COVID-19 – Page 36 – Ultimate Blogging Championship

Bits & Pieces: Updated COVID-19 case definitions, RISE update, member renewal & more

Your Weekly News & Updates

In This Issue
COVID-19 updates including updated case definitions RISE update Premier’s Council on Improving Healthcare and Ending Hallway Medicine – newsletter updates Home and community care modernization Member renewal emails	March is Pharmacist Awareness Month Social Work Week Nutrition Month New webinars in LeaderShift Applied Leadership E-Learning Series – How to Build Resiliency During Times of Change Upcoming events including The Art of Doing More with Less

COVID-19 updates including updated case definitions
We continue to update the relevant page on the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), including the latest situation reports, updated case definitions, self-isolation fact sheets, and more. If you have any questions, you can also email EOCOperations.moh@ontario.ca.

The Ministry has also implemented a number of governance structures to respond to the specifics of COVID-19, which may also include engaging our members at the five regional planning tables in the province.

Health care providers facing immediate challenges with their personal protective equipment supply levels can email the ministry at EOCLogistics.MOH@ontario.ca.

RISE update
The latest update from Rapid-Improvement Support and Exchange (RISE) is now available. It includes reflections on the Ontario Health Teams (OHT) Provincial Learning and Improvement Collaborative Forum that occurred on Feb. 18 and 19, upcoming webinars on priority topics, and our latest resources:

Premier’s Council on Improving Healthcare and Ending Hallway Medicine – newsletter updates
The Premier’s Council has provided an update on their work as well as an overview of what to expect from the Council this year with the release of their February newsletter. Highlights from the past year include the release of two reports:

Home and community care modernization
Last week the Minister announced changes to the delivery of home and community care. More details on how this modernization impacts our members will be shared once we read through the legislation and regulations.

Member renewal emails
Last week we sent out member renewal emails to lead physicians/NPs, EDs/Administrative leads and board chairs of all current AFHTO members. We look forward to your renewal!

If you didn’t receive an email, please contact us at info@afhto.ca.

March is Pharmacist Awareness Month

Family Health Teams, Nurse-Practitioner-Led Clinics and Community Health Centres include different healthcare professionals to help address many kinds of healthcare needs.

Celebrate with primary care team pharmacists this month as we recognize the expertise and services they offer interprofessional primary care teams and patients! Thank you for all you do to support patients, families and the team!

Learn more about how primary care team pharmacists embedded in primary care teams work to ensure medications are necessary, safe and effective by visiting visiting their site.

Social Work Week

It’s also Social Work Week. We recognise the valuable contributions social workers make with programs like our 2019 conference presentations:

Their role was also explored in “The Emerging Role of Social Work in Primary Health Care: A Survey of Social Workers in Ontario Family Health Teams”, published in 2018.

You can celebrate with OASW too. Digital posters and social media images can be downloaded here.

Nutrition Month
Please join our Registered Dietitians in celebrating the impact of good nutrition on our patients’ health outcomes. Examples successfully integrating this focus in primary care teams include:

New webinars in LeaderShift Applied Leadership E-Learning Series – How to Build Resiliency During Times of Change

There are new webinars being offered through LeaderShift’s Applied Leadership E-Learning Series. The next topic, How to Build Resiliency During Times of Change, is now open for registration.

Organizational change—resulting from both internal and external factors—is no longer an “event”. We all know that change has become an ever-present reality in our organizations that has defined our new normal. Now that our work environments are always in flux, teams are experiencing what is called change resistance and change fatigue. The research tells us that part of the solution to these challenges is to bring an adaptive (vs. technical) leadership approach to managing change. It through adaptive leadership that we will find the role and importance of resiliency. Multiple timeslots are available in March.

To learn more, register for free or view previous recordings in this series, visit their website today.

Optimizing Your EMR For Safer Opioid Prescribing and Pain Management (Part 1), March 5, 2020
This webinar is targeted towards family physicians and nurse practitioners in northern Ontario. Hosted by Ontario Health Quality and Ontario Pain Management Resource Partners. Learn more here.

The Art of Doing More with Less, March 18, 2020
This is the final webinar in AFHTO and Grant Thorton’s Financial webinar series! Join Danzel Pinto as we explore how non-profits can improve performance with financial sensibility.
Register today!

