Ultimate Blogging Championship

Tag: Highlights

  • St. Michael’s Hospital Academic FHT Filling the Gap in Regent Park

    July 16 – St. Michael’s Hospital Academic FHT has opened the Sumac Creek Health Centre to help serve Toronto’s downtown east region, including Regent Park, Moss Park and St. James Town. A densely populated area, it’s been underserved with an estimated 10,000 unattached patients who don’t have a primary care provider. A community engagement specialist will help determine the area’s specific needs and ensure the clinic is connected with other community agencies to provide more holistic health care. The centre will also house the Flexible Outreach Community Urban Support (FOCUS) program. A partnership program with community-based organization Cota, it offers 24-7 support for those dealing with complex mental health and addiction issues. For further details you can click on the links below:

  • Four Family Health Teams share how they integrated their staff and operations

    AFHTO profiles the efforts of four family health teams (FHTs) and affiliated physician groups (FHOs, RNPGAs) as they integrated components of their respective operations such as procurement, staffing and strategic planning. Building an effective, collaborative, interdisciplinary team is essential to your success in delivering primary care. Combining people – physicians, IHPs and admin staff – presents added challenges when they come from different entities with different policies and ways of doing things. Learn how they managed to do this – log-in to Members Only then click here to read these case studies and access the tools they used.

  • Peterborough Networked FHT & YMCA partner to prescribe exercise

    July 9 – The Peterborough Examiner described the Peterborough Networked FHT partnership with the YMCA “as the next step toward a healthy community. It should also be the next step toward a comprehensive “green prescription” program across Ontario.” The first of its kind in the province, The Prescription … to Physical Activity … to Better Health initiative aims to address the increase in sedentary lifestyles with more than 100 family doctors, nurse practitioners and dietitians prescribing exercise for patients who need it. Patients can then redeem their prescription at the Balsillie Family YMCA for a free 60-day membership along with advice on exercise programs they might enjoy and how to do them properly. Green prescriptions are referrals with exercise or lifestyle goals instead of drugs. Research has shown that patients are more likely to change their lifestyles if the advice comes from a health care professional. For further information you can read the editorial or the original article.

  • FHT physician awarded Order of Canada

    July 3 – Dr. Ruth Wilson, a Queen’s FHT physician and former AFHTO board member, was named a member of the Order of Canada on Canada Day. The recipient of numerous awards, Dr. Wilson, who’s also a professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Queen’s University, was moved by the honour, saying “it’s not specific to my profession, it’s an award on behalf of the nation.” According to The Kingston Whig- Standard, Wilson said family medicine’s biggest accomplishment is the establishment of new models of care. “Family health teams has been terrific,” Wilson said. “So patients have access to a team of family doctors with other providers like nurses, nurse practitioners, dietitians and pharmacists.” She also provided her perspective on poverty, the lack of a national pharmacare program and aboriginal health. To learn more read the full article.

  • Northumberland FHT and partners promoting breastfeeding

    July 3 – Mothers attending the Waterfront Festival in Cobourg will have no trouble finding a comfortable spot to breastfeed and change their babies. The Northumberland Breastfeeding Coalition, of which Northumberland FHT is a member, has arranged a line-up of hot pink Adirondack chairs in an open-sided tent for their convenience. Coalition members will also be available to offer information about breastfeeding and community resources that support families. Their aim is to increase positive attitudes toward breastfeeding in public. To this end, they hope to take the chairs and tent to all the area’s big summer events, creating more breastfeeding-friendly environments for families to enjoy. Members also include, among others, representatives from the Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit, the La Leche League, Port Hope Community Health Centre, breastfeeding mothers, physicians and social workers. Read the article for further details.

  • Getting started on a COPD registry in Accuro EMR

    A new Electronic Medical Record (EMR) query to identify patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is available to all primary care providers using Accuro EMR. The query was developed by QIDS Specialists from the Windsor FHT and East GTA FHT and validated by other QIDS Specialists.

    The query was developed  in collaboration with  the Ontario Lung Association, and the University of Toronto Practice Based Research Network (UTOPIAN).  It is  intended for all those in primary care that do not yet have a reliable list of COPD patients and don’t have the time or resources to start from scratch in reviewing all their patients to generate such a list for those wanting to start a lung health program.  The earlier patients are identified with COPD and started on a treatment regime will slow the advancement of this chronic condition.

    AFHTO members may access the COPD query on the Members Only website. All other primary care providers may download instructions to use the query in Accuro EMR.

  • “Bright Lights” Awards Nominations – Deadline Extended to August 11

     

    Nominate an outstanding team or individual today! Deadline to submit nomination is now 12PM on  August 11!

    Little innovations, big impact – “Bright Lights” Award winners are innovators, making meaningful changes to improve the patient experience, health outcomes and reduce overall costs to the health care system. The awards program recognizes leadership, outstanding work and significant progress being made to improve the value delivered by interprofessional primary care teams across Ontario. Awards will be presented at the fourth annual AFHTO 2015 Conference Awards Dinner, on October 28, 2015. Winners in four award categories will receive an education grant*. Deadline to complete the online form and submit supporting documents is August 7 12PM on August 11, 2015.

