Ultimate Blogging Championship

Tag: Management/Operations

  • Bits & Pieces: create YOUR virtual conference, cancer screening guidance & more

    Bits & Pieces: create YOUR virtual conference, cancer screening guidance & more

    Your Weekly News & Updates

    In This Issue  
    • Create YOUR virtual conference-deadline July 15
    • Guidance on resuming cancer screening and other updates
    • COVID-19 tip sheet-management of CT and MRI for recovery planning
    • Survey about COVID-19 physical distancing guidelines
    • Self-help booklet series for people with intellectual disabilities
    • Respiratory Health Forum – call for presentations
    • Upcoming events regarding virtual care and more

     

    Create YOUR virtual conference-deadline July 15

    AFHTO 2020 Conference logo-cropped

    Primary care has risen to the challenge of COVID-19, but the ground is still shifting, and the future is uncertain.

    Interprofessional teams need to cross newly opened chasms to ensure they continue to provide patients and communities the care they require, all while they renew team dynamics to strengthen the foundation on which patient care rests.

    In short, we need to rebuild primary care for this new world.

    Join a working group for our AFHTO 2020 Conference, Tectonic shifts: rebuilding primary care in a new world.

    We’re setting up groups for each of the five concurrent streams and for the Bright Lights Awards program. Sign up by July 15, 2020.

    Guidance on resuming cancer screening and other updates

    Resources and updates released within the last week include:

    We continue to update several pages on our site with resources and news:

    COVID-19 tip sheet-management of CT and MRI for recovery planning

    Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario) has developed a tip sheet to additional guidance specific to diagnostic imaging services for oncology – mainly computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) – and provides practical considerations for organizations, radiologists, diagnostic imaging administration and referring physicians during COVID-19 recovery. Please review and share as appropriate with your colleagues who perform or support diagnostic imaging services.

    Self-help booklet series for people with intellectual disabilities

    CAMH has adapted COVID-19 Guided Self-help Booklet Series from The University of Glasgow. The series is for people with intellectual disabilities and can be used with the support of family members, friends, staff, and health care professionals. Find out more here.

    Survey about COVID-19 physical distancing guidelines

    Western University researchers are assessing the impact of the COVID-19 physical distancing guidelines on Ontario adults’ lifestyle-related health behaviours, wellbeing, and chronic disease development. This could provide future health promotion programs with relevant information to guide program planning.

    It takes about 15 minutes to fill out a survey. Participants could win a $100 grocery store gift card.

    Respiratory Health Forum – call for presentations

    The Respiratory Health Forum planning committee is looking for interested people and sites who would like to showcase their programs, innovations and/or outcomes.  
     
    For details on how to and to submit your Expression of Interest application, please visit their site. The deadline for submission is July 16, 2020.

    Choosing Wisely in Virtual Care as we Emerge from the COVID-19 Pandemic, July 8, 2020

    Join the Choosing Wisely Canada community in their virtual gatherings to discuss the shift to virtual care and its future in the healthcare system. Find out more here.

    COVID-19 and IDD: Mental Health Research and Practice, July 14, 2020

    Join the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine and the Surrey Place’s expert panels discuss IDD. Discover resources and listen to research around the effects on adults with intellectual developmental disabilities during the pandemic.
    Find out more here.

    Integrated Mental and Physical Health, June 5- August 28, 2020

    Hosted by CAMH, University of Toronto and Project ECHO. Find out more here.

    HPCO CoPs, Ongoing

    HPCO hosts Community of Practice meetings virtually relating to the following fields:

    • Health Care Consent, Advance Care Planning
    • Rural Hospice Palliative Care
    • Compassionate Communities.

    Find out more here.

  • Bits & Pieces: Join AFHTO’s IHP Advisory Council, member renewal & more

    Bits & Pieces: Join AFHTO’s IHP Advisory Council, member renewal & more

    Your Weekly News & Updates

    In This Issue  
    • Join AFHTO’s IHP Advisory Council!
    • Reminder – member renewal deadline July 31, 2020
    • Which FHT physician has over 39,000 views on YouTube?
    • More resources for reopening and other updates
    • Nominations to the AFHTO Board of Directors close this Friday
    • Pandemic pay update
    • Thomas Edison and weight loss
    • Upcoming events regarding integrated mental and physical health and more

     

     

    Join AFHTO’s IHP Advisory Council!

    Are you interested in advising AFHTO on the top issues facing IHPs in team-based care? Would you like to be a leader in working with IHPs in primary care to advocate for and to speak to the critical role of teams? Would you like to share and spread knowledge and learnings?

    If yes, AFHTO invites you to apply to join the IHP Advisory Council. Applications are now open, and the deadline to apply is Friday, July 31. More information is here.

    Reminder – member renewal deadline July 31, 2020

    Thank you to all the teams that have renewed their membership to date. This is a reminder the renewal deadline is July 31, 2020. If you have not received a confirmation email titled “Team Name: Membership Renewal Confirmation M-20-invoice number”, we have not received your payment as of June 24. Please send your cheque or pay electronically to avoid losing access to your membership benefits.

