of the Annual Report will be mailed to each member organization, and conference attendees will receive a copy in their registration kits.
    • Further updates will be provided at the meeting, with particular focus on AFHTO’s work on recruitment and retention and on promoting the value of comprehensive interprofessional primary care.

    The meeting also includes a report on AFHTO’s financial outlook, in addition to the annual Audited Financial Statements, as well as the board’s Nominations Report and acclamation of five new board of directors. These reports are attached. There will be plenty of opportunity for AFHTO members to ask questions and present opinions. Each AFHTO member organization is entitled to designate one voting representative for the meeting.  Voting delegates will be required to register before the meeting to receive their voting card. The Notice of Meeting, agenda and reports for AFHTO’s Annual Meeting have been sent to the e-mail addresses AFHTO has on file for the Board Chair, Executive Director and Lead MD/NP of these eligible organizations. AFHTO members may request this package from Sombo.Saviye@afhto.ca. Each member organization is asked to contact her in advance to indicate who will be the organization’s voting representative so that a voting package can be prepared in advance for that person.

  • AFHTO’s 2014 Annual Report to the Members is now available

    The 2014 Annual Report gives insight into the progress of AFHTO members – family health teams and nurse practitioner-led clinics – collectively supported by their association, to move toward their shared vision. This is a vision where all Ontarians would have timely access to high-quality and comprehensive primary care, and that care is informed by the social determinants of health, delivered by collaborative teams in partnership with patients and communities, and anchored in an integrated, equitable and sustainable system. The association’s achievements are firmly grounded in AFHTO’s strategic priorities.  These priorities are squarely focused on ensuring members are supported in all the key factors required to optimize quality and value – governance and leadership, measurement and improvement, integration and support for care delivery, and the ability to recruit and retain staff. Read about the past year’s achievements in each of these strategic priorities – click on the link to go to AFHTO’s 2014 Annual Report to the Members.

  • D2D 1.0 Interactive Report – released October 2014

    Click here for orientation and supporting materials for D2D 1.0. [excel_webapp]  

  • D2D 1.0 Interactive Report – Orientation Materials

    Click here to launch D2D 1.0 and join the journey to better data and more manageable, meaningful measurement in primary care. Data to Decisions 1.0: Advancing Primary Care is a summary of performance on 11 indicators that were both possible to measure and meaningful to members, based on a membership-wide vote and a variety of other consultation processes.  The report contains data voluntarily submitted from 50 teams.  It is AFHTO’s first step in advancing manageable, meaningful measurement in primary care.

    Orientation to Data to Decisions (D2D) 1.0 and supporting materials

    Why D2D 1.0?

    Measuring our performance helps us demonstrate the value of patient-centered, relationship-based comprehensive primary care.  It helps us fulfill our commitment to our patients by helping us find the gaps locally AND provincially so we can direct the attention of our funders and partners to work with our members to improve the system.  Measurement also helps us use our resources (especially the QIDSS) to develop processes and tools that can help ALL primary care providers use manageable and meaningful measurement to improve quality.

    How was D2D 1.0 developed?

    D2D 1.0 was approved for implementation by the AFHTO board in Feb, 2014.  The project was guided by the Indicators Working Group (IWG), a sub-committee of the Quality Improvement Decision Support program’s Steering Committee (QSC), chaired by Ross Kirkconnell.  The IWG, under the leadership of Monique Hancock, undertook an extensive consultation process to narrow the selection of indicators from the starting place of the Primary Care Performance Framework and Starfield Model (which together comprise hundreds of indicators) down to the 11 seen in the current report, based on input from members of AFHTO in various forums.  Please see FAQ for more detailed discussion about the selection and production process.

    Orientation to D2D 1.0:

    See figures below (click to enlarge).

    orientation to d2d 1.0_1

    orientation to d2d 1.0_2

    Resources to support the use of D2D 1.0

    Supporting materials embedded in the report:

    For each indicator, there are supporting materials with more detailed information about the definition of the indicator, considerations for interpretation of the data, suggestions for evaluating and improving data quality and resources to help with efforts to improve care. The materials are intended to be used by any and all staff of member organizations to start conversations with their teams and their peers.  The ideas for actions presented in the supporting materials are just that – ideas!  AFHTO members are at different stages in their performance measurement journey.  For some, the next steps forward are conversations with Board members or clinical leaders to create forums for consideration of quality measures.  For others, the next steps might be attempts to extract EMR data and for still others, the next step might be the implementation of a new clinical program.  The goal of D2D 1.0 is to support members in taking action wherever they are at with whoever they can to step towards manageable meaningful measurement.  Any step is the right step!

    Videos:

    Short videos (2-15 minutes) for use by AFHTO member staff to better understand the tool and/or share with Board members or others

     

    Anonymous feedback survey:

    D2D 1.0 is about getting started.  We need to know from you what is working and what needs to change to make D2D 2.0 easier and more meaningful.  So in addition to the on-line forums, please feel click on complete this survey to provide your anonymous feedback about D2D 1.0 and what would make it more useful for your team.   The survey will be monitored by AFHTO staff on an ongoing basis to capture your input for planning for D2D 2.0.

    Contact information:

    Please contact Carol Mulder, QIDS Provincial Lead, with any questions, comments or suggestions.

  • Data to Decisions 1.0 report launches TODAY! Join the Webinar Today (Oct 1, 4 – 5 pm) or tomorrow (Oct 2, 12-1 pm)

    The on-line tool — Data to Decisions 1.0: Advancing Primary Care (D2D 1.0) – has been posted on the AFHTO’s members-only website.

    D2D 1.0 is a summary of primary care data that are currently available, comparable and mean the most to AFHTO members in their efforts to advance quality of care for their patients.  The report displays data submitted anonymously by 50 teams.  It can be used by ALL members – whether or not your team has contributed data. The report is accompanied by a suite of supporting materials to help teams use the data to advance their work to improve quality for their patients.

    Join the webinar this afternoon or tomorrow (Oct 1, 4-5 pm or Oct 2, 12-1 pm) for more information and education on using D2D 1.0 in your team.   Click on links below to register for one of the two sessions:

    • Wed., Oct 1, 2014,4:00 – 5:00 PM EDT
    • Thurs., Oct 2, 2014, 12:00 noon – 1:00 PM EDT

    Click here to view the slides from the webinar.

    Additional education opportunities include:

  • Data to Decisions 1.0 report launches TODAY! Join the Webinar Today (Oct 1, 4 – 5 pm) or tomorrow (Oct 2, 12-1 pm)

    The on-line tool — Data to Decisions 1.0: Advancing Primary Care (D2D 1.0) – has been posted on the AFHTO’s members-only website. D2D 1.0 is a summary of primary care data that are currently available, comparable and mean the most to AFHTO members in their efforts to advance quality of care for their patients.  The report displays data submitted anonymously by 50 teams.  It can be used by ALL members – whether or not your team has contributed data. The report is accompanied by a suite of supporting materials to help teams use the data to advance their work to improve quality for their patients. Join the webinar this afternoon or tomorrow (Oct 1, 4-5 pm or Oct 2, 12-1 pm) for more information and education on using D2D 1.0 in your team.   Click on links below to register for one of the two sessions:

    • Wed., Oct 1, 2014,4:00 – 5:00 PM EDT
    • Thurs., Oct 2, 2014, 12:00 noon – 1:00 PM EDT

    Click here to view the slides from the webinar. Additional education opportunities include: