Thank you to AFHTO members who met with MPPs before the election call. While the tactics now shift, the need to continue building support for team-based primary care is more critical than ever. Our three messages — expand access, enhance value and enable recruiting – are key.  If we are going to see progress on our core issues, we must work to achieve commitments from political parties that show they understand the value of primary care interprofessional teams and the need to invest in strategies to help us with our recruitment and retention challenges. Please help lay this foundation. Once a government is in place following the June 12 vote AFHTO, together with AOHC and NPAO, will be back at work making the business case for investment to recruit and retain staff to deliver team-based primary care. How can you help? –          Contact your candidates. Phone, write, or e-mail.

• To help you – click here for a list of candidates and their contact information organized by AFHTO member and by riding.  (These lists will be updated as more candidate names are compiled)
• – click here for a brochure and key messages to use in your communications.

–          Invite candidates for a tour of your facility. Although election candidates will be very busy and focused on attaining votes, they may be interested in a facility tour to see what you’re providing to their constituents. For example, RNAO’s campaign has resulted in the following MPP tours of health facilities.

• To help you – click here for a brochure, key messages and a powerpoint you can use during the tour.

–          Attend all candidate debates. This is an easy way to introduce yourself to the candidates and meet with the influential people in your community. Asking a question about their commitment to expand and enhance team-based care raises awareness and potentially gain a firm position or commitment.

• To help you – click here for suggested questions.

–          Use social media to raise awareness. If you have a twitter account, this is an easy way to engage decision-makers and your community.

• To help you – click here for a list of potential tweets and hashtags to consider.

AFHTO will send updates to you as we learn more about the health care policies and positions of each of the parties. Midway through the campaign we’ll be sending a questionnaire to the central party offices asking them to commit to our 3 key priorities. We’ll send you collated responses before Election Day. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if you need help coordinating things, or if you have additional questions.

AFHTO is pleased to announce that the Statutory Compliance Toolkit is now available on our members-only website. AFHTO’s Statutory Compliance Toolkit ensures that boards and Executive Directors are well informed about their legal obligations and have access to the basic tools and resources to ensure compliance and/or risk mitigation. This resource is customized for FHT and NPLCs and highlights the key laws that boards need to know and the impact that those laws have on the organization and on the board members personally. The Statutory Compliance Toolkit was developed by legal experts from DDO Health Law and overseen by AFHTO staff. If you have any questions please contact Clarys Tirel, Provincial Lead, Governance and Leadership by email clarys.tirel@afhto.ca or phone 647-234-8605 ext. 201.

AFHTO is pleased to announce that the Fundamentals of Governance guidebook, toolkit and videos are now available on our members-only website. AFHTO’s Fundamentals of Governance is intended to provide the boards of Family Health Teams and Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinics with essential, basic information that will help them to become high performing boards and organizations. The material can be used as:

• An introduction to governance for new board members
• A refresher and ongoing education resource for all board members
• A guide to assess whether your board is using leading governance practice and identify opportunities for improvement
• A valuable source of sample policies, position descriptions, assessment tools and other resources to help boards fulfill their governance role.

This resource covers all the elements of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s Accountability Reform Initiative to help boards meet the requirements to be granted greater budget flexibility. (Note: MOHLTC’s Accountability Reform Initiative is currently in place for FHTs; we anticipate it will be offered to NPLCs in the next year or two.) Fundamentals of Governance was developed by governance experts and advisors at The Osborne Group, and overseen by AFHTO’s Governance and Leadership Advisory Committee. As a result, it is customised to address governance questions and issues relevant to FHTs and NPLCs. If you have any questions about AFHTO’s Fundamentals of Governance, please contact Clarys Tirel, Provincial Lead, Governance and Leadership by email clarys.tirel@afhto.ca or phone 647-234-8605 ext. 201.

Data to Decisions 1.0 What’s meaningful to you?