Rainbow Health Ontario Conference, April 21-23, 2020
Register for Canada’s forum for LGBT2SQ health, being held in Niagara Falls this year. For more information, click here.

ECHO Liver, March 12, 2020
For 2020, ECHO Liver will be offering a quarterly evening series. The first is Liver Disease in Primary Care: Approach to Liver Enzymes. Find out more here.

March 3, 2020

Bits & Pieces: New PPE survey deadline, Ontario Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance Queen’s Park Day & more

Your Weekly News & Updates

In This Issue
New PPE survey deadline and other novel coronavirus (COVID-19) updates Ontario Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance Queen’s Park Day Minister announces changes to home and community care Members’ stories	Improving cancer screening rates slides and video Psychology Month Public Health Infection Prevention and Control resources Hypertension focus groups invitation Upcoming events including The Art of Doing More with Less

New PPE survey deadline and other novel coronavirus (COVID-19) updates

For EDs, Lead Clinicians and Board Chairs: The Ministry of Health and Ontario Health (Shared Services) have extended the deadline to complete this short survey to end of day Thursday, February 27, to assist in tracking provider preparedness. Only 34% have responded and they have emphasized the importance of filling this out.
While we have few cases in Canada, it may be declared a worldwide pandemic soon and this will help them identify where support is needed. They will work with suppliers to distribute resources accordingly.

We continue to update the relevant page on the Novel Coronavirus. “Health care providers facing immediate challenges with their personal protective equipment supply levels can email the ministry at EOCLogistics.MOH@ontario.ca.”

If you have any questions, you can also email EOCOperations.moh@ontario.ca.

Ontario Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance Queen’s Park Day

On Feb. 24, the Ontario Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance held an Advocacy Day at Queen’s Park to call on the province to prevent hospitalizations and reduce health care costs through initiatives to prevent chronic conditions. Priorities include:

Setting measurable goals for prevention to increase Ontario’s access to data on this health care issue
Introducing prevention into primary care such as access to professional services, screening and tools for healthy lifestyles
Incorporate prevention into Mental Health Strategy
Take measure to restrict youth access to vaping products.

Minister announces changes to home and community care
Today the Minister announced changes to the delivery of home and community care. AFHTO will be working with our partners to better understand how this affects our members.

Members’ stories
North Simcoe FHT – North Simcoe FHT to anchor new medical centre in Midland – “We are expanding the family health team programming, which is why we needed more space,” said executive director Andrew Shantz. “There are quite a few health-care partners coming along with us. We are creating a medical centre that will provide a variety of different services.”

Improving cancer screening rates slides and video

On Feb. 20 Drs. Aisha Lofters and Tara Kiran shared practical, evidence-based ways to improve cancer screening rates and reduce income-related disparities. Slides, video and a link to the toolkit referenced are now available.

For another way to learn, you can also view Dr. Kiran’s tweet thread here.

Psychology Month

It’s Psychology Month. Thank you to all the psychologists who work with primary care teams to offer innovative programs like:

Dr. Judith Davidson, who won a Bright Lights Award for her work in cognitive behaviour therapy for insomnia
Bridges to Housing –a Powerful Example of Comprehensive Team Based Care

Public Health Infection Prevention and Control resources
Public Health Ontario has provided links to several Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) resources to help build capacity in primary care:

Hypertension focus groups invitation
Participate in a virtual focus group about system-level challenges and enablers to adopting the care outlined the Hypertension Quality Standard being developed by the Quality business unit at Ontario Health, formerly Health Quality Ontario. Your feedback will inform the recommendations for adoption to support the uptake of this quality standard.

The Hypertension Quality Standard focus groups will be held on the following dates:

Tuesday March 3, 2020 (4:00 – 5:00PM EST)- Follow this link to register via Eventbrite.
Thursday March 5, 2020 (12:00 – 1:00PM EST) – Follow this link to register via Eventbrite.

If you have any questions, please contact Tanveer Singh at tanveer.singh@hqontario.ca.

Optimizing Your EMR For Safer Opioid Prescribing and Pain Management (Part 1), March 5, 2020
This webinar is targeted towards family physicians and nurse practitioners in northern Ontario. Hosted by Ontario Health Quality and Ontario Pain Management Resource Partners. Learn more here.

The Art of Doing More with Less, March 18, 2020
This is the final webinar in AFHTO and Grant Thorton’s Financial webinar series! Join Danzel Pinto as we explore how non-profits can improve performance with financial sensibility.
Register today!

