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Tag: Highlights

  • COVID-19 Clinical Assessment Centres, ConfusedAboutCOVID.ca and updated guidance documents

    COVID-19 Clinical Assessment Centres, ConfusedAboutCOVID.ca and updated guidance documents

    Dear Members,

    With the recent news that Health Canada has authorized PAXLOVID for patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 at high risk of developing serious disease, there is some hope that treatment can be made available as soon as possible after diagnosis of COVID-19 and within five days of the start of symptoms. Ontario is expecting 10,800 doses by the end of the month and while details around where they will be disseminated are still being worked out, it looks like the Clinical Assessment Centres (see below) may be the first point of access. As we wait for more information, we wanted to share some important guidance updates and resources to support you.
     
    COVID-19 Clinical Assessment Centres
    To help further conserve needed capacity for people requiring emergency services, Ontario Health has requested that a number of COVID-19 assessment centres across the province expand their scope to include clinical services to support people with known or suspected COVID-19 infection who meet certain criteria. These clinical assessment centres build on the COVID, cough and flu clinics and other influenza-like illness clinics established in the fall. They will support assessment, diagnosis, and disposition planning for people whose symptoms cannot be safely self-monitored at home but are also not experiencing severe symptoms that would require emergency care.

    To support this pivot, please find attached:

    If you have any questions about clinical assessment centres in your region, reach out to the Vice President, Clinical Programs in your region:

    names, email addresses for Vice Presidents, Clinical Programs, OH

    * A reminder that if you have already existing pathways for referrals to your local clinical assessment centre (especially in Northern and rural settings), you should continue to use them.

    New patient resources at ConfusedAboutCOVID.ca
    The Department of Community and Family Medicine (DFCM) at the University of Toronto and the Ontario College of Family Physicians (OCFP) have created a new series of patient resources that teams can use to help patients make sense of the latest guidance around COVID/Omicron.

    The resources include plain-language questions and answers about COVID management, testing, isolation and more. They offer patients and the public trustworthy advice about protecting their health and how primary care providers can help. Find out more at ConfusedAboutCovid.ca or to access them individually here:

     
    Updated Guidance Documents
    Here are some updated guidance documents from the Ministry of Health over the last week:

    COVaxON

    • If you are having issues accessing COVaxON or need to register additional staff/volunteers you can contact OntarioMD directly for information and support: covaxon.support@ontariomd.com.
    • Just a reminder also that OMD runs ongoing training sessions on COVaxON – information and registration can be found here.
    • COVaxON accounts are automatically deactivated after 30 days of inactivity so please check in advance of your clinic to ensure that all necessary staff/volunteers are reactivated if some time has passed.

     Upcoming COVID-19 related webinars

    • Therapeutic Management of COVID-19, Thursday, Jan. 20, 12:00p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
      • The General Medicine Quality Improvement Network (GeMQIN) will discuss recent developments in treatment of COVID-19 in both the inpatient and outpatient setting. Register here.
    • COVID-19 Community of Practice for Family Physicians: Responding to the Omicron surge, Friday, Jan. 21, 2022, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
      • Join the OCFP and the DFCM in their 37th session of ‘Changing the way we work’. Register here.
    • Vax for the Future: Equity, Community and Trust. Community of Practice | La vaccination pour l’avenir : équité, communauté et confiance, Wednesday, Jan. 26, 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
      • Join this Alliance-hosted virtual event showcasing best practices and lessons learned for improving vaccine confidence, featuring panellists from member centres (TAIBU CHC, Centre Francophone du Grand Toronto, Woolwich CHC, and Somerset West CHC). Register here.
    • Quality Rounds: The Reality of Virtual Care: Lessons From The Pandemic, Friday, Jan. 28, 2022, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 pm.
      • Over the last two years of the pandemic, the popularity and usage of virtual care has increased dramatically. Join Ontario Health as they hear from patients and providers on the enablers and barriers to delivering and using virtual care during the pandemic, as well as exploring the future opportunities of virtual care in Ontario. If you are interested in learning more, please contact Courtney Paxton at Courtney.Paxton@ontariohealth.ca.
    • Primary Care and COVID-19 Support CoP, Feb. 9, 2022, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 am.
      • With a focus on COVID@Home monitoring and Post COVID-19 Clinical Guidance for Primary Care. Hosted by Ontario Health. Click here to register.

    While the ‘all hands-on deck’ to immunize as many individuals over 50+ as possible over the two weeks in December may have ended, teams are being encouraged to please participate in vaccine efforts in your community if capacity exists, including providing COVID-19 vaccines to your patients in clinic and counselling individuals who have not yet received their vaccine.  

