Ultimate Blogging Championship

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  • Unmasking your team to your peers in D2D

    New for D2D 5.0: Teams now have the ability to “unmask” themselves to their peers and to see how one another is doing.

    What does unmasking look like?

    Teams that have said “yes” to being unmasked were asked to select their team name from a drop-down list during D2D data submission.

    You will be able to review the data from your unmasked peers in two ways:

    • Select from a drop-down list of unmasked teams on the interactive report.
      • Any AFHTO member who accesses the interactive report, even if they did not submit data or did not agree to be unmasked, will see this list.
      • When you select a team from this list, you will see that team’s full interactive report.
    • Select from a drop-down list of core D2D indicators from a spreadsheet in the Comparator Tab.
      • View an indicator to see how data from all of the unmasked teams, along with the team names.
      • Use filters in the table to further refine the data you see, in order to narrow it down to teams like your own (e.g., urban/rural, academic).

    Note that the following data will NOT be visible to peers:

    • Responses to the Team Profile Questionnaire
    • Data for expanded indicators not part of the Quality roll-up indicator.

    My team didn’t agree to be unmasked. Can I still use this functionality of D2D?

    Yes! Data for unmasked teams will be visible to all AFHTO members, regardless of whether they agreed to be unmasked, even if they didn’t participate in D2D this year. We hope that all our member teams will be interested to see which of their teams have performed well on indicators that are important to them, so they can reach out to for ideas to improve their own scores. We also hope that after seeing their peers unmasked, more teams will feel comfortable being unmasked in future iterations of D2D.

    What do I need to do if I want my team to be unmasked next time?

    Your board, lead clinician, and other key stakeholders may wish to weigh in on whether to unmask your team to your peers. Ask the relevant decision-makers on your team for permission to share your team’s data with your peers in D2D. If your board needs to give formal approval, you’ll need to get this onto the agenda in time for the last board meeting before the submission platform opens. Submission for D2D 6.0 will start in mid-August 2018, so consider getting this on the agenda for your board’s next meeting. Unmasking is optional, and team-level data will never be shared outside of the AFHTO membership.    

  • NEW privacy breach reporting rules effective Oct. 1 and NEW guidelines to support you in meeting them

    Effective October 1, 2017, health information custodians (HICs) will be required to report certain privacy breaches to the Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC). The IPC has published new guidelines to support you in complying with these new rules. Please read them here and distribute them widely to all members of your team. The new guidelines outline the situations in which you must notify the commissioner of a privacy breach, including:

    • Use or disclosure of personal health information without authority
    • Stolen health information
    • Further unauthorized use or disclosure of health information after a breach
    • Pattern of similar breaches
    • Disciplinary action against an employee or agent of a custodian
    • Significant breaches that do not fall into one of the above categories

    Effective January 1, 2018, HICs will also be required to start tracking privacy breach statistics, and they will be required to provide the IPC with an annual report of the previous calendar year’s statistics beginning in March 2019. We will update you when the IPC releases detailed guidance on this statistical reporting requirement in the coming months. We are currently updating our privacy resources for AFHTO members, to further support you in complying with the new regulations. In the meantime, you may wish to review these two privacy tools developed for AFHTO members:

    For up-to-date privacy news and resources from Kate Dewhirst, check out the FHT category on her health privacy blog.

  • AFHTO 2017 Conference: come spend time with your peers. Early-bird registration closes Oct. 2

    Register for “Improving Primary Care Together” before Oct. 2! 

    Why should kids have all the back to school fun? Come see over 850 of your colleagues from across the province as they learn and network over two incredibly productive and rewarding days, exploring topics in these seven concurrent streams:

    1. Effective leadership and governance for system transformation
    2. Planning programs for equitable access to care
    3. Employing and empowering the patient and caregiver perspective
    4. Strengthening partnerships
    5. Optimizing use of resources
    6. Using data to demonstrate value and improve quality of care
    7. Clinical innovations for specific populations

      With only three weeks left to the early bird deadline, don’t miss out on the opportunity to meet and discuss topics relevant to your roles, teams and patients in sessions like:

    For general information, you can visit our conference page.