Rainbow Health Ontario Conference, April 21-23, 2020
Register for Canada’s forum for LGBT2SQ health, being held in Niagara Falls this year. For more information, click here.

ECHO Liver, March 12, 2020
For 2020, ECHO Liver will be offering a quarterly evening series. The first is Liver Disease in Primary Care: Approach to Liver Enzymes. Find out more here.

February 25, 2020

Bits & Pieces: meeting the Minister, working together for change tools & resources & more

Your Weekly News & Updates

In This Issue
Meeting the Minister to discuss pre budget recommendations Working together for change Members’ stories Managing urinary incontinence in women: clinical tool Novel coronavirus updates	Northern opioid learning community webinars, Mar. 5 & 26 Seeking volunteers for Early Chronic Kidney Disease priority panel OASW call for proposals Upcoming events including improving cancer screening and more

AFHTO Board Executive Committee and CEO met with Minister Elliott on Feb. 13

Meeting the Minister to discuss pre budget recommendations

On Feb. 13, our Board executive committee and CEO met with the Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, the Hon. Christine Elliott, to talk about our pre budget recommendations with a focus on integrated care foundationally based in team based primary care and the importance of clinical leadership.

Working together for change
Connecting physicians regionally is a powerful way to spark change, to improve the delivery of comprehensive patient services, and to influence health service decision making. For those who wish to consider how they might best work together to strengthen the primary care sector – or for those who have already started! – check out Primary Care Physicians: Working Together For Change, Primary Care: Local Change Ideas, and other tools and resources on our website. This repository will be updated regularly!

Members’ stories
Elliott Lake FHT – budget committee approves funding for video medical clinic which was set up on a trial basis last year

Managing urinary incontinence in women: clinical tool

The Centre for Effective Practice has launched a new clinical tool: Managing Urinary Incontinence in Women.

Many women feel ashamed when they experience urinary incontinence, which may prevent them from speaking to their doctors about it. If left untreated, the condition can lead more needed care later. This tool is designed to help primary care providers manage care for adult women (18+) who experience involuntary loss of urine.

Novel coronavirus (COVID-19) updates

We continue to update the relevant page on the Novel Coronavirus. “Health care providers facing immediate challenges with their personal protective equipment supply levels can email the ministry at EOCLogistics.MOH@ontario.ca.”

If you have any questions, you can also email EOCOperations.moh@ontario.ca.

Northern opioid learning community webinars, Mar. 5 & 26
Join the Ontario Pain Management Resources Partners as they explore how to optimize your EMR to support safer pain management and opioid prescribing. Including Sandeep Gill, AFHTO Clinical KTE Specialist and members, Drs. Sarah Newbery and Ryan Patchett-Marble, Marathon FHT, and Dr.Kevin Samson, East Wellington FHT.

Target audience: Family physicians and nurse practitioners in northern Ontario who endeavour to access relevant data to support safer opioid prescribing and pain management, including primary care clinicians and support staff

Register for:

Seeking volunteers for Early Chronic Kidney Disease priority panel

The Ontario Renal Network, part of Ontario Health, is recruiting primary care providers for the Early Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) Priority Panel. Its purpose is to provide strategic direction for current and future initiatives related to early CKD, including supporting primary care providers in identifying and managing patients with CKD.

The panel will meet on a regular basis about 6 times per year and will to have representation from various groups (e.g., administrators, allied health, physicians, patient advisors). If you’re interested in learning more or joining, please email daphne.sniekers@cancercare.on.ca by February 29, 2020.

OASW call for proposals
The Ontario Association of Social Workers has announced a Call for Proposals for the 2020 Social Work Provincial Conference, “Innovative Approaches to Complex Needs: Social Workers Influencing the Future of Care”, on November 13 and 14, 2020.

They encourage submissions from students, practitioners, policy makers, researchers and academics alike. The deadline for submissions is March 1, 2020. Find out more.

Improving cancer screening rates and reducing related disparities, Feb. 20
On Feb. 20 join Drs. Aisha Lofters and Tara Kiran as they share practical, evidence-based ways to improve cancer screening rates and reduce income-related disparities. Register here.

Is your work making you wheeze? Feb. 25, 2020
Attend this webinar suitable for healthcare providers and other employees, hosted by the Lung Association. View all Lung Associations’ upcoming events here.

