Ultimate Blogging Championship

Tag: key issue

  • New Nicotine Replacement Therapy program announced: AFHTO seeks FHT leaders to consult on implementation issues

    The Minister of Health Promotion and Sport just announced a new program here. The Ministry of Health’s FHT Unit is sending out a “Question and Answer” package to help staff in FHTs respond to public inquiries about this program.  In the next week or two, FHTs that want to participate will be invited to complete and submit an expression of interest document. AFHTO remains committed to work on behalf of its members to address policy and implementation issues, on this program and others. To do this we need help from the field — please let us know if you would like to be part of a small group of FHT leaders who can be called upon to give input and feedback as the implementation plant for the NRT/Smoking Cessation program is developed. Thank you, Dr. John McDonald, President Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario ……………………………………………………………. McGuinty Government Takes Steps To Reduce Costs Of Tobacco-Related Disease Ontario is taking action to address the rising costs of tobacco-related disease on the province’s health care system by expanding services that help smokers quit. Beginning in Spring 2011, participating Family Health Teams will provide access to over-the-counter nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) such as nicotine patches and gum, combined with counselling, at no cost to the smoker. These services are also already available in many Public Health Units, Community Health Centres, Aboriginal Health Access Centres, pharmacies and hospitals. Expanding these services to Family Health Teams will give 20,000 more Ontarians the tools to quit smoking over the next two years, and help the province reduce the $1.93 billion in tobacco-related health care costs. Family Health Teams will work in partnership with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health to:

    • Identify, advise and assist current smokers within Family Health Teams
    • Offer NRT treatment and expert smoking cessation counselling
    • Follow-up with participants to prevent relapses
    • Offer additional counselling and follow-up support through the Smokers’ Helpline and online services

  • AFHTO is seeking your FHT’s input for the 2011 Strategic Plan

    AFHTO works with FHTs and for FHTs as the advocate, champion, network and resource centre for this innovative model of care.   Our membership is our strength.  We need your help to determine AFHTO’s path for the next 2-3 years to ensure it captures and reflects the key priorities shared by FHTs across Ontario. As a first step, we ask you to help us learn more about how FHT leaders interact with one another and the media you use to do this.  Please take a two minute survey; e-mail caitlin.burgess@afhto.ca for the link. For the following step, in the last week of January you will receive a draft set of strategic priorities for AFHTO.  We will collect your input and feedback on these priorities over the first three weeks of February. Your responses to the survey above will help us determine the most effective ways to foster and support membership engagement. The draft strategic plan you will receive flows from the direction provided by 150 FHT leaders at the AFHTO leadership retreat fourteen months ago.  The plan aims to take AFHTO to the next level with the goal of delivering greater value to all members. AFHTO’s board is currently completing work on this draft. To help facilitate this process over the next 2-3 months, we have added to AFHTO’s staff complement.  Caitlin Burgess, who recently worked to help launch one of the Wave 5 FHTs, joins our executive director, Angie Heydon, to assist with membership communications and engagement.   We look forward to your participation! Sincerely, Dr. John McDonald AFHTO President On behalf of the AFHTO Board of Directors

  • Members Only website has been launched

    AFHTO has just launched a Members Only feature — click on the Member Login tab to enter. Here you’ll find a wealth of resources to help members in governing, managing and delivering care in their FHTs. Resources on AFHTO’s Members Only website includes 27 presentations from the AFHTO 2010 conference, guides and toolkits prepared specifically for FHTs, convenient links to resources from QIIP and the Quality in Family Practice Project, and Members Only news. The latest post on Members Only news looks at the Ministry’s current “Health Care Options” campaign. You need a username and password to enter the AFHTO’s Members Only website.  If your FHT is not a member, please go to http://www.afhto.ca/membership/application/ and follow the instructions. AFHTO’s public website continues to grow as well.  Here you’ll find news of interest to people working in FHTs.  There’s a link to the Quality in Family Practice project’s just-released Book of Tools, conference and workshop listings, and news from a number of FHTs, including: –  The Minister of Health and Long-Term Care’s visits to the Caroline, City of Kawartha Lakes, Wise Elephant and Centre for Family Medicine FHTs –  A CBC radio interview on FHTs with Health for All FHT’s Dr. Jane Philpott –  A visit by 84 student doctors to the Harrow and Leamington FHTs –  A unique fundraising and partnership endeavour by the doctors of Wise Elephant FHT with a group of villages in India.