    Dr. Sean Blaine of STAR FHT - “Matter of Masks: A family physician speaks out about mask complacency

     

    Which FHT physician has over 39,000 views on YouTube?

    That would be Dr. Sean Blaine of STAR FHT  for “Matter of Masks: A family physician speaks out about mask complacency.” That’s not the only one he’s done either.

    Read about it in this CBC article.

     

     

     

    More resources for reopening and other updates

    Resources and updates released recently include:

    We continue to update several pages on our site with resources and news:

    Nominations to the AFHTO Board of Directors close this Friday

    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. Priority for the directors to be elected will be given to candidates who are:

    • Interprofessional health care providers (IHPs), especially those working in mental health and addiction;
    • Board members, especially community members in the position of Chair of the Board; or
    • Experienced in finance, including accreditation as a financial professional (e.g. CA, CPA, CMA).

    Deadline is July 3, 2020. Find out more here.

    Pandemic pay update

    Last week we sent an update to EDs and Administrative Leads regarding the implementation of pandemic pay. While eligibility has not changed from public announcements, we received a Ministry memo afterwards that may provide further clarification. It is available on our site for those with triad-level access.

    Thomas Edison and weight loss

    Enjoy this article in the spring issue of The Diabetes Communicator co-authored by Central Lambton FHT’s RD Emily Opthof and psychiatrist Dr. David J. Robinson.

    Integrated Mental and Physical Health, June 5- August 28, 2020

    Hosted by CAMH, University of Toronto and Project ECHO. Find out more here.

    HPCO CoPs, Ongoing

    HPCO hosts Community of Practice meetings virtually relating to the following fields:

    • Health Care Consent, Advance Care Planning
    • Rural Hospice Palliative Care
    • Compassionate Communities.

    Find out more here.

  • Temporary Pandemic Pay Update

    Dear Executive Directors and Admin Leads,

    Please find attached the following update documents on pandemic pay:

    While broad primary care is not included, just a reminder that eligibility of workers does include those primary care team members that are redeployed to the COVID-19 Assessment Centres and other eligible workplaces (i.e. hospitals, long-term care homes, retirement homes).  As noted in the documents:

    • Staff member redeployed from an ineligible employer to an eligible employer (e.g. Family Health Team to hospital) will be paid by the home employer. Funds will be paid to the receiving employer who will provide funds to the home employer, under agreement.

    Eligible workplace employers will not be responsible for paying redeployed workers through their allocations for pandemic pay. Workers’ home employer (the organization from which they were originally deployed, i.e. their FHT or NPLC) will facilitate pandemic pay payments using the records provided by the eligible workplace employer for administration and reconciliation purposes. These records must include the following details for each eligible worker:

    • Number of worker hours eligible for pandemic hourly pay
    • Number of worker hours eligible for lump sum pay
    • Any applicable attestations in support of the above

    Please connect with your eligible workplace employer (hospital, long-term are home, retirement home, or public health unit) for the record template that they are using for reconciliation purposes for any redeployed staff.

    We are seeking clarity on how funds will be deployed to those fully FHT-run Assessment Centres, but you can send an email to MOH.PPInquiries@Ontario.ca for direction in the meantime.  A reminder that temporary pandemic pay is from April 24th to August 13th, 2020.

    If you have specific details or need further clarity you can connect with the Ministry at MOH.PPInquiries@Ontario.ca or contact us at info@afhto.ca. 

  • Transitions to a new normal, PPE, virtual care, and HR updates

    This email was sent to EDs/Administrative Leads, Board Chairs and Lead Clinicians of AFHTO member organizations.

    Dear triad members,

    AFHTO’s Leadership Council met on June 3, and executive directors joined our fourth round of regional ED calls on June 1 and 2. This communique is in follow-up to those meetings.

    Below is information on the topics discussed on the calls, as well as other updates and supports that we heard would be helpful.

    Transitioning to a new normal

    PPE

      Virtual care

    • On May 20, AFHTO held a webinar on virtual visits with a panel of providers: “Virtual Visits: Beginning to End.” With close to 300 individuals participating in the webinar, we did not have a chance to answer all the questions, so a follow-up Q&A, along with the recording and the presentation, are posted online.
    • We are pleased to be hosting our next virtual care webinar this Thursday, June 11, at 12 PM. We’ll be hearing from teams across the province on innovative work they’re doing in the “Team-based Care Supporting Patient Communities through COVID-19” webinar. Register here!
    • For providers working remotely, more information can be found here to help with privacy and security concerns, as well as some of the VoIP options that teams are using.
    • Primary care teams have adapted to virtual care almost overnight and are leading patient-centric innovations in their community. Take a moment and learn more about what teams across the province are doing, and please share your initiatives with us at improve@afhto.ca.
    • Work is still underway with our primary care partners to roll out a provincial primary care patient survey and provider survey to measure the virtual care experience during the pandemic – stay tuned for more information on that!
    • The ministry is seeking feedback for its Digital health interoperability – proposed amendments to O. Reg. 329/04. The deadline for feedback is July 22, 2020.