Black Physician Association Ontario Annual Health Symposium, Feb. 29, 2020
Keynote speaker will be the inspiring Dr. Lisa Robinson, Associate Dean of Inclusion and Diversity at the University of Toronto. Learn more here.

Primary Care Electronic Medical Record Tools for Advance Care Planning and Palliative Care, March 12, 2020
In the third webinar in the HPCO Winter webinar series, our Board Director Dr. Kevin Samson, along with Justin Wolting from the eHealth Centre of Excellence, will be presenting to assist health care professionals and support staff.
Learn more here.

February 18, 2020

Bits & Pieces: prescriptions are for more than just drugs, new location & more

Your Weekly News & Updates

In This Issue
Prescriptions are for more than just drugs Our new location Novel coronavirus updates including Q & A on personal protective equipment supply Reminder- Improving cancer screening rates and reducing related disparities, Feb. 20 Lung cancer screening for people at high risk	The Promise of Virtual Care slides and video Regional Geriatric Program of Toronto online education modules Lung health needs assessment Upcoming events including the Primary Care Virtual Community and more

Prescriptions are for more than just drugs

Ontario Health Teams should use ‘social prescribing’ to improve our health and wellbeing.

Healthy Debate opinion piece by Kate Mulligan, Director of Policy and Communications at the Alliance for Healthier Communities and Kavita Mehta, CEO, AFHTO

Most of the conversation about ending hallway health care in Ontario has focused on the back door of the hospital – moving people out of hospital and back into communities. But what if we could focus on the front door and prevent hospitalization in the first place? And what if we could do this by strengthening partnerships between health and social services, which are known to impact determinants of health?

Read the full article here.

AFHTO will be working with the Alliance on spreading social prescribing in team-based primary care and is looking forward to working collaboratively together on this important work.

Our new location

We’re happy to announce we have officially moved into office space subleased from the Ontario College of Family Physicians.

We’re now sharing space with OCFP and Centre for Effective Practice staff in the heart of downtown Toronto. Phone extensions will be updated today but our main line is working. All email addresses remain the same.

“Co-locating provides AFHTO an opportunity to strengthen our partnerships and align opportunities for joint advocacy, policy and resource development. By moving downtown, we are also closer to our Ministry, Ontario Health and political contacts which helps with strengthening our relationships”, explains Kavita Mehta, CEO, AFHTO.

Novel coronavirus updates including Q & A on personal protective equipment supply

We continue to update the relevant page on the Novel Coronavirus, including with the latest situation reports and Q & A on personal protective equipment supply. “Health care providers facing immediate challenges with their personal protective equipment supply levels can email the ministry at EOCLogistics.MOH@ontario.ca.”

If you have any questions, you can also email EOCOperations.moh@ontario.ca.

Reminder- Improving cancer screening rates and reducing related disparities, Feb. 20
Primary care plays a central role in cancer screening, but screening efforts don’t reach everyone. St. Michael’s Hospital Academic FHT worked with patients living with low income to understand barriers to screening and co-design solutions. On Feb. 20 join Drs. Aisha Lofters and Tara Kiran as they share practical, evidence-based ways to improve cancer screening rates and reduce income-related disparities.

Register here.

Lung cancer screening for people at high risk

Ontario’s Lung Cancer Screening for People at High Risk programming is now available at the University Health Network. Teams can support patients in pursuing low-dose CT screening either through providing a referral or inviting them to self-present by calling 416-340-4154.

The following is the entry criteria:

Current or former smoker age 55 to 74
Have smoked cigarettes daily for at least 20 years in their lifetime (not necessarily 20 years in a row).

For eligible self-presenters, screening staff will contact the primary care provider for a mandatory physician referral to authorize LDCT for screening. For more information, please visit their site.

The Promise of Virtual Care slides and video

Ontario Health (Quality) has posted Quality Rounds Ontario on the topic of The Promise of Virtual Care recorded session and the slide deck on their website. Questions and answers will be posted on Quorum in the coming weeks. One of the most common questions was where viewers could find a copy of the OTN Primary Care eVisit evaluation; click here to access that evaluation.