  • Join the Office Practice Redesign Action Group to improve Access and Efficiency

    Apply by December 10 to join QIIP’s Office Practice Redesign Action Group. QIIP (Quality Improvement and Innovation Partnership) is a non-profit organization funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, focused on advancing improvement in primary healthcare in Ontario. QIIP is looking for approximately 100 motivated primary healthcare organizations including Family Health Teams (FHT), Community Health Centers (CHC), Nurse Practitioner Lead Clinics (NPLC) and solo or group practices to participate in the newest provincial wide quality improvement initiative by joining the Learning Community. This initiative will focus on Office Practice Redesign, a proactive, planned approach to making changes that improve patient access and office efficiencies. By adopting the principles of Office Practice Redesign, including access and efficiency, practices learn to balance provider supply with service demands, so patients can see their own provider on the day of their choosing and improve access to primary healthcare. The Learning Community provides an exciting and interactive opportunity for primary healthcare providers from across the province to learn and apply quality improvement methodologies and make changes that lead to true improvements. For further information, including important dates, go to http://www.qiip.ca/. To apply to QIIP’s Office Practice Redesign Action Group, please complete the online registration form at http://www.surveymonkey.com/http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LCWave2OPR by December 10, 2010. If you have any questions, please e-mail info@qiip.ca . We look forward to your participation in the Learning Community, and being part of the next phase in quality improvement in primary healthcare in Ontario.

  • AFHTO Pension proposal needs 27 more FHT responses

    One of the top concerns identified by Family Health Teams was the gap between the benefits package available through FHT funding, and that offered elsewhere in the health care system.  To help FHTs attract and retain skilled healthcare workers, AFHTO has been working with HOOPP, the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan to address the pension gap.  HOOP has been collecting the data needed to for us to move forward on pension discussions with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. To date 23 FHTs have completed the survey; 27 more are needed in order for the results to be robust for presentation to the Ministry.  Results to date were presented at the October 6 AFHTO 2010 conference; the case is beginning to emerge, but data from at least 27 more FHTs are needed to complete the job. Thank you to the FHTs that have already participated. If your FHT would like to do so as well, it will involve a few hours at most of staff time in order to complete the survey. Please email: fht@hoopp.com. 

  • Key Issues

    AFHTO has served as the forum for sharing FHT issues, concerns, and ideas, and formulating policy statements and recommendations to the government. The November 2009 FHT Leaders Retreat is an excellent example of collective idea-sharing and problem-solving: it achieved remarkable consensus on the most pressing issues for FHT success. The following March AFHTO board members met with the Health Minister’s staff and exchanged correspondence with Minister Deb Matthews. The Minister’s Office welcomes AFHTO as a credible advocacy voice for FHTs and will ensure on-going communications. The Ministry’s Primary Health Care branch has committed to meet regularly. Our August meeting began to deal with our most pressing issues. Coming out of that meeting, we heard the Ministry’s commitment to:

    • Explore possible improvements to speed up the process to get FHT budgets approved;
    • Work with individual FHTs that are experiencing cash flow problems to flow funds at the beginning of the month, rather than at the end;
    • Work with a small group of FHT Executive Directors to find solutions to problems with financial reporting systems. This work is actively in progress;
    • Consider the question of funding for travel and education for northern FHTs, in line with what is provided to other northern health organizations;
    • Provide an opportunity for AFHTO to comment on an Ontario Telemedicine Network support policy that is in development; and
    • Receive a proposal from AFHTO to develop and support FHT governance and strategic planning, and for cost-effective training to meet legislated obligations such as workplace health and safety, for potential project funding.

    AFHTO continues to participate in the Ministry’s FHT Action Group, together with representatives from other associations representing the various health professions working within FHTs. This, along with additional contacts by board members with other organizations, has enabled AFHTO to establish and nurture relationships with organizations such as the Quality Improvement and Innovation Partnership (QIIP), the Ontario College of Family Physicians, the Association of Ontario Health Centres and others.