    Human Resources

    • On May 25, AFHTO signed a joint letter to the premier regarding pandemic pay and the lack of clarification on how it would work and to whom it would apply. On May 29, the province released information on pandemic pay eligibility – the slide deck outlining this can be seen here. AFHTO can confirm the following:
      • Primary care team members (NPs, RNs, RPNs) that have been redeployed to work in the COVID-19 assessment centres, long-term care homes, retirement homes, and hospitals WILL be eligible for the pandemic pay.
      • Any other team members redeployed (administration, social workers, etc.), are not eligible for the pay. The eligible workers can be found on page 4 of the slide deck.
      • Page 9 outlines how the pay will be paid out:
        • Staff member redeployed from an ineligible employer to an eligible employer (e.g. private sector to hospital):
          • Will be paid by the home employer
          • Funds will be paid to receiving employer who will provide funds to home employer under agreement
      • Pandemic pay is an additional $4/hr from April 24 to August 13. An additional $250 monthly stipend applies to frontline staff working at least 40 hours a week in areas considered high risk.
      • The ministry is hoping to roll out the funds through already existing Transfer Payment Agreements in the next two weeks. They will be releasing a FAQs document Tuesday/Wednesday this week to address questions, including logistics for the payment.
    • Teams can also use the 10% exemption of payroll taxes to acknowledge staff efforts or recognize those whose responsibilities have increased. One-time bonuses or compensation increases are under the purview of each board, and COVID-specific policies would be needed.
    • A reminder to check out the presentation, recording, and documents provided by Maria McDonald, McDonald HR Law, during our recent webcast, “Managing HR and Supporting Staff through COVID-19.”
    • A reminder that R&R funding was disbursed in April, and teams should be working on reallocating the increases. For guidance, please see the Recruitment and Retention Planning Document and the Compensation Guidance Document.

    As re-opening gradually resumes and we reassess how health care is delivered – both from the impact of this pandemic and the ongoing development of Ontario Health Teams – it is critical to show how team-base primary care is a pillar in a strong healthcare system, and that it is the delivery of comprehensive care to individuals that contributes towards the best population health.

    In the midst of a pandemic, there is no better time to demonstrate this. AFHTO is working with our partners to showcase how primary care has stepped up – and will continue to step up – to support Ontarians and to ensure a sustainable and equitable health care system.

    As noted in the last communique, to capture the primary care experience, we will be reaching out to schedule interviews with executive directors. We have interviewed a researcher and we hope to start calls in late June. The research we are undertaking will provide a narrative of how essential team-based primary care was during the pandemic, and how critical it will continue to be moving forward.

    Keep checking out our COVID-19 section that we regularly update with news, tools, and resources, including the daily situation reports and regular memos from the ministry’s command table.

    We’ll continue to keep you updated, and we’ll arrange another round of check-in calls to happen in about 2-3 weeks’ time.

    Please contact us any time. We’re here to support you through this.

    Sincerely,

    Your AFHTO Team

  • Follow-up to ED calls, May 12 and 13 – PPE, virtual care, and HR updates

    This email was sent to EDs/Administrative Leads, Board Chairs and Lead Clinicians of AFHTO member organizations.

    Thank you to all the executive directors who joined our third round of regional ED calls last week.

    This email is a follow-up to provide the information promised during the calls, as well as other updates and supports, including a link to last week’s webinar with Maria McDonald, which you’ll find in the HR section below.

    PPE

    Question: What are the recommendations related to use of PPE with asymptomatic patients?

    • The Chief Medical Officer of Health recommends that asymptomatic patients should first be screened over the phone prior to visiting the clinic. For non-COVID-19 related visits that are unavoidable, the patient should again be asked the COVID-19 screening questions upon arrival. If the patient screens negative to all questions and exhibits no signs or symptoms of COVID-19, the following is being recommended:   
      • At reception, if able to maintain spatial distance of at least 2 m or separation by physical barrier then no personal protective equipment (PPE) required by reception staff.  
      • Primary care providers should consider wearing procedural masks if within 2 m of a patient.  
      • Proceed with the patient as per Routine Practices, including hand hygiene and apply PPE as required based on the intervention. It’s suggested that a point-of-care risk assessment (PCRA) be performed by every health care worker before every patient interaction and additional PPE precautions be taken based on risk assessment.
    • Check out the OH West PPE site for “Point of Care Risk Assessment – PPE Selection Guide” for guidance on precautions to take based on risk assessment.
    • A one-page summary on the recommendations for asymptomatic patients and the “Point of Care Risk Assessment – PPE Selection Guide” is here.

    Question: How can I access PPE?

    • The ministry recommends the following pathway for accessing PPE:
      • Contact your regular supplier. They are your first point-of-contact and many suppliers have now increased stock.
      • If you’re unable to acquire PPE from your regular supplier, contact your OH regional table.
      • As a last resort, and if you have less than a 5-day supply, contact the Ministry Emergency Operations Centre (MEOC) at eocoperations.moh@ontario.ca
    • The OMA SGFP has secured an arrangement for bulk purchasing of PPE with Surgo Surgical Supply – please connect with your affiliated physician group to get access to this information.
    • The government’s Workplace PPE Supplier Directory also provides information on companies that sell PPE.
    • With our primary care partners, AFHTO continues to advocate for a provincial approach to PPE bulk purchasing and centralized distribution.
    • Guidance for PPE reprocessing is expected shortly. We will share this as soon as it is public.