Regional Geriatric Program of Toronto online education modules
Co-developed with geriatric clinical experts from Ontario, 2 new educational modules in the sfCare Learning Series have been launched for clinicians, which build on the knowledge from the introductory modules on the topics of delirium and urinary incontinence:

Lung health needs assessment
The Centre for Effective Practice (CEP) and the Ontario Lung Association (OLA) are seeking feedback from family physicians, primary care nurse practitioners and other healthcare providers who treat patients with respiratory conditions about their clinical education needs relating to lung health. Respond to the survey here.

Primary Care Virtual Community, Feb 13, 2020
The Primary Care Virtual Community brings together leaders in primary care interested in enabling meaningful system change. The virtual community is a collaboration developed by the OCFP and AFHTO and convened by The Change Foundation. This session’s focus is organizing primary care – learn from 9 communities across Ontario who are strengthening primary care by bringing the sector together.

Register today!

Improving cancer screening rates and reducing related disparities, Feb. 20
On Feb. 20 join Drs. Aisha Lofters and Tara Kiran as they share practical, evidence-based ways to improve cancer screening rates and reduce income-related disparities. Register here.

Advance Care Planning Lead Trainer Program, Feb. 11 & 13, 2020 (and more)
Are you a health service provider who has the support to build and sustain a team of volunteer facilitators? Hospice Palliative Care Ontario invites you to participate in this interactive training program that will guide you in training your volunteers to facilitate community Advance Care Planning presentations to the general public. Find out more here.

Is your work making you wheeze? Feb. 25, 2020
Attend this webinar suitable for healthcare providers and other employees, hosted by the Lung Association. View all Lung Associations’ upcoming events here.

Black Physician Association Ontario Annual Health Symposium, Feb. 29, 2020
Keynote speaker will be the inspiring Dr. Lisa Robinson, Associate Dean of Inclusion and Diversity at the University of Toronto. Learn more here.

Primary Care Electronic Medical Record Tools for Advance Care Planning and Palliative Care, March 12, 2020
In the third webinar in the HPCO Winter webinar series, our Board Director Dr. Kevin Samson, along with Justin Wolting from the eHealth Centre of Excellence, will be presenting to assist health care professionals and support staff.
Learn more here.

February 11, 2020

Bits & Pieces: practising equity-focused health care, improving cancer screening rates & more

Your Weekly News & Updates

In This Issue
Practising equity-focused health care Novel coronavirus updates including OMA summary guidance Improving cancer screening rates and reducing related disparities, Feb. 20 Reminder- shortening the diagnostic odyssey: rare disease in primary care, Feb. 12	Members’ stories Spotlight on organizing primary care, Feb. 13 Two new quality standards – anxiety disorders and OCD Call for participation-toxicity management models of care working group Upcoming events on Advance Care Planning Lead Training and more

Practising equity-focused health care

Over the years St. Michael’s Academic FHT has won a Bright Light Award for, and presented at the conference on, their work addressing the social determinants of health. They have a website focused on their continuing efforts, including tools, income security health promotion, and integrating SDOH into QI programs.

They also have a comprehensive brochure. Feel free to review for ideas for your own team.

Novel coronavirus updates including OMA summary guidance

We continue to update the relevant page on the Novel Coronavirus, including with the latest situation reports. The Ministry of Health has updated guidelines for primary care, along with posters and a website for healthcare providers. The latest update is a summary guidance document from the OMA.

The OCFP has also put together Tips for Screening for 2019-nCoV which includes clinic preparedness that you may find helpful. If you have any questions, you can also email EOCOperations.moh@ontario.ca.

For EDs, Lead Clinicians and Board Chairs:
The Ministry of Health and Ontario Health (Shared Services) are requesting you complete this short survey by end of day tomorrow, Wednesday, February 5, to assist in tracking provider preparedness. This will help them identify where support is needed, and they will work with suppliers to distribute resources accordingly.

Improving cancer screening rates and reducing related disparities, Feb. 20
Primary care plays a central role in cancer screening, but screening efforts don’t reach everyone.

St. Michael’s Hospital Academic FHT worked with patients living with low income to understand barriers to screening and co-design solutions. On Feb. 20 join Drs. Aisha Lofters and Tara Kiran as they share practical, evidence-based ways to improve cancer screening rates and reduce income-related disparities. Register here.

Reminder- Shortening the diagnostic odyssey: rare disease in primary care, Feb. 12

On Feb. 12 Sanofi Genzyme’s rare disease education webinar will increase your awareness about two rare inherited disorders – Fabry disease and Pompe disease and will highlight why primary care is essential in reducing the long and cumbersome diagnostic delays these patients experience. You may also leave with the realization that these rare diseases are not as rare as you think. Register here.

