Ultimate Blogging Championship

Author: sitesuper

  • Joint webinar – AFHTO and MOHLTC present program development tools for FY 2016-17

    The Schedule A working group and the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care have developed a suite of program planning and evaluation tools to assist AFHTO member teams in planning their programs for the coming fiscal year:

    Hyperlinks within these documents will take you to relevant sample tools, suggested references and related information, many of which can also be accessed directly from our online repository of program development tools. Please note that these documents and tools have been created for AFHTO members; you will need to log in to the AFHTO website in order to view them.

    The Framework and Catalogue will be introduced in a webinar presented jointly by AFHTO and the Ministry of Long Term Care. This webinar is offered twice:

    • Wednesday, February 24, 2016, 2:00-3:30 pm
    • Tuesday, March 1, 2016, 12:00-1:30 pm

    To register for the webinar, click on the link above and choose your preferred date. The slide deck for the webinar is available now.

    Please note that the Primary Health Care Branch is awaiting approval to finalize the annual operating plan packages. For this reason, the webinar on February 24 will not be addressing the Annual Operating Plan or Schedule A reporting requirements for 2016-17. Likewise, the Ministry’s Programs & Services Tipsheet is not yet being made available. No indication has been given yet whether these subjects will be covered during the March 1st webinar.

  • Couchiching FHT & community partners come together for new geriatric clinic

    Couchiching FHT is integrating its geriatric outreach program into a first of its kind geriatric clinic opening next month in Orillia. Led by local geriatrician Dr. Kevin Young, apart from its occupational therapists, administrator and nurse, the clinic will host Alzheimer Society staff, rehabilitation therapists, a dietitian and other health-care professionals providing seniors-focused programming. With a wait list for geriatric care of nine to 12 months, the clinic should improve timely access to care, reduce senior visits to the emergency department and, due to the co-ordination of care all in the same space, reduce duplication of efforts. Other programs will include the heart-function program, the integrated regional falls program, the Victorian Order of Nurses’ enhanced rehab program for frail seniors and Health Link. Relevant Links:

  • Data to Decisions eBulletin #29: Quality Improvement focus groups with IHPs

    Moving beyond measurement to improvement in interprofessional care – Focus groups with IHPs are being set up now – please visit our site for more information and pass this on to your IHPs. How is D2D working for you? AFHTO is partnering with Dan Wagner (MSc student) and Dr. Noah Ivers to find out so invitations for interviews will be sent in the coming weeks. Contact Carol Mulder for more information. Questions about “time spent delivering care”? See the videos featuring comments by FHT doctors Rob Annis and Sean Blaine. Sean is AFHTO President and Rob serves as AFHTO Treasurer and Chair of the Physician Leadership Council. More QIP webinars from HQO – ‘Beginners Education on submitting QIPS’ and ‘QIP Conversations’ will be held on various dates in February and March. Webinars on Program Planning, Indicator Catalogue and Schedule A reporting requirements– Register and pick the session you wish to attend: February 24th 2:00-3:30 pm OR March 1st 12:00-1:30pm. Join a mental health and addictions community of practice– deadline to join ECHO Ontario Mental Health (a partnership between CAMH and University of Toronto) is February 26th, 2016.

    Help spread the word about D2D – invite others to sign up for the e-Bulletin online.  Getting too many emails? Scroll to the bottom of the original email for the unsubscribe link.

  • ECHO Ontario Mental Health Virtual CoP- Feb. 26 deadline

    We’d like to invite you to join an exciting new project which aims to build a virtual community of practice, expand knowledge, and increase capacity to manage clients with mental illness and/or addiction in primary care. The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health has partnered with the University of Toronto to develop ECHO (Extension of Clinical Health Outcomes) Ontario Mental Health at CAMH and the University of Toronto (ECHO Ontario Mental Health). This project is fully funded through the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, and does not require any payment from primary care provider sites. It is fully accredited as Continuing Medical Education, so participants will receive CME credits at no cost.

    Due to increased demand, ECHO Ontario Mental Health at CAMH and U of T is currently accepting registration for approximately 10 new participant sites starting immediately, and will be taking registration for additional sites for the September 2016 cycle.

    We have attached an information package, with instructions for how to apply to become a spoke site with ECHO Ontario Mental Health. We will be accepting applicants on a first come, first serve basis, with a deadline for registration in this cycle of Feb. 26, 2016. If we are unable to accommodate all the applications, your application will be put in a priority queue and you will be accepted into the next round of sessions, beginning in September. You will not be required to re-submit a registration form at that time.

    Please feel free to visit our website for more information: https://www.porticonetwork.ca/web/echo-on-mh.

    We are looking forward to your participation, and would be happy to discuss any questions you might have. To contact us, please feel free to email us at echo_ontariomentalhealth@camh.ca.

  • Thamesview FHT & partners providing cancer support programs open to public

    Thamesview FHT has partnered with Windsor Regional Hospital to provide support programs for cancer patients and their family and friends within the Chatham area. “Sexuality and Cancer” and “A Life After Cancer Educational Series” are also available via video conference using the Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN). Cancer patients often have to leave Chatham-Kent to receive advance treatment, which involves a lot of time, travel and expense. Then they’re also recommended to participate in support programs, which may mean even more travel. With Thamesview FHT offering these programs, patients save time as well as money for gas and parking. Also open to the public is a monthly peer support group, facilitated by a cancer survivor and offered through a partnership with the Canadian Cancer Society. To learn more about these programs you can read the original article here.