    Virtual care

    • Kate Dewhirst of Kate Dewhirst Health Law has developed a number of virtual care policies that can be found on her website. The most recent policies and documents can be found on the bottom of her webpage.
    • There have been some concerns about patients recording their appointments. AFHTO is discussing this with the OMA and CMPA and will provide feedback on how to mitigate this risk.
    • We are hearing increasing concerns about analog lines and rural accessibility to virtual care, including the challenge that not all patients have access to the internet or digital tools like computers and phones. We will continue to bring this to the attention of the ministry.
    • Primary care teams have adapted to virtual care almost overnight and are leading patient-centric innovations in their community. Take a moment and learn more about what teams across the province are doing, and please share your initiatives with us at improve@afhto.ca.
    • Teams are also starting to think about what aspects of virtual care they want to become standard in the new normal.
      • We encourage EDs to consider getting input from staff and patients about what recent changes they’d like to maintain. For example, North York FHT has recently done a Virtual Care Provider Experience Survey.
      • AFHTO is working with our primary care partners to roll out a provincial primary care patient survey and provider survey to measure the virtual care experience during the pandemic – stay tuned for more information on that!

    Human Resources

    Canadian Family Physician (CFP), the journal of the College of Family Physicians of Canada, posted a blog by Dr. Kimberly Wintemute and Dr. Guylène Thériault on the “Post-COVID primary care reboot” that you may find of interest.

    To capture the primary care experience, we will be reaching out soon to schedule interviews with executive directors, which we hope to start in early June. We ask you do your best to schedule one with us or to delegate to someone on the team who would be willing to be interviewed. We will hopefully be working with students at the University of Toronto to conduct these interviews, which will provide us with the narrative of how essential the role of team-based primary care was during the pandemic.

    A reminder to keep checking out our COVID-19 section that we regularly update with news, tools, and resources, including the daily situation reports and regular memos from the ministry’s command table.

    We’ll continue to keep you updated, and we’ll arrange another round of check-in calls to happen in about 2-3 weeks’ time.

    Please contact us any time. We’re here to support you.

    Sincerely,

    Your AFHTO Team

  • Managing HR and Supporting Staff through COVID 19: Q&A with Maria McDonald

    This email was sent to EDs/Administrative Leads of AFHTO member organizations.
     
    1. Managing HR and Supporting Staff through COVID 19: Q&A with Maria McDonald
    Over the past 2 months Primary Care has quickly transitioned to provide the ‘new normal’ of care delivery during COVID-19. Teams became virtual overnight, accommodations were made to ensure the safety of staff and patients, and the sector implemented a range of primary care-based initiatives to enable more patients to stay at home and avoid unnecessary hospital visits during this pandemic.

    But change is not always easy and as the crisis continues, staff fatigue, anxiety and questions about the future of care delivery are beginning to arise. For many staff, balancing work load and caring for family members is becoming more and more challenging. How do we support staff, recognize their efforts, and provide the flexibility needed while maintaining equity in the workplace? For advice on these questions and more, join us for a one hour webcast hosted by Maria McDonald of McDonald HR Law.

    • Date: Thursday, May 14th 1-2 p.m.
    • Please register here: *this webcast in intended for EDs/managers only. All registrants will be authorized by AFHTO to attend. Please submit your questions for Maria via the registration link so she can prepare her presentation accordingly.

    2. Ontario Health Request for Support
    Ontario Health is reaching out to health care organizations asking for assistance in settings with urgent needs. We ask all teams to consider their capacity and identify HR availability to help with the following:

    • Provide staff needed to go into LTC homes to do PSW-type work. The greatest need is PSWs but if there are other staff willing to help out from an administrative point of view, it would be helpful. Answering phones and delivering meals are some examples of the types of support that is needed.
    • Anyone that is able to support the Northern rural areas is also being requested as the hospitals and LTC homes are at or close to 100% occupancy.

    Please fill out this survey identifying name and type of staff available, email address, availability (number of days per week, shift and number of weeks available) and we will coordinate with Ontario Health/Regional tables to facilitate the deployment of people to settings of highest need in each region. We anticipate the pandemic pay order will be applicable to staff redeployed to both hospital and LTC homes. We also suggest that each team connect locally with their hospitals to let them know if they are able to offer staffing if needed.

    3. Support for COVID related mental health issues
    The Ontario Psychological Association has set up a network of psychologists who can provide no-cost short term mental health support for COVID related mental health issues to both patients and front line workers. Find out more regarding these two opportunities for mental health support (please do not forward this letter).

