Ultimate Blogging Championship

Tag: Members Only

  • Presentation Slides from the Effective Governance for Quality in Primary Care Workshops – March 2014

    The presentation slide decks for the Effective Governance for Quality in Primary Care Workshops held last in March of 2014 are now available. This workshop is an evidence-based training program for FHT and NPLC Boards of Directors, Executive Directors and Medical Leads and is delivered to them by peer leaders. Effective Governance for Quality in Primary Care was created by the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI). To support the quality agenda in primary care, the MOHLTC partnered with CPSI and the Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario (AFHTO), the Association of Ontario Health Centres (AOHC), the Nurse Practitioner’s Association of Ontario (NPAO) to customize the program to Ontario’s primary care organizations. Each workshop contains information to help Board members, Executive Directors and Medical Leads guide their organization in delivering quality primary care through good governance. Presentations from the session guide participants through exercises, case studies and best practices on how to lead, govern and improve organizations focused on quality. To access the slides in English, click on the following links:

    To access the slides in French, click on the following links:

     

  • Invitation to primary care team members to join province-wide communities of practice

    We invite all staff in AFHTO member organizations to participate in a community of practice for their profession. AFHTO members are made up of diverse teams of professionals working together to provide excellent patient care. Communities of practice provide invaluable help in fostering a culture of interprofessional collaboration which enhances patient-centred care. AFHTO has been supporting the development of communities of practice for the different professions working within FHTs and NPLCs.

    Benefits of participation in a community of practice:

    • Online community of people working in similar roles within primary care teams:
      • Optimize teamwork within and across disciplines by sharing best practices and experiences.
      • Explore opportunities to enhance interprofessional collaboration within FHTs, NPLCs and other team-based settings.
      • Free half-day networking session on October 15, 2014 in Toronto (before the start of the AFHTO conference):
        • Meet and mingle with peers to identify common practices and optimize teamwork.
        • Click here to register for the conference or contact the community of practice contact below to sign up for the session.

    How to sign up for a community of practice:

    To join a network, staff should send an e-mail to one of the contacts listed below. They will follow up with more information about their network and instructions to join.

    Community of Practice Lead / Contact Organization
    Administration Michelle Smith Guelph FHT
    Chiropractor Craig Bauman Centre for Family Medicine FHT
    Health Promoter Sandy Turner Minto-Mapleton FHT
    Mental Health and Social Workers Catherine McPherson-Doe Hamilton FHT
    Nurse (RN/RPN) Tara Laskowski Hamilton FHT
    Nurse Practitioner Claudia Mariano West Durham FHT
    Occupational Therapists TBD contact Marg Alfieri for information
    Pharmacist Lisa Dolovich McMaster FHT
    Physician Assistant Melissa Holm Hamilton FHT
    Psychologist Veronica Asgary-Eden Family First FHT
    Registered Dietitian Jacquie Reeds Andrea Firmin Hamilton FHT Markham FHT

    Our community of practice leads emerged from within the FHT/NPLC community to create forums to exchange knowledge and share best practices with peers in similar roles from across the province. Thank you to all of our volunteer community of practice leads and to their EDs for supporting their leadership role in the community of practice.

  • Sample Policies from North York FHT

    You can access board, health and safety and employee policies by clicking on the links below. These  have been created by the North York Family Health Team and are posted for information and use by other AFHTO members. Sample Policies

  • Register for Effective Governance for Quality in Primary Care Workshop, October 14

    Click here to register for the Effective Governance for Quality in Primary Care Workshop, Tuesday, October 14, 2014, 10:30 am to 4:30 pm, Westin Harbour Castle, One Harbour Square, Toronto, Ontario. Click here for more information about this program. This session is FREE for board chairs/members, executive directors and lead MD/NPs of AFHTO member organizations.

  • Register for QIDS Professional Development Workshop, October 14

    Click here to register for the QIDS Professional Development Workshop, Tuesday, October 14, 2014, 10:30 am to 7:00 pm, Westin Harbour Castle, One Harbour Square, Toronto, Ontario. Click here for more information about this program. AFHTO has requested funding from the Ministry to cover some or all of the costs of this learning program.  Remaining costs will be covered through registration fees that could be FREE or to UP TO a maximum of $250 per person. AFHTO will contact registered participants to confirm the fee once the Ministry funding letter is received.

