Ultimate Blogging Championship

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  • Save the date: Webinar on overcoming privacy issues in partnership agreements

    Save the date for a provincial webinar on  March 21, 2014:

    “Overcoming Privacy issues in partnership agreements”

    AFHTO is pleased to announce this important learning opportunity open to all members. The presenter is Kate Dewhirst from Dykeman Dewhirst O’Brien LLP (DDO Health Law). Kate’s area of expertise is in managing privacy and legal compliance with health privacy legislation and how it uniquely applies to FHTs, FHOs/FHNs and their activities. The session will focus on the privacy considerations in implementing the quality improvement decision support (QIDS) program, such as Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs), barriers & challenges, as well as tools & templates for data sharing, and more. The recently completed standard Memorandum of Understanding form for QIDSS Partnerships will also be discussed. The webinar will take place on March 21st from 9 am to 10 am EST. Please mark this date in your calendars. Details on how to register will be shared shortly. We look forward to your attendance.

  • Training and resource materials available for primary care

    Scroll down for a variety of training opportunities and resources for primary care:

    • Workplace Health & Safety Training sessions
    • Primary Care Nurse Education Fund applications open until March 31, 2014
    • Cancer screening awareness campaign resources for motivating patients
    • H-CARDD Atlas of Primary Care of Adults with Developmental Disabilities in Ontario
    • Open for Comment: HQO/OHTAC recommendations on Point-of-Care Hemoglobin A1c Testing (until February 17, 2014)

    Register Now for Upcoming Workplace Health & Safety Training Sessions

    The Public Services Health & Safety Association (PSHSA) provides free workplace health and safety expertise to Ontario public service sector employers and workers. PSHSA offers a wide variety of free training, products and consulting services to meet guidelines established by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board and enforced by the Ministry of Labour. Click here for the full training catalogue.

    Free Healthcare Webinars:

    Primary Care Nurse Education Fund applications open until March 31, 2014

    The Nursing Education Initiative Grant Program is funded by Ontario’s Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOH). The program provides education grants to support nurses’ knowledge and skills through professional development. Eligible primary care RNs can apply for up to $1,500 in funding through RNAO and eligible primary care RPNs can apply through RPNAO.

    Registrants are encouraged to apply to the Fund for the upcoming Primary Care Nurse Institute (March 23-28th)

    Cancer Screening awareness campaign resources to motivate your patients

    The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC), in partnership with CCO, launched their new Integrated Cancer Screening campaign, encouraging Ontarians to speak with their health care providers about getting screened for breast, colorectal, and cervical cancer.

    Research tells us that people are more likely to do something, like get screened, if they are motivated to do so by their health care provider. The links below connect you with the campaign material, as well as additional information you may find useful, including the ministry’s resources for breast, cervical and colorectal screening, as well as CCO’s screening guidelines.

    H-CARDD’s Atlas of Primary Care of Adults with Developmental Disabilities in Ontario

    The Health Care Access Research and Developmental Disabilities (H-CARDD) program released a landmark study of the health status and health care use of over 66,000 adults with developmental disabilities across the province.  The report concludes that, while primary care providers are pivotal to achieving needed changes, the broader health care context that supports primary care provision also needs to be considered. A summary of the Atlas of is now available online at www.hcardd.ca.

    Open for Comment: Draft report and OHTAC recommendations on Point-of-Care Hemoglobin A1c Testing

    Health Quality Ontario’s draft report and OHTAC recommendations on Point-of-Care Hemoglobin A1c Testing is open for comment until February 17, 2014. HQO invites you to submit comments to OHTAC_Comments@hqontario.ca.

  • Training and resource materials available for primary care

    Scroll down for a variety of training opportunities and resources for primary care:

    • Workplace Health & Safety Training sessions
    • Primary Care Nurse Education Fund applications open until March 31, 2014
    • Cancer screening awareness campaign resources for motivating patients
    • H-CARDD Atlas of Primary Care of Adults with Developmental Disabilities in Ontario
    • Open for Comment: HQO/OHTAC recommendations on Point-of-Care Hemoglobin A1c Testing (until February 17, 2014)

    Register Now for Upcoming Workplace Health & Safety Training Sessions

    The Public Services Health & Safety Association (PSHSA) provides free workplace health and safety expertise to Ontario public service sector employers and workers. PSHSA offers a wide variety of free training, products and consulting services to meet guidelines established by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board and enforced by the Ministry of Labour. Click here for the full training catalogue. Free Healthcare Webinars:

    Primary Care Nurse Education Fund applications open until March 31, 2014

    The Nursing Education Initiative Grant Program is funded by Ontario’s Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOH). The program provides education grants to support nurses’ knowledge and skills through professional development. Eligible primary care RNs can apply for up to $1,500 in funding through RNAO and eligible primary care RPNs can apply through RPNAO. Registrants are encouraged to apply to the Fund for the upcoming Primary Care Nurse Institute (March 23-28th)

    Cancer Screening awareness campaign resources to motivate your patients

    The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC), in partnership with CCO, launched their new Integrated Cancer Screening campaign, encouraging Ontarians to speak with their health care providers about getting screened for breast, colorectal, and cervical cancer. Research tells us that people are more likely to do something, like get screened, if they are motivated to do so by their health care provider. The links below connect you with the campaign material, as well as additional information you may find useful, including the ministry’s resources for breast, cervical and colorectal screening, as well as CCO’s screening guidelines.

    H-CARDD’s Atlas of Primary Care of Adults with Developmental Disabilities in Ontario

    The Health Care Access Research and Developmental Disabilities (H-CARDD) program released a landmark study of the health status and health care use of over 66,000 adults with developmental disabilities across the province.  The report concludes that, while primary care providers are pivotal to achieving needed changes, the broader health care context that supports primary care provision also needs to be considered. A summary of the Atlas of is now available online at www.hcardd.ca.

    Open for Comment: Draft report and OHTAC recommendations on Point-of-Care Hemoglobin A1c Testing

    Health Quality Ontario’s draft report and OHTAC recommendations on Point-of-Care Hemoglobin A1c Testing is open for comment until February 17, 2014. HQO invites you to submit comments to OHTAC_Comments@hqontario.ca.

  • Register Now – Effective Governance for Quality in Primary Care Workshops

    Register now for free workshops in Effective Governance for Quality in Primary Care – OPEN ONLY TO AFHTO MEMBERS!

    The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care has funded AFHTO to organize and deliver sessions of one-day programs for board members, executive directors and clinical leads of all AFHTO member organizations.

    Each workshop will be filled with information to help you guide your organization in delivering quality primary care through good governance. With the help of our peer facilitators, you will learn about the following topics among others:

    • Roles, skills and knowledge
    • Developing and maintaining relationships
    • Culture
    • Quality improvement planning
    • Information and measurement

    Case studies and reviews of best practices are included.

    Peer Facilitators confirmed for our workshops are:

    • Dr. Rob Annis – Board Member, North Perth FHT
    • Sudha Kutty – Board Member, Sherbourne FHT
    • Dr. Joseph Lee – Board Member , Centre for Family Medicine FHT
    • Sharon Pillon – Board Member, Amherstburg FHT
    • Catherine Schooley – Board Member, Essex County NPLC
    • Keri Selkirk – Executive Director , Thames Valley FHT

    In order to register, an access code specific to each member organization is needed.  It can only be used up to a maximum of three times per organization and has been provided to each’s board chair executive director and clinical lead. If you would like to register and do not have the access code, please contact your administrative lead.

    Click here to register now.

    Accommodations

    Don’t forget to make your hotel reservations for your stay. Group rates are time sensitive. Our workshop venues are:

    Click here for Frequently Asked Questions for information on how to reserve your room, complete your registration and other questions.

    Registration Inquiries:

    For questions regarding registration, please contact Luciana Evangelista, Registration Manager, by e-mail afhtoreg@mci-group.com or by phone 416-621-2727 ext. 2003.

    Program Inquiries:

    For further information on the workshops, please contact Paula Myers, Governance and Leadership Program – Program Development Assistant, by e-mail leadership@afhto.ca or by phone (647) 234-8605 ext. 206.

    We look forward to seeing you there!

    This program has been reviewed by the College of Family Physicians of Canada and is awaiting final accreditation by the College’s Ontario Chapter.

  • Championing Innovation in Quality Improvement Decision Support

    The Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario (AFHTO) is pleased to announce the six recipients of Quality Improvement Decision Support (QIDS) Innovation Funds. Ontario Family Health Teams (FHTs) are committed to measuring and improving comprehensive primary care performance; the QIDS program is a provincial initiative to support AFHTO members in their quality improvement (QI) efforts.