    If you are still struggling with getting vaccines in your teams or want to participate in your public health vaccine clinics but do not know where to get assistance, please contact your PHU operational contact.  If you’re having any issues, please let us know ASAP so we can work with the Ministry to provide a resolution.

    We are expecting an updated Primary Care Guidance document very soon which will provide updated guidance on how to manage in-person care with updated IPAC, screening and testing guidance. We will ensure we share that as soon as it is available.

    Once again thank you for all you are doing to keep your patients and the community safe. If you need any assistance or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

    Yours in Good Health,

    The AFHTO Team

    (in collaboration with the Primary Care Collaborative)

  • A Challenging Start to 2022, More Resources and a Continued Call to Get More Shots in Arms

    Dear Members,

    2022 has not started off the way we had hoped with the rapid increase in Omicron cases and the shift back to online learning for our kids. As Ontario struggles through what looks to be the most challenging wave of this pandemic, we remain heartened and continually in awe of the dedication of our teams in ensuring you do everything you can do keep your patients and community safe.

    When there was a call by the province for an #AllHandsOnDeck pivot during the December holiday season, you didn’t hesitate and did everything you could to support getting as many people vaccinated as possible. In fact, during the week of December 20 to 26 we saw the number of vaccines being given in primary care double – during a time where people should be rightfully getting some much-needed rest and downtime with the family. You can read the Vaccine Implementation Primary Care Update analysis by the Ministry which details the vaccine distribution up to January 3, 2022.

    Thank you to everyone who took the time to participate in our quick survey at the end of the year when the call to action was put out – your quick response provided a positive narrative to government officials on just how much primary care has and continues to participate in all efforts of the pandemic response.

    For teams who are still struggling with getting vaccines or want to participate in your public health vaccine clinics but do not know where to get assistance, the Ministry has provided a list of the PHU operational contacts who you can connect with. If you’re having any issues, please let us know ASAP so we can work with the Ministry to provide a resolution.

    A lot of information was released during the last few weeks so below are some important information you may find helpful – please note that we anticipate an updated Primary Care Guidance Document to be released in the next few weeks.

    Ministry of Health guidance documents

    Just a reminder that any updates to the Ministry Guidance Documents can be found here.

    Updated Directive #1 and PPE
    On December 15, Public Health Ontario issued an Interim IPAC Recommendations for Use of Personal Protective Equipment for Care of Individuals with Suspect or Confirmed COVID 19 which provides a summary of PPE recommendations.

    Given the high transmissibility of the Omicron variant, the Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) has issued a revised Directive #1 for Health Care Providers and Health Care Entities (December 21, 2021) instructing the move to wear a well-fitted surgical/procedure mask, or a KN95 respirator, or a non fit-tested N95 respirator (or equivalent) if not yet fit-tested. For questions you may have around Directive #1 read this Q&A document (December 24, 2021) which goes into more details.

    Primary care teams can order N95s via the Ontario Health Critical Personal Protective Equipment portal – from the dropdown menu, select “N95 Mask for Regular Supply”. The requirement for fit testing has been removed for ordering the 1870+ N95 masks for primary care but not for other models. If you have any questions about the provincial stockpile, please direct questions to COVID19SupplyChain@ontariohealth.ca.

    Prioritizing Pregnant Individuals for Booster Shots
    On January 4, 2022, the CMOH issued a memo prioritizing of booster vaccines in pregnant individuals. With the recent hospitalizations of infants with COVID, it’s important now more than ever to ensure that pregnant individuals get their booster doses to prevent risk of severe outcomes with Omicron. If you’re looking for information around pregnancy and COVID vaccination, please visit:

    Other Important Information

    Events

    • OCFP COVID-19 Community of Practice for Family Physicians: Managing COVID-19 in the Community– Friday, January 21, 2022, 8:00-9:00am EST. Details to be announced soon here.
    • Ontario Health Primary Care and COVID-19 Quality Improvement Support CoP: January 12 meeting registration here.
    • Vax for the Future: Equity, Community and Trust – Building Vaccine Confidence with Marginalized Populations – Wednesday, January 26 from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. Join the Alliance for Healthier Communities for a webinar on innovative, equitable approaches to overcoming vaccine hesitancy in marginalized populations. They will be showcasing best practices and lessons learned for improving vaccine confidence.  Learn more including registration here.
    • Children’s Healthcare Canada Immunizing Children With Confidence Vaccination Conversation on January 27 – registration here.