  • Bits & Pieces: partnership to improve access to psychological services for the front line & more

    Bits & Pieces: partnership to improve access to psychological services for the front line & more

    Your Weekly News & Updates

    In This Issue  
    • Partnership to improve access to psychological services for front line workers
    • Letter from AFHTO’s President
    • Pandemic Pay
    • Update to critical supplies & equipment survey portal- training sessions
    • Mental Health Week
    • Updated screening and testing guidance and more
    • Infection prevention and control CoP in Ontario Central West Region
    • Ontario Community Support Association meals/essentials delivery
    • Seeking participants to examine practice patterns during COVID-19
    • Financial management webinar series
    • Upcoming events regarding Advance Care Planning and more

    Partnership to improve access to psychological services for front line workers

    AFHTO, OCFP, NPAO, and the Ontario Psychological Association partner to improve access to psychological services for front line workers- We would like to announce two pathways of care for mental health services from a Psychologist through the Ontario Psychological Association (OPA).

    One stream is for your patients who are experiencing mental health issues such as anxiety and depression related to the COVID 19 pandemic. The OPA has set up a network of psychologists who can provide no-cost short term mental health support for COVID related mental health issues.

    The second stream provides access to mental health support to you as primary care providers. As professionals providing front line care, we recognize the stresses to which you are exposed. Find out more regarding these two opportunities for mental health support (please do not forward this letter).

    Letter from AFHTO’s President

    On Friday we emailed a letter from AFHTO’s President and Chair Dr. Tom Richard:

    “As we approach a new month contending with this pandemic, I thought it would be a good time to touch base.

    The continued disruptions, frustrations and adjustments of how we provide our services has been a tremendous source of anxiety to ourselves, our families and those we look after.

    Yet, despite all this, primary care continues to step up and ensure our patients get the care they need.” Read the full letter here.

    Pandemic Pay

    The Ministry is working on its policy and implementation related to the release of pandemic pay and who is eligible. As we wait for further details, we will be working with our primary care partners to reinforce the important role primary care providers play in the COVID response and continue to advocate on behalf of team-based primary care. More details will be made available as information starts to roll out.

    And as a reminder, if you’re an interprofessional health provider at a FHT, A team of researchers wants to learn more about your experience as a provider during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 350 IHPs have filled it out to date and the deadline is this Thursday, May 7. Find out more here.

    Update to critical supplies & equipment survey portal- training sessions

    On Friday, the Ministry announced the health sector PPE survey would transition to an enhanced submission portal as of yesterday, May 4. To support the transition, they are hosting several webinars as well as providing respondents with detailed support material that they can access and reference as they input their inventory data. Training sessions include:

    Psychological First Aid for Frontline Health Care Providers: A Quick Guide to Wellness

     

    Mental Health Week

    It’s Canadian Mental Health Association Mental Health Week. This year’s theme is social connection. You can get their toolkit here and find relevant articles here. They may help you help your community not just get loud, but #GetReal.

    On a related note, there is a free resource, the Psychological First Aid for Frontline Health Care Providers: A Quick Guide to Wellness, a workbook recommended by the Ontario Psychological Association.

     

     

    Updated screening and testing guidance and more

    On May 2, the government released updates to

    We continue to update several pages on our site with resources and news:

    We’ll update these on a regular basis as we receive relevant resources, while trying to reduce duplication with other sources. We will continue to update the news page daily.

    Infection prevention and control CoP in Ontario Central West Region

    Public Health Ontario would like to invite Primary Care workers responsible for Infection Prevention and Control in the Ontario Central West Region (those located within Halton, Hamilton, WDG, WW, Brant, Niagara, and HN public health units) to their virtual Community of Practice meeting on May 14, 2020 from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m.

    The meeting will focus on the latest COVID-19 updates and provide an opportunity for primary care colleagues to discuss their questions. If you are interested in attending, please email ipaccentralwest@oahpp.ca.

    Access information:
    1. Please dial in to the teleconference at 1-866-261-6767 and enter code: 4889444#
    2. Join the webinar and enter your full name

    Ontario Community Support Association meals/essentials delivery

    Ontario Community Support Association has established a link on their website to connect individuals/community providers to meals services/essentials delivery.

    In this portal, you can search Meals providers or Essential Service providers by searching based on address. If service providers exist in the area, a referral can be made directly through the portal to the provider. If nothing can be found there, a link will pop up asking to “Sign Me Up” to receive a phone call from a Canadian Red Cross (CRC) Coordinator to make connection to services.

    Seeking participants to examine practice patterns during COVID-19

    Two primary care researchers, Rachelle Ashcroft, and Catherine Donnelly are submitting a CIHR Rapid COVID-19 response grant to examine practice patterns of interprofessional primary care teams during COVID-19. The grant is due Monday May 11. If your team would be interested in participating in the study please contact Catherine by email Catherine.donnelly@queensu.ca for further study details. 

    Financial management webinar series

    The Ontario Nonprofit Network has launched a free four-part financial management webinar series to help nonprofits adapt and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, starting May 7:

    Ask Me Anything about Health Privacy, May 6, 2020
    These monthly webinars give you the chance to ask Kate Dewhirst about your Health Privacy concerns. Register here.

    Advance Care Planning and Goals of Care In The COVID-19 Pandemic, May 6, 2020
    Choosing Wisely Canada hosts weekly webinars to discuss pressing topics around COVID-19. Join to learn and connect around freeing up these limited healthcare resources. Learn more here.