    More than 25 FHTs are involved in these six member-led projects. The projects will serve as catalysts for sector-wide capacity building in advanced measurement and improvement capability. The grant recipients are accelerating progress in the use of data management tools and techniques, implementation of multi-practice performance measurement and feedback, and other QI strategic priorities.

    AFHTO is excited to support this cutting edge QI innovation in primary care, and will facilitate knowledge sharing and dissemination of award winners’ lessons learned and best practices among all members. The six grant recipients are as follows; scroll below for more detailed information:

    • Building QIDS capacity through pilot testing of the Starfield Model
      • Leads: Dr. Rick Glazier, St. Michael’s Hospital Academic Family Health Team and ICES and Dr. George Southey, Dorval Medical FHT
    • Readiness and prioritization assessment for adoption and implementation of a minimal clinical data set
      • Lead:  Mary Keith, Executive Director, Garden City Family Health Team
    • Performance Management Framework and Dashboard- A data storybook and performance song sheet!
      • Lead: Heba Sadek, Executive Director, Queen’s Square Family Health Team
    • Patient Encounter and Reporting Tracking System for primary care quality improvement reporting
      • Lead: Michelle Karker, Executive Director, East Wellington Family Health Team
    • QIDS based information management clusters:  leveraging privacy infrastructure, standardized EMR data and scalable analytic tools for groups of Family Health Teams
      • Lead: Dr. Michelle Griever, North York Family Health Team
    • Creating the tools for fostering a culture of quality improvement in Family Health Teams
      • Lead: Dr. Sanjeev Goel, Wise Elephant Downtown Brampton Family Health Team

    Background The QIDS Innovation Fund is intended to advance measurement and improvement capacity to enable all members to benefit from better tools, knowledge and capability. An invitation to apply for the QIDS Innovation Fund was extended in December 2013, and members responded with 18 proposals that addressed these goals and then some! This impressive response by members signifies the widespread commitment to quality improvement by the sector.  

    Given the wealth of proposal submissions, the selection process was very difficult. Once again, the AFHTO Board would like to thank and congratulate all those who took the time to submit proposals. A special thanks goes to the review panel, which was chaired by Ross Kirkconnell, Executive Director, Guelph FHT and included Brenda Fraser, Central West Local Health Integration Network (well known to many from her work at the Quality Improvement and Innovation Partnership) and Dr. Darren Larsen of OntarioMD and the Ontario Medical Association.

    AFHTO would also like to acknowledge and express its sincere thanks to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care for the flexibility and support that permitted the provincial QIDS program funding to be allocated in this novel and creative way.

    Grant recipients

    Building QIDS capacity through pilot testing of the Starfield Model

    Leads: Dr. Rick Glazier, St. Michael’s Hospital Academic FHT and ICES and Dr. George Southey, Dorval Medical FHT

    The goal of this project is to pilot the Starfield Model, a measurement framework for comprehensive primary care based on the principles enunciated by Barbara Starfield and endorsed by AFHTO. The project will directly support AFHTO’s strategic goals by building capacity to measure key elements of comprehensive primary care. Many of the required measures are only beginning to become available and few are in routine use across FHTs or other models of primary care in Ontario. Pilot testing will identify areas of commonalities and differences in measures and approaches and will contribute to further development and standardization.

    Readiness and prioritization assessment for adoption and implementation of a minimal clinical data set

    Lead:  Mary Keith, Executive Director, Garden City FHT

    This is a project aimed at determining both the readiness and priorities of the various FHTs in LHIN 4 regarding a minimum measurable set of data items needed to track specific chronic conditions. Data collection will occur through an online questionnaire. Results of the MDS project should be ready by mid April 2014 and will provide our group with metrics for care management that will assist in the planning and implementation of projects for quality improvement in patient care.This project is being led by Mary Keith, with the assistance of Urslin Fevrier-Thomas and Karl Langton, both from the Hamilton FHT.

    Performance Management Framework and Dashboard- A data storybook and performance song sheet!

    Lead: Heba Sadek, Executive Director, Queen’s Square FHT

    In the absence of a structural tool that enables organizations to organize and understand their accountability requirements, the response to quality initiatives can be frustrating and ad hoc. Through this initiative Queen Square and its partners: Dufferin Area, Halton Hills and North Peel FHTs will identify a common framework for data mapping that will show how different indicators are used to meet different accountability requirements. Clinicians’ input will also be sought in indicator development and standardization that meets their needs and aligns with the Primary Care Performance Framework.