    As always, we thank you so much for all that you do and continue to do, especially during these tough times. Please stay safe and if you have any questions or need additional support that we can provide, please email us at info@afhto.ca.

    Yours in good health,
    The AFHTO Team  

  • Patients, clinicians benefit from team-based care model: Stanford study

    Research article published in Annals of Family Medicine September 2021, 19 (5) 411-418

    Primary Care 2.0: A Prospective Evaluation of a Novel Model of Advanced Team Care With Expanded Medical Assistant Support

    Abstract

    PURPOSE Assess effectiveness of Primary Care 2.0: a team-based model that incorporates increased medical assistant (MA) to primary care physician (PCP) ratio, integration of advanced practice clinicians, expanded MA roles, and extended the interprofessional team.

    METHODS Prospective, quasi-experimental evaluation of staff/clinician team development and wellness survey data, comparing Primary Care 2.0 to conventional clinics within our academic health care system. We surveyed before the model launch and every 6-9 months up to 24 months post implementation. Secondary outcomes (cost, quality metrics, patient satisfaction) were assessed via routinely collected operational data

    RESULTS Team development significantly increased in the Primary Care 2.0 clinic, sustained across all 3 post implementation time points (+12.2, +8.5, + 10.1 respectively, vs baseline, on the 100-point Team Development Measure) relative to the comparison clinics. Among wellness domains, only “control of work” approached significant gains (+0.5 on a 5-point Likert scale, P = .05), but was not sustained. Burnout did not have statistically significant relative changes; the Primary Care 2.0 site showed a temporal trend of improvement at 9 and 15 months. Reversal of this trend at 2 years corresponded to contextual changes, specifically, reduced MA to PCP staffing ratio. Adjusted models confirmed an inverse relationship between team development and burnout (P <.0001). Secondary outcomes generally remained stable between intervention and comparison clinics with suggestion of labor cost savings.

    CONCLUSIONS The Primary Care 2.0 model of enhanced team-based primary care demonstrates team development is a plausible key to protect against burnout, but is not sufficient alone. The results reinforce that transformation to team-based care cannot be a 1-time effort and institutional commitment is integral.

    Authors:
    Jonathan G. Shaw, Marcy Winget, Cati Brown-Johnson, Timothy Seay-Morrison, Donn W. Garvert, Marcie Levine, Nadia Safaeinili and Megan R. Mahoney

    Relevant Links:

     

  • Sending warm wishes and cheer| Holiday hours inside

    HOLIDAY HOURS

    The AFHTO office will be open Dec. 20- 23, but with significantly reduced staff. The office will close Dec. 24 at noon, and reopen on Jan. 4, 2022. We will be monitoring the info@afhto.ca inbox for urgent items only during this time.

    Our very best wishes of the season. Please stay warm and safe.

  • AFHTO 2021 Conference: all videos now available for members + 2022 planning committee sign up

    AFHTO 2021 Conference: all videos now available for members + 2022 planning committee sign up

    Post-Pandemic Primary Care: Respond, Recover, Rebuild

     

    Mamta Gautam

     

    NOW AVAILABLE

    All our 2021 conference videos and slides are now available to members, including the closing plenary MOVING FORWARD TOGETHER: The Power of Resilience with Dr. Mamta Gautam.

    Also available to members:

    • Posters – a showcase of evidence-based, impactful innovations by your colleagues that be useful to other teams

     

     

     

    Become an influencer (sort of)!

    Maybe you’re not getting free swag as an Instagram influencer, but you can get free registration and that’s just as good! Become a part of our 2022 conference planning committee and shape our first hybrid conference. As members, you’re our main audience so you should have a major say in how 2022 looks.

    Review our ToR and sign up by Jan. 4, 2022.

    NB- for those who would like to only participate in a concurrent session and poster working group and/or Bright Lights review committee, the call for these will go out separately in 2022.

    Free Starbucks for attendees

    ICYMI- most conference attendees got a $5 Starbucks digital gift card courtesy of sponsor QHR. If you didn’t see this, please check your junk mail.

     

    We look forward to seeing you next year on Oct 12, 2022!

  • AFHTO 2021 Conference: video and posters now available for members

    AFHTO 2021 Conference: video and posters now available for members

    Post-Pandemic Primary Care: Respond, Recover, Rebuild

     

    Primary care has risen to the challenge of COVID-19. Throughout this pandemic, teams adjusted to new circumstances and continued to provide comprehensive care while extending reach to support their communities. They were leaders in organizing assessment centres, conducting tests, and administering COVID-19 vaccines. They collaborated with their partners to help keep communities safe, while keeping their doors open to provide care to their patients and others who needed it most. If you have not yet done so, take a moment and read more about the work our teams did in the 2021 AFHTO Annual Report.