    Complicated Grief and Trauma – Skills Building Education, May 6 – July 15, 2020
    This ten-session webinar series will focus on COVID-19 related complicated and traumatic grief. Provided by the HPCO and CHPCA. Learn more here.

    PEER’s review of the evidence for COVID-19, May 7, 2020
    Join this CFPC webinar as part of the COVID-19 Pivots. Find the webinar link posted here.

    Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) and COVID-19, May 7, 2020
    Join the Family Physician Airways Group for a discussion around CHF and COVID-19. To register, click here.

  • Follow-up from ED calls, April 21 – 22 and more

    This email was sent to EDs/Administrative Leads, Board Chairs and Lead Clinicians of AFHTO member organizations.

    Dear triad members,

    Thank you to all the executive directors who joined our second round of regional ED calls last week. It’s proving helpful to hear what is working well, how you are managing the challenges you’re facing, and how we can help.

    This email is a follow-up to provide the information promised during the calls, as well as other updates and supports.

    PPE

    •         AFHTO, OCFP, and NPAO issued a joint letter to the Minister of Health on April 15 regarding the urgency for PPE across the primary care sector.
    •         Teams are encouraged to reach out to their Ontario Health regional leads to ensure they are part of regular communication across regions, and to provide updates and need regarding PPE supply. Regional table leads can be seen here.
    •           The ministry will be releasing PPE guidelines in about a week’s time, which will include an outline on how distribution is prioritised and strategies to help ensure PPE conservation.

    Virtual care

    •         Two documents have been posted to assist with virtual care: Hosting Group Platforms Virtually and Summary of Virtual Visit Platform Solutions.
    •         The amount of care that is being delivered in-person is fairly consistent across teams. Polls during the ED calls showed that the majority of physicians and nurse practitioners – 79% and 80%, respectively – are delivering 10% or less of the care in-person.
    •          Almost all teams polled on the calls have RNs and RPNs delivering at least some in-person care (97%). The other three professions most likely to be delivering in-person care, across the teams polled, were pharmacists (18%), chiropodists (15%), and physician assistants (13%).

    Financial Information

    • The federal and provincial governments have announced a series of tax changes and financial measures to build on the federal government’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan, including:
      • 10% wage subsidy – teams may qualify for a federal payroll deduction rebate for employee compensation paid between March 18, 2020, and June 19, 2020 (up to $1,375 per employee and to a maximum of $25,000 total per employer).
      • Employer Health Tax (EHT) – Retroactive to January 1, 2020, the EHT exemption for 2020 will be increased from $490,000 to $1 million. If you have been remitting EHT, you can contact the Ministry of Finance to check your organization’s EHT account.
    • Teams should work with their accountants or financial advisors to determine and understand eligibility for any financial subsidies.
    • For teams that qualify, they can request repurposing money towards COVID-related costs. The ministry is developing guidelines on eligible reallocations for unintended expenses through the normal reallocation process. Teams are encouraged to contact their senior program consultant about applying for reallocations.

    Human resources

    • AFHTO has confirmed WSIB’s new Classification Structure does not apply to FHTs and NPLCs. These changes only impact Schedule 2 organizations (e.g. those that have a public board appointed municipally or provincially), so it is not mandatory for teams to carry WSIB coverage at this time.
    • We heard many teams are beginning to redeploy staff to other sectors/organizations in need of support. We encourage all teams to check with their insurers on the best approach to redeployment to mitigate risk and liability concerns. We can also provide teams with a sample secondment agreement to help outline the terms and conditions of deployment.
    • The current emergency order prohibits long-term care employees from working in more than one long-term care home, retirement home, or health care setting. However, if primary care staff are redeployed to a long-term care home (or hospital setting or a testing/assessment centre), there is no provincial recommendation preventing them from continuing to work at their home organization. Similarly, there is nothing prohibiting staff from working across multiple primary care sites. That said, we encourage teams to follow these best practice tips for staff that are working in more than one sector or organization:
      • Ensure staff working in other settings are provided with appropriate PPE.
      • Encourage staff working in more than one setting to provide as much virtual care as possible and limit any in-person visits to those deemed necessary.
      • Where possible, loan staff on a full-time basis to other sectors as required to limit the need to work in two different settings.
    • AFHTO will update teams if/when further provincial guidance is offered on redeployment.