  • Member News: Zika virus memo, patient engagement resources and funding opportunities

    Below are relevant updates and items for AFHTO members, including free resources and tools:

    Updates Relevant to Primary Care
    • Chief Medical Office of Health memo on Zika virus: update and resources including a Question and Answer document developed by Public Health Ontario in collaboration with the Ministry.

    Clinical & Patient Engagement Resources
    • Syrian Refugee Early Assessment Considerations for Primary Care Providers tool: provided by the Ministry, along with additional information.
    • Preventing Childhood Obesity: clinical tool developed as part of the Knowledge Translation in Primary Care Initiative.

    Events and Learning Opportunities

     

  • Looking for FHTs/NPLCs as case studies on care coordination, unionization, outreach to family physicians outside the team

    To: All EDs in AFHTO Membership

    AFHTO is reaching out to members for assistance in developing a series of case studies to guide members through situations they may be facing. If your team has experience with any of the situations identified below and you would like to share your knowledge, please contact Bryn Hamilton about volunteering to be a case study subject.

    1.  “Effectively Embedding Care Coordinators within Primary Care”: The case studies will explore teams that currently have CCAC care coordinators embedded within their teams and the success factors and principles for establishing effective working relations. MOHLTC’s Patients First proposal speaks to deploying these care coordinators in primary care. A number of teams have already done this – their experience can help other FHTs/NPLCs as well.

    2.  “Unionization”: this set of case studies will aim to share the experience of FHTs that have unionized staff and offer guidance to other EDs who are facing potential unionization or negotiating their first collective agreement.

    3.  “Access to Team Based Care”: Based on AFHTO’s 2-page position paper and literature review, this case study will review FHTs that have conducted significant outreach to family physicians in the community to offer access to programs for their patients – including the approach and steps taken to expand and manage capacity while balancing the quality of care delivered.

    Each of these scenarios is increasingly relevant to our members, and we know that those who are facing them can learn from the examples of those who have already “been there.” If your FHT/NPLC has experience in one or more of these areas, we hope you will consider participating in the case study development. Likewise, please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions about the project.

  • Embedded Clinician Researcher Salary Award (CIHR) – deadline March 3, 2016

    New Funding Opportunity for Clinician Researchers

    To enable health care innovation, clinical leaders need support, particularly those leaders with a vision for innovative change, the collaborative skills to facilitate implementation, and the research capacity to develop a programmatic approach to scientific investigation. To this end, the CIHR Institute of Health Services and Policy Research (CIHR-IHSPR) and Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis (CIHR-IMHA) are pleased to announce the launch of a new funding opportunity: The Embedded Clinician Researcher Salary Award. Through salary support, CIHR is contributing to the development of a strong cadre of clinician researchers across the country, who are positioned to play a role in transformative change and act as role models and mentors for a cadre of new health professional scientists. Who should apply? The Embedded Clinician Researcher Salary Award is designed for all early and mid-career regulated health professionals that are clinicians first but need protected time to engage in research that is relevant and responsive to the health system where they are embedded. This award for $75,000 for up to 4 years will help to protect 50% of the applicant’s time for research. Relevant Research Areas? CIHR will provide funding to support embedded clinician researchers who will focus on one of three target areas within the context of transitions of care between hospital and community: 1) Care redesign; 2) Quality of care; 3) Policy Change. What partners are required? In order to be eligible for the award, applicants must provide a written commitment from a health system organization partner (such as a regional health authority or a community hospital) to contribute $25,000 (cash) per year towards salary costs and $50,000 (cash or in-kind) per year towards research costs over the award duration (4 years). Potential applicants and partner organizations can share information in an online partner linkage tool. The deadline for applications is March 3, 2016. If you have questions about this funding opportunity, please contact Meredith Kratzmann at mkratzmann.ihspr@mcgill.ca.

  • Rules of Engagement: Meaningful patient engagement initiatives

    Rules of Engagement: Lessons from PANORAMA [PDF] serves as a resource for health providers and professionals, outlining key moments in the engagement process that require extra thought and preparation. These recommendations can help ensure that patient engagement initiatives deliver results for organizations, and also make participants feel valued and respected in the process. The PANORAMA Panel was a ground-breaking patient engagement project undertaken by The Change Foundation. Over the course of two years, 31 panelists from across Ontario met to share their lived experiences and insights as patients and family caregivers on a range of issues related to improving people’s healthcare experience. This project consolidated the essential points to consider when starting or running a patient engagement initiative. Report and Related Products

  • Mentors available to support EDs! Contact us now to participate

    AFHTO’s Executive Director Mentorship program launched in February 2016 and is in full swing, with over 15 mentor-mentee pairs matched so far. Developed in response to member requests, the purpose of the program is to provide peer support for any member EDs or Administrative Leads who feel they could benefit from it. This includes those who are new to the role and want help getting oriented, experienced EDs who are steering their teams through change, and others who simply feel that they could use the support and guidance of a peer.

    We’re committed to supporting our mentors through training and network-building, and we make every effort to match mentors and mentees whose teams work in similar environments, taking into consideration geography, size, governance structure, academic or Francophone status, and other characteristics that reflect the diversity of our membership. The program is already starting to bear fruit, with mentors and mentees alike telling us that they have benefited from their relationships.

    If you feel that you could benefit from the ED Mentorship Program, please contact Bryn Hamilton, AFHTO provincial lead for Governance & Leadership, and we will find a match for you. If you’re looking for a particular kind of support, such as guidance through a particular change or challenge – please let us know.