Members’ stories
Akausivik Inuit FHT- Canada honours Qapik Attagutsiak, 99, wartime Inuit bone collector. As a midwife, she helped deliver hundreds of babies and helped set up Akausivik Inuit FHT.

Spotlight on organizing primary care, Feb. 13

Join us for our next Primary Care Virtual Community session on February 13th 8:00am-9:30am, Ontario’s innovative collaborative designed to unleash the power of primary care in health system change. More than 1,000 people have now connected through this virtual community, a collaboration developed by the OCFP and AFHTO and convened by The Change Foundation.

As a community, we have co-defined a list of High Impact Actions that are felt to spark meaningful improvements in primary care. Building on the momentum from our most recent Primary Care Virtual Community held in November 2019, we will be continuing to shine a spotlight on the high impact action of organizing primary care.

In our upcoming session, the community will engage with those in primary care from across Ontario on the emergent ways in which primary care is self-organizing and building meaningful connections locally.

We will be hearing nine primary care clinicians as they share their experiences and learnings on how they, in partnership with others, have been able to enable and accelerate the local organization of primary care. Register today!

Two new quality standards – anxiety disorders and OCD
Ontario Health (Quality) has released two new quality standards:

They come with patient conversation guides and recommendations for system adoption too. Questions? Contact QualityStandards@HQOntario.ca.

Call for participation-toxicity management models of care working group

Cancer Care Ontario is seeking GPO, GP and Nursing representation for a Models of Care Working Group to improve the delivery of toxicity management for adult cancer patients currently undergoing systemic and radiation treatment. If you’re interested in participating, please contact Ada Payne, Lead, Models of Care at ada.payne@cancercare.on.ca by February 15, 2020.

Quality Rounds Ontario: The Promise of Virtual Care, Feb. 6, 2020
With opening remarks by Bill Hatanaka, Board Chair, and Matthew Anderson and Incoming President and CEO, Ontario Health. Register today.

Advance Care Planning Lead Trainer Program, Feb. 11 & 13, 2020 (and more)
Are you a health service provider who has the support to build and sustain a team of volunteer facilitators? Hospice Palliative Care Ontario invites you to participate in this interactive training program that will guide you in training your volunteers to facilitate community Advance Care Planning presentations to the general public. Find out more here.

Primary Care Virtual Community, Feb 13, 2020
The Primary Care Virtual Community brings together leaders in primary care interested in enabling meaningful system change. The virtual community is a collaboration developed by the OCFP and AFHTO and convened by The Change Foundation.

Register today!

Shifting the feeding and eating conversation – An introduction to Satter Feeding Dynamics and Eating, Feb 28, 2020

Hosted by Nutrition Connections, this workshop will provide a deeper understanding of the Satter Feeding Dynamics Model (fdSatter) and the Satter Eating Competence Model (ecSatter), along with strategies for application. Learn more here.

February 4, 2020

Bits & Pieces: novel coronavirus updates, pre-budget submission & more

Your Weekly News & Updates

In This Issue
Novel coronavirus updates AFHTO’s 2020 pre-budget submission We’re on the move Members’ stories Shortening the diagnostic odyssey: rare disease in primary care, Feb. 12	Managing proton pump inhibitor use in older adults: tool Eliminating red and white cards posters Upcoming events on Advance Care Planning and more

Novel coronavirus updates
We have a page on our site that will provide updates on the Novel Coronavirus as they become available, including the latest situation reports. The Ministry of Health is currently working on guidelines for primary care, along with posters and a website for healthcare providers which we will share once we receive the information. At this point, you can also access information for the public on their site.

We’ll email the primary care guidelines as soon as they become available.

The OCFP has also put together Tips for Screening for 2019-nCoV which includes clinic preparedness that you may find helpful.

If you have any questions, you can also email EOCOperations.moh@ontario.ca.

AFHTO’s 2020 pre-budget submission
AFHTO submitted its recommendations to the Ministry of Finance as part of the 2020 Ontario Pre-Budget Consultations in early January. The submission, “It Takes a Team: Interprofessional Primary Care as the Foundation of Health System Transformation” included the following recommendations are:

Increase access to interprofessional team-based primary care for Ontarians who need it.
Invest in clinical leadership to ensure successful roll-out of Ontario Health Teams.
Embed mental health and addictions support in primary care.
Help end hallway health care by embedding home and community care coordination with primary care.
Support digital health options in primary care

AFHTO is on the move.