We Need Your Views The Indicator Selection Voting Process is Now Live

 Open Until May 8th 2014

Data to Decisions 1.0: Advancing Primary Care (D2D 1.0) was launched on March 31, 2014. It is an opportunity to get an early start on sharing and reporting data on the indicators that are most comparable, currently available and mean the most to you.

• D2D 1.0 will present a small number of indicators that are meaningful, comparable and currently available.
• Participation in D2D 1.0 is completely voluntary – all members will be invited but NOT required to contribute data
• D2D 1.0 will help AFHTO advocate for and inform measurement in ways that make sense to interprofessional primary healthcare organizations.
• The work is being led by the Indicators Working Group of the Quality Improvement Decision Support Steering Committee (QSC) and supported by Quality Improvement Decision Support  Specialists (QIDSS)

Indicator Shortlisting and Selection: Hundreds of indicators are potentially available to primary care organizations. To get to the shortlist for member voting, the Indicator Working Group started with the “menu” of indicators defined by the Starfield and HQO Primary Care Performance Measurement Frameworks as these have a sound basis in research. Shortlisting involved identifying the smaller subset of 43 indicators already in use in leading examples of analytical reports in organizations such as CPCSSN, ICES (EMRald), Dorval Family Health Team (Starfield model) and Health Quality Ontario. You are being asked to vote on a final short list of 26 indicators developed in consultation with QIDS Specialists drawing on their direct knowledge of local data availability and feasibility. Who should vote? The voting (or survey) process is open to all members. Votes are non-identifying. Voters’ are requested to identify their LHIN to enable the Indicators Working Group to get a sense of geographic representation in the responses. You are also free to decide how to complete the survey, for example whether individually or working through the questions as a group. Follow this link to get access to the survey. Next Steps and Key Dates:

• Survey open until May 8^th
• Mid-May initial feedback on voting results. QIDS Specialists start working on test extraction of data
• Late May: Indicator Working Group finalizes its recommendations
• Late May: Privacy Impact Assessment completed
• Early June: QSC makes final decision on indicator list
• Late June: Data submission begins.
• The target delivery date is October 2014

How do I find out more? Follow this link to review the “D2D 1.0: What is Meaningful to You” Webinar for additional background and to learn more about the indicator selection and voting process. Review the Frequently Asked Questions (these will be updated regularly while the survey is open—please send us your questions) Review the D2D Indicators Short List: Data dictionary Connect with your QIDS Specialist – they are actively involved in this project Contact the provincial team:

• QIDS Provincial Lead (AFHTO) Tim Burns tim.burns@afhto.ca
• QIDS Practice Lead (AFTHO) Carol Mulder carol.mulder@afhto.ca

Message forwarded on behalf of RNAO: RNAO is excited to announce a new project on smoking cessation for pre and post natal women and their families as part of their Smoking Cessation Initiative. We will be hosting one-day ‘Best Practice Champions for Smoke-Free Pregnancies’ workshops across the province at no cost to participants within Ontario. At these workshops participants will receive quit kits for their pregnant and postpartum clients as well as resources to support smoking cessation interventions with this population. At this time we are distributing a Request for Proposal for Host Sites due by or before May 8^th, 2014.  http://communities.rnao.ca/sites/community/files/rnao_best_practice_champions_for_smoke-free_pregnancies_host_sites.docx.  Priority will be given to host sites in primary care including family health teams, public health units and community and home health care. RNAO is hopeful that there will be much interest in these new workshops and encourages sites to apply. Please contact Katherine Wallace, Program Manager for Smoking Cessation at kwallace@rnao.ca if you require further details.

Data to Decisions What’s meaningful to you?

Register now for the webinar April 23, 2014, 12 pm to 1.30 pm EST 

Presentation slide deck

Data to Decisions 1.0: Advancing Primary Care (D2D 1.0) was launched on March 31, 2014. It is an opportunity to get an early start on sharing and reporting on those indicators that are most comparable, currently available and mean the most to you. Participation is completely voluntary – all AFHTO members are invited but NOT required to contribute data. AFHTO’s Indicators Working Group has reached an important milestone. Approximately 35 indicators have been shortlisted based on technical feasibility and availability. Now we need to know:

What’s meaningful to you?