    Quality and research projects

    •          A brief web-based survey is underway to understand the experiences of IHPs in FHTs and to describe their state of practice during the COVID-19 pandemic. We encourage you share the link to the survey with your teams: https://queensu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cZQNQrpCqKAc8K1
    •          The QI in PC Council has started two projects to support all teams. Please consider speaking with QIDSS and QIDSS-like individuals to encourage they join these groups, and contact Sandeep Gill with any questions:
    •    Standardized Queries for Chronic Diseases & High-risk Patients: Creating standardized queries to identify chronic disease patients, high-risk patients, and OHT priority populations. This will help with lists for vulnerable check-in calls during COVID-19 and priority population identification for OHTs post-COVID-19
    •    Let’s Measure the Impact of Primary Care during COVID-19: Creating meaningful indicators for primary care that can measure care provided during COVID-19 (ex: support provided to patients by IHPs, number of screenings completed, number of case reports sent to Public Health). This will create indicators to measure the impact of virtual care transition pre-, during, and post-COVID-19

    A few other things

    •           On April 25, the government announced an additional $4/hour of ‘pandemic pay’ for the next four months for frontline workers. The current list of eligible workplaces and workers does not seem to include primary care, but we are seeking clarity, especially for those who have been redeployed to COVID-19 assessment centres, LTC/retirement homes, or hospitals, and for those providing in-person clinical care.
    •          On April 25, the ministry also released version 4 of “COVID-19 Guidance: Primary Care Providers in a Community Setting.” There are significant inconsistencies in the document, including the misalignment between the case definition and the screening guidance and when full PPE should be used in the clinics. We have let the Emergency Operations Centre know that there are inconsistencies and requested a thorough review be done before dissemination.
    •         On April 27, the premier announced a high-level framework for the reopening of the province. The news release, which includes a link to the framework, is here.
    •         The provincial government has announced it’s partnering with the federal government to provide urgent rent relief for small businesses.
    •         The CEO of Ontario Health, Matt Anderson, issued an update on Wednesday, April 22, from Ontario Health’s COVID-19 Health System Response Team. You can read the memo here.
    •          AFHTO will be reaching out to EDs in the coming weeks to arrange an interview on teams’ pandemic approach, how virtual care changed practice, and a vision for primary care post-COVID in the ‘new normal.’

    Be sure to watch last Friday’s episode of The Agenda, where AFHTO’s president and board chair, Dr. Tom Richard, joined Dr. Sarah Newbery and Dr. Javed Alloo to discuss how family physicians and primary care are coping with caring for patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    And a reminder to keep checking out our COVID-19 section that we regularly update with news, tools, and resources, including the daily situation reports and regular memos from the ministry’s command table.

    Please consider sharing success stories that we can post and spread to help teams learn from one another, and to continue to show how team-based primary care is stepping up in the wake of this pandemic.

    We’ll continue to keep you updated, and we’ll arrange another round of check-in calls to happen in about 2-3 weeks’ time.

    Please contact us any time. We’re here to support you through this.

    Sincerely,

    Your AFHTO Team

  • Bits & Pieces: how Lakelands FHT handled COVID-19, Business Continuity Toolkit now available & more

    Bits & Pieces: how Lakelands FHT handled COVID-19, Business Continuity Toolkit now available & more

    Your Weekly News & Updates

    In This Issue  
    • How Lakelands FHT handled a positive COVID-19 result at their clinic
    • COVID-19 provincial testing guidance update and more
    • Business continuity toolkit for COVID-19 now available
    • Advance Care Planning Day (April 16): Approach to Goals of Care Conversations
    • Member renewal payments- accepting payments via Interac and EFT
    • Update on the 2020/21 QIP submission deadline
    • Upcoming events including CMHA Ontario and Mental Health Works Webinars – In response to COVID-19 pandemic

    How Lakelands FHT handled a positive COVID-19 result at their clinic
    “In late March, Lakelands FHT discovered that there was a positive case at our Northbrook site. That resulted in the immediate closure of our building.

    We all had to go home and finish 14-day periods of self-isolation. To our surprise, this meant having to distance ourselves from our own families, which was very difficult.”– Dr. Matt Dumas, Lead Physician, Lakelands FHT

    Find out more on our site.

    COVID-19 provincial testing guidance update and more
    The Ministry released a COVID-19 provincial testing guidance update as of Apr. 8. Also last week, we created a page Providing Comprehensive Care During COVID-19 which includes resources related to COVID-19 for providing comprehensive primary care.

    We continue to update several pages on our site with resources and news:

    We’ll update these on a regular basis as we receive relevant resources, while trying to reduce duplication with other sources. We will continue to update the news page daily.

    Business continuity toolkit for COVID-19

     

    Business continuity toolkit for COVID-19 now available

    On Thursday, April 9 we launched our business continuity toolkit, developed to help our teams plan for and adapt to the disruption of COVID-19. It can potentially be used for future pandemic disruptions as well.

    Within the toolkit you will find tools and resources to help develop a plan for your own organization. A reminder to check the AFHTO website for templates your colleagues have developed if you are looking for tools you can adapt. Please also send us any materials you are developing so we can share with your colleagues as well.

     

     

     

    Advance Care Planning Day (April 16): Approach to Goals of Care Conversations
    Health can change without warning. That is more evident than ever in the COVID-19 reality.
    We all need to help patients, their families and our health care providers have conversations that will lead to the care people need and want, reflecting their values and wishes.

    HPCO, in collaboration with Speak Up Ontario, has been hosting a series of Physician Forums around goals of care and advance care planning for healthy and high-risk patients. Last week they hosted a Physician Forum entitled, “Conversations with your Patients during COVID Pandemic”. You can access all recordings (both past and present) using this link.