     

  • Request for data from ICES for D2D 1.0

    The deadline for the original D2D 1.0 request is past. However you can prepare to request this data for D2D 2.0 by reviewing the permissions required below.  Please copy and paste the following text into an email after you have inserted your team’s information in the bold italics area and send it to Rick.glazier@ices.on.ca with copy to improve@afhto.ca. Prior to submitting this request, ensure that all physicians in the FHNs and FHOs in your health team are aware of the request and that none object to it.  In response to this request, ICES will forward data at the FHN, FHO and FHT level for the indicators mentioned in the request.  Individual physician data will NOT be provided through this request.  However, individual physicians can access their own data through their Primary Care Practice (PCR) Report from HQO. When they receive the data from ICES for these indicators, teams may choose to contribute the FHT level data to D2D 1.0 or just retain the data for their own internal use.  Refer to the data submission template for instructions on how to contribute FHT-level data.  Note that FHN and FHO level data cannot be submitted to D2D 1.0. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dear Dr Glazier, Senior Scientist and Program Lead, Primary Care and Population Health,Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) Please consider this a request for data from ICES for our FHT for the following indicators: Regular primary care provider, readmissions within 30 days, cost per patient, colorectal and cervical cancer screening and SAMI score.  The specific definitions of each of the indicators are as discussed in the D2D 1.0 documents produced by AFHTO. Please provide data for the physician groups listed in the table below.  All physicians in each of the groups listed are aware of this request and none have objected to it.

    Physician payment group FHN or FHO
    [health team insert 4-digit alpha code] [health team indicate whether code refers to a FHN or a FHO]
       
       

    Please forward the data to [Medical lead]. Signed on behalf of the [health team to insert name of FHT] Executive Director [typed full name is sufficient for email – please forward scanned image of signed document to AFHTO improve@afhto.ca] Medical Lead [typed full name is sufficient for email – please forward scanned image of signed document to AFHTO: improve@afhto.ca]

  • Ontario election update: responses from the political parties

    As promised, we are sharing with you the response we received from each of the three main political parties to the questions we had posed (see below). Click on the links to see responses (listed in the order they were received) from the:

    Please make sure to vote! Angie Heydon Executive Director, AFHTO

    1. For a summary of where each of the three main parties stands on health issues see below.
    2. By June 10, AFHTO will share responses received from the parties on 5 questions about interprofessional primary care. Scroll down to see the questions.
    3. Thank you to AFHTO members for raising awareness among candidates of the value interprofessional primary care delivers to patients and the health system and the need to support recruitment and retention of staff to deliver this care. Scroll down for more information.

    1. PARTY PLATFORMS:

    Lib – http://ontarioliberalplan.ca/#plan;

    Liberals have pledged to “Guarantee that every Ontarian has access to a primary care provider.” Details on this pledge were released this morning; it includes the statement – “Improve the recruitment and retention of community-based primary care teams.”  Read more at http://kathleenwynne.ca/guaranteeing-primary-care-ontarians/ Other details about their health platform is found at – http://ontarioliberalplan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Access-to-the-Right-Health-Care-at-the-Right-Time-in-the-Right-Place.pdf .

    • Reduce wait times for referrals to specialists
    • Advocate for national drug insurance
    • Increase funding to our Mental Health and Addictions Strategy
    • Provide access to free vaccinations and newborn screening
    • Develop Community Hubs for community-driven programs that focus on health and wellness
    • Create 36 more Health Links to help those with multiple, complex conditions
    • Provide culturally appropriate care
    • Provide Ontarians with better information about chemicals linked with cancer
    • Increase funding for the seniors activity and community grants program

    PC – http://ontariopc.com/millionjobsplan/plan.pdf

    The plan largely builds on the vision advanced through the earlier PC party white papers on health care. The major health care commitments in the plan are as follows:

    • Local Health Integrated Networks (LHINs) will be eliminated and replaced by Health Hubs (which would bring together hospitals and community providers). These hubs will be run by front-line local health experts.
    • To help manage chronic conditions, the PCs would increase home care and create Chronic Care Centres. Doctors and nurses would work together to develop comprehensive care plans. Patients with the highest needs would be assigned a dedicated care navigator to ensure care is received right when they need it. This person will be a frontline caregiver such as a nurse, not a bureaucrat.
    • Home care and long-term care would be expanded.
    • The scope of practice would be updated for pharmacists, nurse practitioners and other professionals, to allow treatment where it is most convenient and beneficial for patients, particularly seniors.
    • Introduce a self-directed model of home care that would allow patients to select their services.
    • Encourage more competitive contracts for companies that provide health care services.
    • The role of modern, specialty clinics to provide more services such as dialysis and routine surgeries would be expanded.
    • Mental health services would be integrated to address the fragmented service delivery experienced by most patients today.
    • Children’s physical activity would be increased to 45 minutes per day, through school-based activities and after-school sports.
    • A secure health care database that will allow doctors and nurses to study real-world feedback on what treatments work best to help them determine the best care path for future patients would be created.

    NDP — http://ourplan.ontariondp.ca/?source=homepage

    The major health care commitments outlined in the plan are as follows: YEAR 1:

    • Open 50 new 24-hour Family Health Clinics with the capacity to serve 250,000 people, reducing the number of Ontarians without primary care access by 25 per cent.
    • Hire 250 more nurse practitioners in the Emergency Room in an effort to cut wait times in half.
    • Create 1,400 new Long-Term care beds with the goal of eliminating the waitlists for acute long-term.
    • Eliminate home care wait times for seniors with a Five Day Home Care guarantee. Clients would receive approximately two nursing visits and 7.5 hours of personal support per month.

    YEAR 2:

    • A Caregiver Tax Credit of $1, 275 per year to families caring for the ill or elderly.
    • Student debt forgiveness for doctors who choose to practice in rural, underserviced areas. The plan targets participation by 250 physicians, forgiving $20, 000 of debt per service.

    2. AFHTO’S QUESTIONS FOR PARTIES:

    Answers to the following questions have been requested by June 6. Response received will be sent to AFHTO members no later than June 10:

    1. Evidence shows that a very sick patient without high quality care can cost the province $30,000/year but the same patient with access to interprofessional family care only costs the province $12,000/year. Will your party support strengthening our family care teams and enhancing our capacity to care for more patients?
    2. Despite having family care teams in 206 communities across Ontario, 3 out of 4 Ontarians still do not have access to the benefits of interprofessional family care. If elected, what will you do to expand this care model to ALL Ontarians?
    3. Interprofessional family care teams are committed to optimizing health outcomes for patients and populations, meeting patient and public expectations, and supporting a sustainable health system.  What will your party do to advance the capacity of family care teams to capture and track the information they need to achieve these goals?
    4. Interprofessional care teams struggle to retain health professionals due to higher salaries being paid in hospitals, community care access centres, public health units and other settings. How will your party help interprofessional care teams recruit and retain more health care professionals in order to expand better care to more Ontarians?
    5. Final question is specific to each party’s platform:
      1. Lib: In your 2014 campaign platform you state that part of your 10-year plan is to support family health by guaranteeing everyone in Ontario has access to a primary care provider. How do you plan to use interprofessional family care teams to fulfill this promise?
      2. NDP: In your 2014 campaign platform, you state that you will add 50 new 24-hour Family Health Clinics. How will this commitment affect the current care model we have in place? Will it have a positive or negative effect on interprofessional family care teams
      3. PC: In your 2014 campaign platform, you state that you will help manage chronic care by increasing home care and creating Chronic Care Centres where doctors and nurses will collaborate to develop comprehensive care plans. Will this commitment compliment the current care model we have in place or have a negative effect on interprofessional family care teams?

    3. AFHTO MEMBERS RAISING AWARENESS:

    While AFHTO’s President and ED have been working at the provincial leadership level, AFHTO members have been active in their ridings and on social media.  Among those attending a recent meeting of the ED Advisory Council, about one-quarter had met with their MPPs and about one-third intended to contact candidates. Materials to help you spread the word on the value of continuing investment in team-based primary care are posted on the AFHTO members-only website:

  • Data to Decisions (D2D) 1.0: Contribution Instructions

    The Quality Improvement and Decision Support Steering Committee is pleased to announce the indicators to be included in Data to Decisions 1.0.  D2D 1.0 is a summary of primary care data that are currently available, comparable and mean the most to members in their efforts to advance quality of care for their patients.  Indicator selection was informed by AFHTO members through a survey conducted from April 24 to May 8. All AFHTO members are invited to contribute data for one or more of the selected indicators.  Please see table below to guide next steps for health teams. The selected indicators are as follows: From data recorded in EMR:

    1. Childhood immunizations
    2. Influenza immunizations among people over 65 years old

    From survey data:

    1. Patient experience with time spent with provider, opportunity to ask questions and be involved in their care
    2. Access, as indicated by % of patients reporting they received appointments within the same or next day of booking

    From data reported via ICES:

    1. Colorectal and cervical cancer screening
    2. Readmissions to hospital within 30 days of discharge for selected conditions
    3. Cost of care per patient (hospital, ER, diagnostic, community care as well as primary care)
    4. Regular primary care provider (% of all physicians visits with primary physician — formerly referred to as “Continuity of care”)

    See data dictionary for more complete details on the definitions and data sources for each indicator. Additional information about D2D 1.0 is available on the members-only page of the AFHTO site.  The FAQ  document, updated early June 2014 to address questions raised in the membership-wide survey, includes background on the purpose of D2D 1.0 and the indicator selection process, among other information.  It will also be updated with plans for addressing the fate of other indicators not included in D2D 1.0.  There is also a brief slide deck to share with others on your health team or Board. Please contact Carol Mulder with comments and questions about D2D 1.0. Next steps for health teams:

    Action Further information Deadline
    Choose indicators Member organizations may decide to contribute their data for all, some or none of the indicators.   See data dictionary for more information on each indicator. ASAP
    Identify a D2D 1.0 contact person The contact person works with the member organization and AFHTO to ensure submission of data in the correct format.  Possible choices for this role include QIDSS, IT staff or perhaps the author of your team’s QIP. ASAP
    Request data from ICES Submit request for ICES data for each FHO, FHN and/or FHT, signed by ED and Medical Lead, assuring ICES that all physicians in the group support the request.  D2D 1.0 will display data the FHT level only, regardless of how many FHNs or FHOs are contributing data. Jun 23, 2014
    Inform AFHTO of intent to contribute to D2D 1.0 Complete the “Data contribution sign-up form” to alert AFHTO of your organization’s intention to contribute data for one or more indicators. ASAP
    Extract data from EMR Begin consultation with your QIDSS and/or IT staff to extract data for childhood and influenza immunizations, the only 2 D2D 1.0 indicators based on EMR data.  For help, see data dictionary or contact QIDS program staff.  ASAP
    Compile patient survey data Begin to extract data from patient surveys for % of appointments on same/next day and patient experience with time spent with providers, opportunity to ask questions and be involved in their care.   For help, see data dictionary or contact QIDS program staff.  ASAP
    Complete data submission template Enter data for each of the indicators as well as descriptive data for the FHT (ie rural, urban etc) into the data submission template. Jul 25, 2014
    Acknowledge review of Statement of Confidentiality Before uploading data to AFHTO’s private dropbox, Members will be asked to acknowledge review of the Statement of Confidentiality at the time of submission of their ANONYMOUS DE-IDENTIFIED data. Jul 25, 2014
    Upload data Submit file of ANONYMOUS, DE-IDENTIFIED data to AFHTO’s private dropbox Jul 25, 2014
    Review final report Watch for release of the D2D 1.0 report in time for the annual AFHTO conference, Oct 15-16, 2014. Oct 15, 2014
     

     

  • Confidentiality agreement for D2D 1.0

    This confidentiality agreement has been reviewed and approved by legal counsel for AFHTO, OntarioMD will be finalizing the agreement by Monday, June 9, 2014. AFHTO members who are contributing data to D2D 1.0 will receive a signed copy from OntarioMD prior to releasing their teams data to OntarioMD for inclusion in the report. Click here for the DRAFT confidentiality agreement for D2D 1.0 for AFHTO members. The form to request data from ICES will be made available to members by Monday, June 9, 2014. The completed request form will be due on June 23, 2014, signed by ED and Medical Lead, assuring ICES that all physicians in the group support the request. Please check here for further updates.

  • Help strengthen political support for team-based primary care during the election campaign

    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.

    –          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.