The D2D 1.0 – What’s Meaningful to You? Webinar kicks off the voting process that will identify the top priorities. It is open to all members. It will provide you with additional background and give you an opportunity to learn more about indicator selection to date and the voting process—which starts immediately after the webinar.

Who should attend?

All members interested in learning more about D2D 1.0 and interested in sharing their feedback on the indicators that are most meaningful to them.

Registration details

Register now for D2D 1.0 What’s Meaningful to You?  taking place on April 23^rd 12 pm to 1.30 pm EST.

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And just a reminder, all AFHTO members are also invited to pre-register for our Political Action webinar – Tuesday, April 15, 4:00 – 5:00 PM Eastern time. Public Affairs consultant Patrick Nelson will join AFHTO President Keri Selkirk and ED Angie Heydon to:

• Give an overview of the current political landscape as it relates to primary care;
• Review AFHTO’s political action activities and responses to date;
• Share tips and techniques for making the most of your meetings with MPPs and candidates;
• Answer your questions and ensure you receive the support you need for your meetings.

This morning the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care announced plans to increase investments to community health infrastructure. Included in this announcement is the statement – “Ontario is also creating a dedicated Community Infrastructure Renewal Program that could also help community organizations such as Public Health Units, Family Health Teams and Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinics with the cost of maintenance and deferred capital repairs.”  In the media conference the Minister noted the annual budget for this program would begin at $5 million for the next year and increase to $10 million annually in three years. No further details are available at this time. AFHTO will be connecting with the Minister’s Office to learn more about plans for implementing this program.

With a potential election on the horizon, now is the time to strengthen political support for interprofessional comprehensive primary care.  Regardless of which party forms the next government, our collective job is to ensure all politicians and candidates are well-educated on the value of interprofessional comprehensive primary care teams and the need for support to expand access, enhance value, and enable recruitment of the staff needed to deliver care. Learn more about this campaign and how you can participate in it. Pre-register to join us for our Political Action webinar – Tuesday, April 15, 4:00 – 5:00 PM Eastern time. Public Affairs consultant Patrick Nelson will join AFHTO President Keri Selkirk and ED Angie Heydon to:

• Give an overview of the current political landscape as it relates to primary care;
• Review AFHTO’s political action activities and responses to date;
• Share tips and techniques for making the most of your meetings with MPPs and candidates;
• Answer your questions and ensure you receive the support you need for your meetings.

AFHTO launched the province-wide “Better Care. Healthier Families. Best Value.” campaign in the Ontario Legislature on March 17^th – the 10-year anniversary of government’s announcement of Family Health teams. Following from that:

• You received an e-mail from us on March 27 or 28 asking you to meet with your local MPP(s) and candidates and equipping you with key messages and other materials for these meetings.  These were e-mailed on a riding-by-riding basis so that you could coordinate in ridings where there are multiple AFHTO members.
• AFHTO has mailed the “Better Care. Healthier Families. Best Value.” brochure to all MPPs.
• Last Thursday, AFHTO’s President Keri Selkirk and ED Angie Heydon met with the PC and NDP Health Critics, Christine Elliott and France Gélinas. While all parties support the general concept of interprofessional primary care, the key issue is to educate on the value of committing to further investment to expand access and enhance value while also enabling sufficient funding to recruit and retain staff.
• Keri and Angie are also scheduling meetings with key health policy advisors in all three parties.

With over 100 ridings in this province, your help is needed in this campaign, and AFHTO is here to help you. Many AFHTO members have cultivated strong relationships with their local politicians; others may welcome advice and support to strengthen political links. Please pre-register for the Building Political Support Webinar, April 15, 2014, 4:00 PM EDT, at:   https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1282647741528869121