    Teams came together virtually at AFHTO’s conference on October 27 and 28 to network, to celebrate work of the past year, and to talk about challenges we face moving forward – and how we can work together to address them as we respond, recover, and rebuild.

    “True resilience must be a shared responsibility. The heroes are hurting.”- Dr. Mamta Gautam

    Opening session with AFHTO president and the Minister of Health
    AFHTO’s new president, Clarys Tirel, kicked off the conference with welcoming remarks and a discussion with Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, Hon. Christine Elliott, who thanked teams for their work throughout the pandemic and spoke to how primary care will be the backbone of Ontario Health Teams and a patient-centered health care system. “Without you, these teams would not work.”

    This was followed by the announcement and celebration of this year’s Bright Lights Awards winners. A hearty congratulations to all our winners and to all our nominees – it is always a huge honour to showcase the phenomenal work our teams are doing.

    Screenshot of Zoom with winners, the minister and Tom Richard

    Available to members:

    • Opening Session recording– including welcome, Minister’s Q&A and the Bright Lights Awards ceremony
    • Posters – a showcase of evidence-based, impactful innovations by your colleagues that be useful to other teams

    Members who registered for the conference can access all recordings on the platform. Full conference session recordings and slides will be made available to all other members in early December.

    Congratulations to the AFHTO 2021-22 Board of Directors
    Our 2021 conference marks the beginning of the term for our new Board of Directors. Special congratulations to our new president and chair, Clarys Tirel, executive director of Mount Sinai Academic FHT.

    We look forward to seeing you next year on Oct 12, 2022!

  • Annual Report 2021 (Post-Pandemic Primary Care: Respond, Recover, Rebuild)

    It has been a challenging 20 months, and primary care teams have been leaders.

    Throughout this pandemic, teams adjusted to new circumstances and continued to provide comprehensive care while extending reach to support their communities. They were leaders in organizing assessment centres, conducting tests, and administering COVID-19 vaccines. They collaborated with their partners to help keep communities safe, while keeping their doors open to provide care to their patients and others who needed it most.

    We have seen primary care teams respond to the challenges the pandemic presented. 

    They are working to recover, having faced extraordinary circumstances.

    And they are part of an important and foundational rebuild of our health and social systems. 

    This pandemic laid bare the inequities and the fragmentation in our healthcare system. As we continue with health system restructuring, there is an opportunity to build back even better than before the pandemic with the principles of equity and support for the most vulnerable at the forefront. 

    AFHTO’s annual report speaks to the response, the recovery, and the rebuild of teams during this pandemic and how we have been supporting this work.

    The 2021 annual report can be read here: Post-Pandemic Primary Care: Respond, Recover, Rebuild

  • Congratulations to the Bright Lights 2021 Award Winners!

    Congratulations to the Bright Lights 2021 Award Winners!

    Bright Lights award 2021 banner

     

    On October 27 AFHTO named the winners of our tenth annual Bright Lights Awards at our virtual ceremony. These innovators have improved access to primary care through their leadership, outstanding work and significant progress made toward improving the value delivered by interprofessional primary care teams throughout Ontario. Bright Lights Award winners are innovators and team players whose work has an impact on the healthcare system and in the lives of their patients and communities.

    The review committees made up of AFHTO members chose the winners from among dozens of nominations. AFHTO gave awards for excellent response to COVID-19, as well as two special awards for reducing unnecessary care and integrated care for older adults. The winners for response to COVID-19 will receive a $750 education grant each courtesy of Boehringer Ingelheim. The winners for the special awards will receive a $750 education grant each courtesy of Choosing Wisely Canada and Provincial Geriatrics Leadership Ontario respectively.

    In addition, AFHTO’s board presented an award to a physician leader who supported primary care providers in a hard-hit community and continues to tirelessly advocate for ongoing support.

    Board Award: Dr. Brian Klar
    In recognition of: Commitment to Integrated Healthcare with An Equitable Foundation In Primary Care

    This year, the board has recognized Dr. Brian Klar, Chief of Family Medicine at William Osler Health System (WOHS) , and the co-chair of the Collaboration Council of the Brampton Etobicoke Ontario Health Team (BEOHT), for his tireless advocacy on behalf of primary care and leadership in the sector.