  • Updated OHA rebate offer to enable HOOPP for AFHTO members

    Membership in the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) is a pre-requisite for joining HOOPP. AFHTO has advocated for and received an updated commitment from the OHA to offer a rebate for a reduced membership rate for AFHTO members that have annual budgets of under $2 million, PROVIDED THAT at least 60% of AFHTO members sign up by January 31, 2018 (reduced from 90%).

    If AFHTO members sign up to become an OHA member before October 31, 2017, you can benefit from:

    • Two complimentary passes to the OHA’s signature event, HealthAchieve – a one-time offer of $720 value
    • An invitation to an exclusive luncheon at HealthAchieve for senior administrators, human resources and finance leads to learn about all other benefits offered by the OHA including: HOOPP, OHA education opportunities, and the OHA Benefits Plan, to name a few

    Rebate details:

    • Eligibility for the OHA membership refund applies to all AFHTO members with budgets of $2 million and under, provided that at least 60% of AFHTO member teams sign up
    • In February 2018, the OHA board will determine if 60% target is reached, and then each eligible team with Revenue of under $ 2 Million will receive the reduced membership fee of $1,030 plus tax
    • Fees are not fixed and subject to an annual review by the board.

    Find out if HOOPP, and consequently OHA membership, is right for your team:

    • Check out this link to find out more about HOOPP and what they have to offer
    • Contact the HOOPP Stakeholder Outreach Team with any questions you might have:

  • Rapid FHT and Partners Launch Pilot Community Paramedicine Program

    Lambton Shield article published August 31, 2017. Article in full pasted below. Editorial Staff, Lambton Shield Patients in Sarnia Lambton who have been pre-identified as frequent 911 callers and Emergency Department patients, are now able to access proactive, non-emergency care through the Community Paramedicine Program. The pilot program, expected to run until March 2018, is the result of a partnership between Bluewater Health and Lambton County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) with funding provided by the Erie St. Clair Local Health Integration Network (ESC LHIN). The pilot also includes strong collaboration with primary care as well as home and community care to ensure that patients receive the right level of care for their individual needs. Using a proactive approach, paramedics who have received additional training, are equipped to provide care for patients who have needs that do not require a trip to the hospital Emergency Department. The Community Paramedicine Program will primarily impact people who may have mental health, geriatric or complex chronic diseases and/or those people who have difficulty accessing healthcare. The program began on August 7 and the Community Paramedics are currently supporting 12 high-user patients. “The Rapids Family Health Team is pleased to partner with the new Community Paramedic Program,” says Lynn Laidler, executive director of the Rapids Family Health Team. “We feel this is a great opportunity to better serve our patients, allow them to stay safely in their own homes longer and reduce visits to the local Emergency Room.” Steve Pancino, manager of Emergency Medical Services for the County of Lambton, has seen this type of program succeed in other communities, “We anticipate the Community Paramedicine program will see similar reductions in 911 usage, hospital ED visits and improved patient outcomes.” According to Laurie Zimmer, Bluewater Health vice president of Operations, “The Community Paramedicine Programs is an example of how we can work together as healthcare partners to ensure that patients are able to get the right care, at the right time, by the right provider, in the right setting.” Click here to access the Lambton Shield article.

  • Data to Decisions eBulletin #66: Connect, move, improve.

    Hey you – the busy ED! Overstuffed inbox making you want to call for backup? Consider adding your Quality Committee lead to our mailing list. Then you won’t have to worry about missing the news they need about measurement and improvement. Send us their contact info, or invite them to sign up here. More help with getting moving! Find out how your peers are increasing physical activity among their patients – and how you can do the same, even (maybe especially) if there’s no exercise professional on your team. Register now for the Physical Activity networking meeting at the AFHTO 2017 Conference. QIDSS input on QIP specs: As you requested, HQO is offering you a chance to review and refine the technical specifications for next year’s QIP Indicators. Interested? Contact us. Got data for D2D? We can help you – it’s our job to help you! The D2D submission platform closes in two weeks, on September 11. Contact us for help and/or check out our planning & preparation page. Breaking news about support for opioid management: Help is coming soon for teams interested in doing more for their patients with pain and/or addictions and, at the same time, managing opioid use. See the recent investment by MOHLTC in a project led by CAMH, which acknowledges the crucial role primary care providers play in addressing the opioid challenge. In Case You Missed It: Check out eBulletin #65 or peruse other eBulletin back issues here!

