This slide presentation from the AFHTO 2010 conference describes the Virtual Ward – a method of providing the support of a hospital ward but in the patient’s home environment. It provides care to the most medically and socially complex patients in their home setting along with multidisciplinary case management. The SETFHT Virtual Ward is for patients who have been admitted to Toronto East General Hospital for a chronic condition such as heart failure, bronchitis, emphysema or diabetes who are without a family doctor. Patients are offered to be rostered within the FHT and be part of the Virtual Ward. Once patients are at home, they receive follow-up care from various health care providers by phone and home visit as necessary. This may include phone calls to monitor their daily symptoms, answering their questions about medications and ensuring they have the supports to manage. They may also receive equipment that will help them monitor their health condition at home such as a blood pressure cuff, weight scale or a blood sugar monitor. This innovative approach to attaching patients to a family doctor and then providing comprehensive care to them once at home, will hopefully prevent further admissions to hospital and reduce wait times in emergency. It also allows patient to learn how to self manage their condition in order to take care of their own health at home. PRESENTER: Carol Toenjes FHT: South East Toronto Family Health Team Click here to view.
Tag: Library
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Successfully Integrating Spirometry Into Primary Care
This slide presentation from the AFHTO 2010 conference is for FHT health care providers and administrators interested in integrating spirometry into their clinical practice. The session will review New Vision’s successes in integrating spirometry and discuss strategies for other FHTs to implement spirometry including resources available in Ontario. This workshop includes powerpoint presentation and group discussion. PRESENTERS: Angie Shaw, Amy Massie FHT: New Vision Family Health Team Click here to view.
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Store Forward Dermatology Program Improves Access
This slide presentation from the AFHTO 2010 conference demonstrates how Store Forward technology has been used to address a large service gap for dermatological consult services in the Kingston area. Patients had been facing a 12-14 month wait for a specialist appointment. Store Forward technology, a subsection of the Ontario Telemedicine Network, has allowed the Kingston FHT to initiate an innovative partnership with a dermatologist in Belleville, Ontario. Using a special camera and a secure internet link, the Physician Assistant (PA) is able to see patients with lesions in 1-2 weeks, take photos of the affected areas and make a detailed dermatological referral electronically. Usually in 1-2 weeks, the Dermatologist reviews the photos and data and returns a diagnosis with treatment suggestions. If removal of the lesion is recommended, it can be booked and completed by the PA or sent to a Plastic Surgeon. The PA has had several hands-on training sessions with the Dermatologist expanding his skill and role in the Team. PRESENTERS: Blaine Montroy, David Pinkerton FHT/ORG: Kingston Family Health Team Click here to view.
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Primary Care Memory Clinics: Improving the Care of Cognitively Impaired Patients within a Family Health Team
This slide presentation from the AFHTO 2010 conference reviews the Centre for Family Medicine (CFFM) Family Health Team’s Memory Clinic, established in 2006 to address the challenges in caring for patients with cognitive difficulties. The CFFM Memory Clinic functions to enhance the care that family physicians can provide for patients at a primary care level. It ultimately aims to assist and empower the patient’s family physician in developing a greater degree of comfort and skill in managing patients with cognitive problems while maintaining a central role in patient care. The CFFM Memory Clinic ensures a balance of diagnostic accuracy and effective interventions with efficient, sustainable utilization of resources in a FHT. A comprehensive, independent evaluation of all patients assessed in the CFFM Memory Clinic over 3 years has demonstrated high level of satisfaction from referring physicians, patients, caregivers, clinic team members, and geriatricians supporting the clinic. In collaboration with the Ontario College of Family Physicians, the CFFM FHT has developed an accredited, comprehensive 5-day training program for family physician-leads and inter-professional health care team members to develop the practical knowledge and skills required for optimal management of patients with cognitive impairment. As of June 2010, 11 FHT Memory Clinics have been established throughout Ontario as a result of this training program. PRESENTER: Linda Lee FHT: The Centre for Family Medicine Click here to view.
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My Voice: Advance Care Planning
This slide presentation from the AFHTO 2010 conference reviews Advance Care Planning (ACP) from the Prince Edward Family Health Team’s perspective. ACP means ensuring that patients and families have the necessary information to make choices about their future care. Our FHT sought guidance from Fraser Health Authority (FHA) in British Columbia, which has a nationally recognized program stressing the importance of having ‘the conversation’, engaging the community and providing resources. The presentation shows how the FHA model was applied in a rural primary health care environment. Examples of ACP in clinics, patients homes, the ER, and community will be described. There are numerous challenges and pitfalls from the patient, family and provider perspectives. PRESENTERS: Joscelyn Matthewman, Mary Stever FHT: Prince Edward Family Health Team Click here to view.