    On National Advance Care Planning Day (April 16th) they will be co-hosting a Palliative Care and COVID-19 Forum on Approach to Goals of Care Conversations with the Ontario Medical Association from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. Your feedback on the forum and recommendations for future webinar topics that you would like to see covered are welcome here.

    Member renewal payments- accepting payments via Interac and EFT
    As we mentioned several weeks ago, we understand members are focused on COVID-19 right now. Last week Ontario extended the state of emergency until April 23 and our building remains closed. If you plan to pay by cheque, please continue to hold.

    However, we can still accept payments via Interac and EFT. We’ll provide another update as soon as we’re able to do so. Please contact info@afhto.ca for further information.

    Update on the 2020/21 QIP submission deadline
    Ontario Health (Quality) has decided to pause the 2020/21 QIP submission for now to allow organizations to focus their efforts on supporting their staff, their health care providers, and their communities to manage the treatment and containment of COVID-19.

    If your QIP is near completion and you would like to submit, please proceed, as the QIP Navigator will remain open. They will continue to monitor this situation closely and will provide an update by the end of June. Please contact QIP@hqontario.ca if you have any questions or concerns.

    CMHA Ontario and Mental Health Works Webinars – In response to COVID-19 pandemic, April 15-21, 2020
    For health care professionals and workers: with topics relevant to both hospitals and clinics, as well as telehealth professionals and those who work to support patient outcomes, such as custodial staff, security professionals, and administrators.

    1.    Mental Health for Telehealth –April 15, 6-7 pm
    2.    Mental Health for Support Staff: Taking Care of Yourself – April 17, 6-7 pm

    General Workplace Supports:
    3.  Being Mindful at Work (office and from home) –April 17, 10 – 11 AM; (FR) April 22, 1 pm
    4.  Isolation and Loneliness – April 21, 12 – 1 pm

    ECHO Coping with COVID, April 15 & 17, 2020
    These weekly webinars are for healthcare providers responding to the COVID-19 pandemic to share and learn about ways to build resilience and overall wellness. Learn more here.

    Understanding Bronchiectasis Webinar, April 21, 2020
    Learn more about this neglected pulmonary disease. By the end of this webinar, you will be able to help patients self-manage the disease and avoid the acquisition of nontuberculosis mycobacteria. Find out more here

    The COVID-19 Pivots: April 15 & 16, 2020
    Jon the upcoming CFPC COVID-19 Pivot webinars: Le virage COVID-19 : Adapter la pratique de médecine de famille aux soins virtuels on April 15, and Examining public health campaigns in the pandemic battle on April 16. Find the webinar links here.

    Person-Centered Decision-Making Conversations Webinar, April 16, 2020
    Gain awareness for Person-Centred Decision Making (PCDM) components and more with the Palliative Care CoP.  Find out more here

    When Video Isn’t an Option: Counselling via E-mail Chat and Phone, April 20, 2020
    Learn how to maximize your text and phone-based counselling methods in this online training, hosted by the OASW. Learn more here.

  • How Lakelands FHT Handled a Positive COVID-19 Result At Their Clinic

    As told by Dr. Matt Dumas, Lead Physician, Lakelands FHT*

    In late March, Lakelands FHT discovered that there was a positive case at our Northbrook site. That resulted in the immediate closure of our building. We all had to go home and finish 14 day periods of self-isolation. To our surprise, this meant having to distance ourselves from our own families, which was very difficult.

    The day that we realized we would have to close our building, we decided to build a clinic without walls. We accomplished this by creating an email account for patients to contact us and posted this on our website and Facebook pages. Our 3 physicians and 2 NPs were able to remotely access the PSS EMR and fax prescriptions from our own homes. Our super RN/IT expert also had remote access and provided critical support. We were able to create schedules for ourselves and call patients from our homes by turning off the Caller ID’s on our phones. Our Mental Health Social Worker was able to call the patients in her schedule as well.

    The Lead Physician monitored the email daily and transferred the emails to the appropriate provider for action. Once the emails were completed, they were moved to a separate folder and our RN copy/pasted the emails into the patient’s chart before deleting them from the email entirely, limiting the amount of time that personal information was kept in cyberspace. With this system, we were able to respond to over 20 patient emails per day, as well as call the patients that were scheduled previously. This made for busy days, and it was a relief to sign out of the email every day at 4:30!

    We were discouraged that we couldn’t answer the phones at our clinic while we were shutdown, but we were able to respond to patient requests in ways that we had not done before: by answering emails to patients or calling them directly from our homes. This was an evolution from the days of paper charting.

    We also created call lists of all of our patients who are above the age of 70 and had our NPs call them to ask how they were doing, find out if they had any needs, and to remind them of the importance of physical distancing, which the vast majority of our patients were already following.

    With the advice of KFLA Public Health we have reopened the clinic. We have separated our staff at the Denbigh and Northbrook sites so that if there is another shutdown, the phone can be forwarded to the site that is still open, and the providers can work from home as before.

    *In the first version of this post, Janice Powell, Executive Director, was listed as the source. It has now been updated to reflect Dr. Matt Dumas’s contribution.