    Patient Encounter and Reporting Tracking System for primary care quality improvement reporting

    Lead: Michelle Karker, Executive Director, East Wellington FHT

    The East Wellington FHT (EWFHT) has been a leader in the development of tools to extract data from its EMR, including data that is now required for Quality Improvement Plans and Ministry reporting. Advanced prototypes are already in existence. This project funding will enable EWFHT to further refine the programming and respond to the requests to share these tools across with its QIDS partners and potentially across the province.

    QIDS based information management clusters:  leveraging privacy infrastructure, standardized EMR data and scalable analytic tools for groups of FHTs

    Lead: Dr. Michelle Griever, North York FHT

    This project will collaboratively develop methods to implement centralized information management for each cluster within a partnership that includes Kingston, Hamilton and North York FHT clusters. The aim is to allow the QIDS Specialist to manage data for several affiliated FHTs from a single secure location, while respecting privacy. The project will develop a customizable, agreed-upon memorandum of understanding for data use, a privacy and security manual compliant with legislation, and secure processes for rolling out reporting software controlled through each cluster’s governance policies.

    Creating the tools for fostering a culture of quality improvement in FHTs

    Lead: Dr. Sanjeev Goel, Wise Elephant Downtown Brampton FHT

    The goal of this project is to enhance a current reporting dashboard platform to enable all FHTs from across the province, irrespective of their EMRs, to contribute their data on a set of defined, extractable core indicators. The project will use these core indicators, create innovative solutions for FHTs to contribute this data securely, and then present this data back to FHTs for their consumption.  Access to their own data along with aggregate data from other FHTs will stimulate groups to advance their quality improvement plans. Aggregate data from FHTs will also enable global reporting on FHT performance on these indicators, allowing AFHTO to evaluate current team-based models of care and advocate for scale up of models that are leading to improved health outcomes and health care system sustainability.

    For more information on any of these projects, please contact improve@afhto.ca.

  • Low Back Pain Patient Self-Management Video

    Announcing the NEW Low Back Pain Patient Self-Management Video!

    The Centre for Effective Practice is excited to release a new patient video on Low Back Pain created by Dr. Mike Evans (Health Design Lab) and developed in collaboration with the Government of Ontario, and the Institute for Work & Health.

    Funding for this video was provided by the Government of Ontario under the province’s Low Back Pain Strategy. The video is targeted at Ontario adults who may be experiencing an episode of low back pain and is based on existing primary care provider evidence-informed standardized clinical tools and resources previously developed as part of the provincial Strategy.

    For more information on Ontario’s Low Back Pain Strategy, or to access provider curriculum and tools, please visit: www.effectivepractice.org/lowbackpain or ontario.ca/lowbackpain (ontario.ca/lombalgie for French).

  • MOHLTC survey on Minister’s Medal Honouring Excellence in Health Quality and Safety

    Message from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, Health Quality Branch: In 2013 the Minister’s Medal recognition program was launched. The program received a tremendous response from the field with 140 applications submitted from across the province. To improve on the success in the first year of the program and to inform the development process for the 2014 program, we have developed a short survey to evaluate the inaugural Minister’s Medal and to gain further insight into how the program can be improved going forward. I hope you are able to take approximately 5 minutes to complete this short survey. We value your feedback and greatly appreciate you taking the time to support this program. Please click the following link to access the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QCQ8XRX

  • QIDS Innovation Fund: First Projects Approved

    The QIDS Innovation Fund is intended to create and test ways to advance measurement and improvement capacity, and from this, enable all members to benefit from better tools, knowledge and capability.   AFHTO members responded to the invitation to apply with 18 proposals that addressed these goals and then some! The AFHTO Board would like to thank and congratulate all those who took the time to make proposals. Three projects have been identified for immediate support. These fast-tracked projects were selected both for the strength of their proposals and their potential to benefit the QIDS strategy and AFHTO members as a whole. Projects that have been identified for immediate support are:

    Minimum Data Set Lead:  Mary Keith, Executive Director, Garden City Family Health Team

    This is a project aimed at determining both the readiness and priorities of the various Family Health Teams in LHIN 4 regarding a minimum measurable set of data items needed to track specific chronic conditions. Data collection will occur through an online questionnaire. Results of the MDS project should be ready by mid April 2014 and will provide our group with metrics for care management that will assist in the planning and implementation of projects for quality improvement in patient care.