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Mobility Clinic – Primary Care Accessibility Project for People with Mobility Issues
Significant health care gaps exist for individuals with mobility impairments. Although they have similar basic health care needs as the general population, this group (persons with spinal cord and head injuries, neurological and musculoskeletal impairments) are less likely to receive the same level of basic preventative care. This slide presentation from the AFHTO 2010 conference outlines the Centre For Family Medicine FHT’s response to these gaps. It established a Mobility Clinic in July 2009 to “level the playing field” and enhance quality of care and improve health outcomes of persons with mobility impairments by increasing access to care and building capacity. An interprofessional clinic formed through a partnership between the CFFM, the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation and Schlegel-University of Waterloo Research Institute for Aging; the clinic also provides educational and training opportunities to learners and practitioners in family medicine, pharmacy and social work and fosters increased awareness of mobility issues within the public and health profession domains. There are a number of patient, health professional and system-related outcomes being tracked to establish the efficacy of this project. PRESENTERS: James Milligan, Joseph Lee FHT: Centre For Family Medicine FHT Click here to view.
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Mapping the Adult Learner
This slide presentation from the AFHTO 2010 conference outlines a unique approach to motivating and educating the adult learner. The approach focuses on increasing confidence, skills and knowledge by using tools and techniques that satisfy varying adult learning styles. PRESENTERS: Laura Briden, Alicia Atkinson, Sarah Micks FHT: Guelph Family Health Team Click here to view.
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Managing Medications
In 2008, the Queen’s Family Health Team began to wonder just how accurate its medication lists were in our EMR. A medical student audit conducted that summer found a lot of room for improvement, particularly for patients on multiple medications or those seeing multiple providers. Since then, Queen’s FHT has developed numerous processes and policies focused on medication safety and, specifically, on how to maintain accurate medication lists. The project has grown to include reviewing and tracking of prescription refill processes and clarifications from pharmacies, community pharmacy outreach, resident education, ordering and stocking of medications, and medication reconciliation at the patient-level. Their approach has been comprehensive and multi-faceted – it has relied on raising awareness, focused teaching sessions with providers, patient education, data collection, and engagement of all staff, from clerical to pharmacy to physician. Follow-up audits in January and August 2010 found great improvements in the accuracy of medication lists. This slide presentation from the AFHTO 2010 conference highlights their journey to date and “lessons learned” from their approach to medication safety. PRESENTER: Karen Hall Barber ORGANIZATION: Queen’s Family Health Team Click here to view.
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Looking to the Future: Collaboration & Engagement Through Social Media
In early 2010 500,000 Facebook users rallied together to get Betty White to host the season finally of Saturday Night Live, which was SNL’s highest rated episode in 2 years. In 2007 Justin Bieber, teen pop sensation from Stratford Ontario, was discovered after his mom posted videos of him singing on YouTube. Since its creation in 2001, Wikipedia has grown rapidly into one of the largest reference websites, attracting nearly 78 million visitors monthly. The content is created and maintained by over 90,000 contributors. And they do it all for free. These three examples illustrate how social media is changing everything. The way work is done, the way business operates, the way consumers consume, the way society communicates. So what can it do for primary health care? Can it help Family Health Teams improve patient care? Through the lens of the LinkedIn platform this slide presentation from the AFHTO 2010 conference will help you see collaboration in a new light, and help you learn how FHT’s can engage with each other like never before. PRESENTER: Kevin MacLeod FHT: Barrie & Community Family Health Team Click here to view.
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Kenora Wound Care Pilot Project
In September 2008, Sunset Country FHT received funding from Health Force Ontario for a Collaborative Wound Care Pilot Project that involved several community agencies in developing and implementing a comprehensive wound assessment and wound care treatment program based on best practice guidelines. This slide presentation from the AFHTO 2010 conference provides a study of an interprofessional team collaborating in developing a best practice based collaborative care model for wound care in a community setting. It presents a general overview of this innovative project, how the community was able to collaborate and develop a comprehensive wound care program and, demonstrate that the model is transferable to other communities and FHTs. PRESENTER: Randy Belair FHT: Sunset Country FHT Click here to view.