    D2D 5.0 Timeline

    Help spread the word about D2D – invite others to sign up for the eBulletin online. 

  • Breaking news about support for opioid management

    Help is coming soon for teams interested in doing more for their patients with pain and/or addictions and, at the same time, managing opioid use. See recent investment by MOHLTC in a project led by CAMH, which acknowledges the crucial role that primary care providers play in addressing the opioid challenge. This investment builds on the successful model of support for smoking cessation that is well established in over 80% of FHTs. In a similar way, CAMH will roll out supports to help teams make better choices in pain and addiction management. The idea is to help patients have better outcomes, even with the scarce pain and addictions management resources available, and at the same time, reduce the opioid burden carried by individuals and communities across Ontario. AFHTO is integrally involved and we’ll provide more details as soon as they become available. For more info, contact us.

  • Summer Update – Meetings with the Ministry, OMA Negotiations Committee and More!

    Tuesday, August 29th, 2017 (sent to the leaders of AFHTO member organizations)

    AFHTO has had a busy summer of meetings and building partnerships – read a few highlights below:

    Meeting with the Ministry’s Primary Health Care Branch

    AFHTO met with the Primary Health Care Branch on August 23rd, 2017 to get an update on a few items, including budget approvals, new FTE in teams and Year 2 compensation roll out.

    For further meeting details, click here.

    Meeting with the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) Negotiations Committee

    On July 21st, 2017, AFHTO was invited to a consultation meeting with the OMA Negotiations Committee. Building off our letter of recommendations to the committee, AFHTO was able to engage in further dialogue to help inform the Physicians Services Agreement discussions with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.

    Read highlights of the AFHTO presentation to the committee.

    Meeting with the Ontario Medical Association Section of General and Family Practice (OMA SGFP) and the Ontario College of Family Physicians (OCFP)

    After the meeting with the OMA Negotiations Committee, members of the AFHTO Board, the SGFP Mini-Executive and the OCFP met to further discuss how the three groups can work more collaboratively together. Given our common membership of family physicians, we were really pleased to see alignment around strengthening primary care by ensuring the necessary infrastructure is in place and that there is ongoing expansion of interprofessional team-based care.  Joint meetings between the SGFP, OCFP and AFHTO will continue and be fundamental in ensuring family physicians have a strong, unified voice on relevant issues.

    Meeting with Health Shared Services Ontario (HSSO)

    Under the Patients First Act, Family Health Teams (FHTs) and Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinics (NPLCs) can become Health Services Providers (HSPs), enabling LHINs to fund them (core funding for the FHTs and NPLCs still remains with the Ministry). To fund new HSPs, LHINs will have to establish a formal relationship through the signing of provincial Service Accountability Agreement (SAA). However, these SAAs need to be reviewed and revised to make it more relevant and usable in the primary care sector. We are working with HSSO and the Ministry to develop some education webinars to learn more about what it means to be an HSP and to enter into a SAA and AFHTO will be pushing to be on the provincial SAA Advisory Committee with the LHINs to help inform the development of these agreements. More information about this will be available in the fall.