    This project is being led by Mary Keith, with the assistance of Urslin Fevrier-Thomas and Karl Langton, both from the Hamilton FHT.  For more information contact Mary at mkeith@gardencityfht.com, Urslin at urslin.fevrierthomas@hamiltonfht.ca or Karl at Karl.Langton@HamiltonFHT.ca.

    Performance Management Framework and Dashboard- A data storybook and performance song sheet! Lead: Heba Sadek, Executive Director, Queen’s Square Family Health Team

    In the absence of a structural tool that enables organizations to organize and understand their accountability requirements, the response to quality initiatives can be frustrating and ad hoc. Through this initiative Queen Square and its partners: Dufferin Area, Halton Hills and North Peel Family Health Teams will identify a common framework for data mapping that will show how different indicators are used to meet different accountability requirements. Clinicians’ input will also be sought in indicator development and standardization that meets their needs and aligns with the Primary Care Performance framework.

    For more information contact Heba Sadek at HSadek@queensquarefht.ca

    Patient Encounter and Reporting Tracking System: Lead: Michelle Karker, Executive Director, East Wellington Family Health Team

    The East Wellington Family Health Team (EWFHT) has been a leader in the development of tools to extract data from its EMR, including data that is now required for Quality Improvement Plans and Ministry reporting. Advanced prototypes are already in existence. This project funding will enable EWFHT to further refine the programming and respond to the requests to share these tools across with its QIDS partners and potentially across the province.

    For further information contact Michelle Karker at michelle.karker@ewfht.ca.

    Congratulations go out to this first group of teams. Another group of proposals has been short-listed. Stay tuned! A special thanks goes to the review panel which was chaired by Ross Kirkconnell, Executive Director, Guelph Family Health Team and included Brenda Fraser, Central West LHIN (well known to many from her work at QIIP) and Darren Larsen of OntarioMD and the OMA. “It was really difficult to pick and choose. We had such a great mix of ideas and initiatives which speaks very highly of the sector’s readiness to take on these types of challenges. There simply wasn’t enough money to support all the great ideas.” Watch the AFHTO members only web-site for progress updates and knowledge sharing opportunities on these exciting projects.

  • Minister’s Year Two Progress Report / Valuing comprehensive interprofessional primary care

    Today the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care presented her Year Two Progress Report on achievements in implementing Ontario’s Action Plan for Health Care. The key piece for AFHTO members is the second of the Plan’s three goals – Faster access and a stronger link to family health care. The Minister’s presentation to the Empire Club in Toronto included a brief video on Health Links which clearly puts the patient and his/her primary care provider at the centre of improving care for high-needs patients. It is this message that AFHTO continues to press with our political and health care leaders – the evidence of the value of comprehensive interprofessional primary care, its impact on outcomes and total cost of care for patients, and the need for sufficient funding to support recruitment and retention of the staff required to deliver this value.  In her speech the Minister signaled there would be announcements soon concerning remuneration and working conditions for personal support workers, who typically make minimum wage and face uncertain hours.  It is too soon to tell what funding may be available in the next fiscal for FHTs, NPLCs and other interprofessional primary care models, but we do know that the issues and challenges have been clearly understood.

  • Save the date — free workshops in Effective Governance for Quality in Primary Care

    Registration will be opening soon for three new sessions of the Effective Governance for Quality in Primary Care workshops. This program was well-received and over-subscribed when MOHLTC offered it last year. As a result, MOHLTC has funded AFHTO to organize and deliver additional sessions of one-day programs for board members and executive directors of all AFHTO member organizations.

    The workshops will be held on the following dates and locations:

    • Ottawa on Wednesday March 5, 2014
    • Toronto on Monday March 24, 2014
    • Thunder Bay on Monday March 31, 2014

    AFHTO is pleased to be able to continue offering this excellent program to our members, and at no charge. Effective Governance for Quality is an evidence-based training program created by the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI). To support the quality agenda in primary care, a year ago MOHLTC partnered with the Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario (AFHTO), the Association of Ontario Health Centres (AOHC), the Nurse Practitioner’s Association of Ontario (NPAO) and the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI) to customize and deliver the program to Ontario’s primary care organizations. This year, peer leaders from FHTs and NPLCs are being trained to deliver the workshops to our members and will be working with the AFHTO team to ensure that our members continue to receive the support required to develop strong governance structures and processes for quality care.

    Program registration is free of charge and open to board members and executive directors of all AFHTO member organizations. It is recommended that each organization send more than one person to the program to fully benefit from the training.

    Effective Governance for Quality in Primary Care has been submitted for CME credits and for CHE credits.