As of tomorrow, Thursday, Jan. 23, AFHTO staff will be working offsite in preparation for a move to a new location.

We will each be checking our voicemail periodically but if the matter is urgent, please email the relevant staff member directly.

Further details including our new location will be announced by early February. We appreciate your patience as we transition to our new space. If you have any questions, please feel free to email info@afhto.ca.

Members’ stories
Belleville NPLC: Belleville NPLC requests funding for 2 more NPs & a second clinic in the Quinte-Hastings area

Essex County NPLC: Essex County NPLC expands its services into Amherstburg

Shortening the diagnostic odyssey: rare disease in primary care, Feb. 12
You can easily recognize a patient with hypertension, but do you know how to recognize a rare disease? Roughly 1 in 12 Canadians, are affected by a rare disorder. As each disease affects only a small number of individuals, clinician understanding and expertise may be limited and fragmented. This results in unnecessary diagnostic delays, frequent misdiagnoses, and missed opportunities to treat these patients earlier.

On Feb. 12 Sanofi Genzyme’s rare disease education webinar will increase your awareness about two rare inherited disorders – Fabry disease and Pompe disease and will highlight why primary care is essential in reducing the long and cumbersome diagnostic delays these patients experience. You may also leave with the realization that these rare diseases are not as rare as you think. Register here.

Eliminating red and white cards posters

The Ministry has provided English and French posters that can be placed in your clinics and offices on the elimination of red and white OHIP cards as of July 1, 2020.

Managing proton pump inhibitor use in older adults: tool
The Centre for Effective Practice has released their latest clinical tool: Managing Proton Pump Inhibitor Use in Older Adults.

When the ongoing reason for using proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) is unclear, there may be more risks than benefits to the patient. This tool helps guide discussions and assessments with patients aged 65+ about the potential harms and benefits of PPIs. Download the tool here.

Quality Rounds Ontario: The Promise of Virtual Care, Feb. 6, 2020
With opening remarks by Bill Hatanaka, Board Chair, and Matthew Anderson and Incoming President and CEO, Ontario Health. Register today.

Navigating the World of Advance Care Planning and Goals of Care Conversations, Feb. 18, 2020
The second webinar in Hospice Palliative Care Ontario’s Winter 2020 Series, presented by Dr. Leah Steinberg. Register now.

Primary Care Virtual Community, Feb 13, 2020
The Primary Care Virtual Community brings together leaders in primary care interested in enabling meaningful system change. The virtual community is a collaboration developed by the OCFP and AFHTO and convened by The Change Foundation.

Join the Community to access past webinar recordings and plan to attend the next webinar on February 13 from 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Registration link coming soon!

Your Patients Are Using Cannabis: Here’s What You Need To Know Conference, Feb 28, 2020
NPAO’s conference held for primary care providers will help you gain a better understanding of medicinal cannabis. Learn more here.

Capstone Summit, May 4-5, 2020
Conference hosted by the Change Foundation to showcase their work with caregivers and formally introduce their new strategic focus. Find out more here.

Meeting Social Needs in an Integrated Health System: A Role for Social Prescribing, March 25, 2020
Hosted by the Alliance for Healthier Communities and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, join James Sanderson, Interim CEO, UK National Academy for Social Prescribing and Director of Personalised Care, National Health Service England as he speaks about how the practice of social prescribing has spread and sustained in the UK. Click here to learn more and to register.

January 28, 2020

Tag: COVID-19

Bits & Pieces: Updated COVID-19 case definitions, RISE update, member renewal & more

Your Weekly News & Updates

Bits & Pieces: New PPE survey deadline, Ontario Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance Queen’s Park Day & more

Your Weekly News & Updates

Bits & Pieces: meeting the Minister, working together for change tools & resources & more

Your Weekly News & Updates

Bits & Pieces: prescriptions are for more than just drugs, new location & more

Your Weekly News & Updates

Bits & Pieces: practising equity-focused health care, improving cancer screening rates & more

Your Weekly News & Updates

Bits & Pieces: novel coronavirus updates, pre-budget submission & more

Your Weekly News & Updates