  • Central Lambton FHT Empowers Locals with Lung Health Education Program

    The Petrolia Topic article published August 22, 2017. Article in full pasted below. Melissa Shilz, Postmedia Network Hot summer months can spell trouble for those suffering from breathing difficulties, and the Central Lambton Family Health Team wanted to do something to help. They began their monthly Lung Health Education Program in July. Certified Respiratory Educator Nicole Pasut holds informal discussions and aims to show people who may have breathing difficulties how to self-manage it through exercise, breathing techniques and correct use of their inhaler in order to avoid future visits to the emergency room. Pasut said she began running the program at the Legion about five years ago, but it has since moved into the Family Health Team Facility. In Petrolia, there isn’t anything else available when it comes to respiratory health besides what they get from their doctor, so having an accessible resource is important in the community. Executive Director Sarah Milner said since the clinic doesn’t have funding for a respiratory therapist, having Pasut come in from Grand Bend is a key partnership for the patients and their wellness. “It’s different from what the doctor can provide…they are specialized and can gear the conversation to each client or patient,” Milner said. “There’s no time limit with them.” Pasut said the session is open to anyone who is interested in learning more, noting that there can also be open discussion between herself and a patient’s family doctor to ensure necessary treatment is being received. “Anyone with any sort of issues can come and see us,” Pasut said. “They’ve been happy that we’re here in Petrolia coming to them.” Each session looks at different topics, and Pasut said they are looking to adapt the program to what suits the needs of those attending. They work with each person to create action plans and health goals to work towards improving their everyday health. “Everyone learns differently,” she said, noting that they are sending out surveys to get more feedback about the team. Pasut said the program has also partnered with Archways, so those interested in getting more motivation to exercise can sign up to do so at their facility. She stresses to the clients that working certain muscles will make them more efficient, making the rest of the body better at using the air that your lungs bring in. They also hold weekly exercise sessions on Tuesdays at New Life Assembly Church. “I’m hoping that physically being here on site will get more conversation going,” Pasut said. “I know there’s a lot of people having issues…the industry in this area and in Sarnia plays a huge role with a lot of the clients that we see.” Milner said showing individuals how to self-manage their breathing difficulties is a key aspect of what they want to do. Being at the clinic also means those who attend can be connected to other resources that could help them in the future. “Those are tools that people can have to empower themselves and better their own health,” she said. “We’re really fortunate to have the team and especially the expertise…without them we wouldn’t be able to provide that here in the community.” Interested in attending? Sessions are held every second Wednesday of the month from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. mschilz@postmedia.com Click here to access The Petrolia Topic article.

  • Peterborough FHT and Partners Receive Funding for Gender Diverse Support Program

    Global News article published August 17, 2017. Article in full pasted below.

    Jeanne Pengelly, Global  News

    People journeying through gender issues will have access to a popular support program this fall that had been cancelled in March 2017 due to lack of funding. The Canadian Mental Health Association of Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge says a partnership with Peterborough Family Health Team, Peterborough 360 Clinic and Trent University Student Wellness Centre has received funding from the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough and Trent University to once again offer Gender Journeys. Peer-based education and support groups for transgender and gender diverse individuals will run starting in October, 2017.

    “Gender Journeys can do a lot with a little, making efficient use of some highly dedicated resources, providing significant support and education to transgender individuals”, said Gordon Langill, Director of Programs and Services at C.M.H.A. H.K.P.R.  “We are grateful to our community partners at Trent University and the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough for this opportunity to deliver Gender Journeys Services once again.”

    Gender Journeys groups provide opportunities for peer-to-peer connections, education, outreach, and support. Pilot versions of the program, which is delivered by staff with lived experience as transgender individuals, who are also trained to provide Gender Journeys education and support, ran between 2013 and 2017, but the program was shut down due to lack of money, states a media release from the association.

    While this fall’s programs will be on a smaller scale than the original pilot, there will be two Gender Journeys groups in Peterborough, beginning in October. One will run on-campus at Trent University in collaboration with Trent University Student Wellness Centre. The second Gender Journeys group will operate at C.M.H.A. H.K.P.R. office in Peterborough, serving transgender and gender diverse individuals who are receiving primary health care services through the Peterborough 360 Clinic or the Peterborough Family Health Team.

    “We prioritize hiring transgender-identified individuals as Gender Journeys program staff because they are uniquely positioned to understand transgender experiences and identities. Our staff is also skilled facilitators and educators, ensuring the highest quality service delivery,” Langill said. In addition to these two groups, some individual outreach and support will be offered to transgender and gender diverse individuals in isolated circumstances, where access to group services can be difficult.

    Click here to access the Global News article.