    See the video for this award

    The six recipients of Bright Lights Awards are listed below. Click on the links to read a summary of their achievements:

    1. Sherbourne Health Centre, Inner City, St. Michael’s Hospital Academic Family Health Teams
    Award Category: Community Response to COVID-19
    Achievement: Collaborative Response to Care Needs in Downtown East Toronto

    Sherbourne Health Centre, Inner City, St. Michael’s Hospital Academic FHTs collaborated to provide care and support to the most vulnerable populations living in Downtown East Toronto.

    See the video for this award

    2. Mental Health and Addictions Community Response Working Group of Hills of Headwaters OHT
    Award Category: Community Response to COVID-19
    Achievement: Taking Care of Mental Health During Covid 19 in Dufferin-Caledon

    The Mental Health and Addictions Community Response Working Group of Hills of Headwaters OHT came together to support the mental health of frontline colleagues, especially at long-term care homes.

    See the video for this award

    3. McMaster Family Health Team
    Award Category: Community Response to COVID-19
    Achievement: Creating COVID-19 Community Ward /COVID@Home Program

    McMaster FHT created the COVID-19 Community Ward, a proactive approach to addressing COVID-19 cases within the community, which was adapted for use across the province, and then became known as COVID@Home.

    See the video for this award

    4. Dilico Family Health Team & Dilico Anishinabek Family Care
    Award Category: Small, Rural, and Northern teams that have taken care of their communities during COVID-19
    Achievement: Supporting the Robinson Superior Treaty Area during COVID-19

    Dilico Family Health Team & Dilico Anishinabek Family Care successfully reduced COVID-19 case numbers for local Indigenous communities in the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, which at one time had one of the highest case numbers per population in Ontario.

    See the video for this award

    5. Heather Griffin, Central Brampton Family Health Team
    Award Category: Reducing Unnecessary Care
    Achievement: Quality Patient Navigation Support

    Led by Heather Griffin, Central Brampton Family Health Team’s new mental health referral intake process has addressed a key team concern with wait times and re-referrals.

    See the video for this award

    6.  Couchiching Family Health Team
    Award Category: Integrated care for older adults living with complex health conditions
    Achievement: Integration of services for frail seniors in the Couchiching region

    Couchiching Family Health Team partnered with Specialized Geriatric Services (SGS) at Waypoint Centre for Mental Health to provide a One Door for All seamless, accessible program for all frail seniors in their region.

    See the video for this award

    Congratulations to all our winners and nominees! And to see all our nominees please visit the 2021 Hall of Fame.

    The call for nominations for the 2022 Bright Light Awards will go out in June 2022. All AFHTO members are welcome and encouraged to participate.

  • AFHTO 2021 Conference: early bird deadline today

    AFHTO 2021 Conference: early bird deadline today

    Post-Pandemic Primary Care: Respond, Recover, Rebuild

     

    Register for the AFHTO 2021 Conference before midnight EDT!

    Hourglass casting shadows with reed diffuser in background

     

    Register at the early bird rate to save on registration. After today, rates increase for both members and non-members.

    In previous years we have sometimes extended the deadline, but this is one of the closest to the conference we’ve ever had, so there will be no extension this year.

     

     

    Conference Highlights:

    See the Conference Schedule for the current agenda.

    Register today!

     

    And don’t forget, members get a deep discount on registration. Email us if you haven’t gotten your access code. Patients and students welcome! For general information, you can visit our conference page. 

     

    We look forward to seeing you at the AFHTO 2021 Conference!

  • AFHTO 2021 Conference: less than a week to early bird deadline

    AFHTO 2021 Conference: less than a week to early bird deadline

    Post-Pandemic Primary Care: Respond, Recover, Rebuild

     

    There is less than a week to our early bird deadline Oct. 20, 2021
    Don’t miss out-register today!

    Bright Lights Hall of Fame

    Get a first look at all our deserving nominations from members- so many and so varied! Winners will be announced at the ceremony.

    Conference Highlights:

    See the Conference Schedule for the current agenda.

    Register today!

     

    And yoga for all

    Illustration of a woman squatting and one hand raised in a yoga pose

     

     

    Well, more like yoga for anyone who registers for Day One or the full conference, but still! Announcing a 30-minute session in the morning before the conference starts! More details to come for registered attendees.

     

     

     

     

    And don’t forget, members get a deep discount on registration. Email us if you haven’t gotten your access code. Patients and students welcome! For general information, you can visit our conference page. 

     

    We look forward to seeing you at the AFHTO 2021 Conference!