    Make a nomination today (See “Bright Lights” nomination guide for details):

    1. Review the nomination categories in advance (see nomination guide pg. 3 for descriptions).
    2. Review nomination evaluation criteria (see nomination guide pg. 2 for details).
    3. Complete the online nomination form.
    4. Submit supporting documents to info@afhto.ca:
      1. 1-4 high-quality photos of nominees in png. or jpg. format to be featured at the Awards Dinner on October 28.
      2. Signed statement of attestation to release photos for AFHTO use.
      3. Any supporting evidence and materials as appropriate.
    5. Deadline to complete online form and submit supporting documents is August 7 12PM on August 11, 2015.

    Award nominations will be reviewed and selected by the “Bright Lights” Review Committee.

    Award Categories

    One or more awards will be presented in each of the following categories:

    1. Population-based primary health care: planning and integration for the community*
    2. Optimizing capacity of interprofessional teams*
    3. Transforming patients’ and caregivers’ experience and health *
    4. Building the rural health care team: making the most of available resources
    5. Advancing manageable meaningful measurement*
    6. Leadership and governance for accountable care
    7. Clinical innovations keeping people at home and out of the hospital

    * Thank you to our generous sponsors for providing education grants to award winners in the categories marked above:

    • Boehringer Ingelheim for providing four award recipients in the Population-based primary health care: planning and integration for the community and Transforming patients and caregivers experience and health categories with the opportunity to attend to attend the Institute for Healthcare Improvement Conference on March 20-22, 2016, in Orlando, Florida.
    • Merck Canada Inc. for providing a $3,000 education grant for the “Bright Lights” award recipient in the Optimizing capacity of interprofessional teams and Advancing Manageable Meaningful Measurement categories.

    Please note: Sponsors have no role in establishing award criteria, call for nominations, judging or selecting the program winners.

    AFHTO “Bright Lights” Awards – Past Winners

    To learn more about past “Bright Lights” Awards winners and their accomplishments, please visit any of the links below:

     

  • AFHTO 2015 Conference: Registration Now Open!

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    Register now for the AFHTO 2015 Conference Team-Based Primary Care: The Foundation of a Sustainable Health System

    October 28 & 29, 2015 – Westin Harbour Castle, Toronto, Ontario

    Research from around the world shows that cost-effective and high-performing health systems are based on a strong foundation of comprehensive primary care. Ontario’s health system is transforming to become more sustainable and person-centred; primary care is the critical component. Now is the time for leaders and collaborators to ask – how are we strengthening primary care to fill this need? Join over 800 interprofessional primary care providers, patients and community partners at the AFHTO 2015 Conference. We’ll spend two session-packed days studying innovations in primary care, strengthening partnerships and addressing the challenges facing Ontario’s primary care teams.

    For general information you can visit our conference page. We look forward to seeing you at the AFHTO 2015 Conference!

  • Call for nominations to the AFHTO Board of Directors – deadline to apply July 13

    Are you interested in serving on the AFHTO board of directors? The Governance Committee of AFHTO’s board invites anyone who works within an AFHTO member organization to apply. Please share this call for nominations with all who work in your team.

    Six positions on the board are up for election:

    • Five are to be elected for a 3-year term
    • One to be elected to fulfil the remainder of a 2-year term on the 14-member AFHTO board.

    The AFHTO by-laws call for balanced representation on the board to include the various forms of governance, the regions of the province, and the mix of the professions working within FHTs, NPLCs and other interprofessional models. Given the composition of eight continuing board members, priority for the six directors to be elected will be given to candidates who are:

    • Executive Directors or Interprofessional Health Providers
    • From community-led FHTs and NPLCs

    To apply:

    The Governance Committee of the AFHTO board will review all applications to assist the AFHTO board to determine the slate of candidates to recommend to the AFHTO membership for election at the AFHTO annual general meeting.

    • Nominees will be informed of their status by October 9.
    • Nominees who are not recommended for the slate will have until October 12 to determine whether they wish to proceed with having their name go forward on the election ballot.
    • The election will take place at the Annual General Meeting in conjunction with the AFHTO annual conference.  This year it will be held:

    Wednesday October 28, 2015 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM The Westin Harbour Castle 1 Harbour Square Toronto, Ontario M5J 1A6

     

  • Essex County NPLC improving access to cancer screenings

    June 26 – Essex County NPLC is promoting cervical cancer screening for women in Ford City, a Windsor neighbourhood with a low rate of regular checkups. Residents experience multiple barriers to health care such as transportation issues, poverty and not having a family doctor, which is why an outreach office was opened there three years ago. According to clinical lead Nurse Practitioner Shelley Raymond, lack of regular testing can be extremely dangerous, as research shows early diagnosis for cervical cancer could dramatically increase survival rates, so they hope to encourage women in the neighbourhood to come in and learn more about their potential health risks. For more information you can read the full article.