Forwarded on behalf of Cardiac Care Network of Ontario: In the next few months, the Cardiac Care Network of Ontario (CCN) will be releasing the Ontario Heart Failure Strategy. With no cohesive provincial approach to managing heart failure (HF), the current system of care is fragmented with patients often falling through the cracks during transitions leading to suboptimal care and resulting in potentially avoidable Emergency Department use, hospitalizations, and diminished quality of life. One of the solutions to addressing barriers to optimal HF care is the identification of how and where care is currently being provided. The easy part is finding self-identified Heart Failure Clinics and Specialists who are managing HF. While this is valuable information, we believe the true key to successfully designing a province-wide HF management system that will function in a large and heterogeneous province like Ontario lies with Primary Care Practitioners. This is where we need your help. We want to make sure that any Primary Care Practitioner in the province of Ontario who has an interest or expertise in HF will take this survey. The ultimate goal is to collate the results into a map of HF services across the province. This will make it easier for patients and healthcare providers to locate and access care, and will inform opportunities to enhance or augment services in communities that are lacking access. The link to the survey is https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CCNHeartFailure. It takes about 20 minutes to complete. We thank you in advance for taking the time to complete the survey. Your efforts will help to ensure that we generate a complete and accurate list of HF providers in the province. ______________________________________________________________ Sudha Kutty Director, Knowledge Management Cardiac Care Network http://www.ccn.on.ca
Tag: Members Only
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QIDS Update 2013-11-26: EMR Landscape Report + QIDS Innovation Funding
REMINDER: Opportunity to apply for QIDS Innovation Funding
A few days ago AFHTO announced the availability of $95,000 in QIDS Innovation Funding. Note that this one-time opportunity is very time sensitive. Interested applicants will need to notify Tim Burns (tim.burns@afhto.ca) of their intent to apply by December 6, 2013. This initiative will serve as a catalyst for collaboration and system capacity building. Every effort is being made to maintain a simple, yet transparent and open process for the allocation of these funds. All members, regardless of current QI or EMR sophistication are encouraged to consider applying or joining with peers to submit an application. It is anticipated that three to five projects will be supported.
Please refer to the QIDS Innovation Submission Process and Guidelines on the AFHTO members-only web-site for more detail. FHT EMR Landscape Report A first report on the FHT EMR Landscape is now available. AFHTO received over 120 suggestions for topics for discussion with EMR vendors at the October conference. The EMR sessions themselves were attended by over 330 individuals. The first FHT EMR Landscape Report will include an early analysis of gaps in adoption and functionality across EMRs. We look forward to your feedback as we would like to develop this into a regular report to share with members and our partners at OntarioMD and eHealth Ontario. QIDS Steering Committee Update The QIDS Steering Committee, Chaired by Ross Kirkconnell, had its first meeting on October 21. The group agreed to re-convene in the New Year for a more in-depth discussion of the six strategic themes that are emerging for the QIDS program:
1. Collaboration and leadership
2. Building QI Decision Support Capacity and Capability
3. Optimizing the current state
4. Identifying early opportunities to report on indicators and improving them over time
5. Aligning our partners and supply chain
6. Innovating to create access to new data sources, tools and knowledge.
QIDS Specialists in the field We are also delighted to hear from more and more QIDS Specialists and others in the decision support community in our weekly check-ins. For the list of QIDS Specialists and other decision support specialists across the province, please sign into the AFHTO members-only website then go to https://www.afhto.ca/news-events/news/library/qids/qids-specialist-team/.
Please contact Denise Pinto (improve@afhto.ca) to be added to our weekly check-in group. Coming up: Privacy Resources: Depending on the local context and the goals of the QIDS partnerships, it is possible that complex privacy issues and concerns could be raised by the partners. In order to provide additional support and build our collective expertise, AFHTO will be retaining the services of a privacy expert. Please continue to make us aware of these issues and concerns as well as any solutions that you are implementing so that we can build the provincial knowledge base.
Implementation of QIDS Partnerships: The provincial team is very interested in identifying practical means to support the evolution of QIDS partnerships. Tim Burns and Carol Mulder are reaching out to all QIDS hosts to gain a better understanding of successes and challenges in partnership implementation. We are aware that a number of very encouraging agreements are nearing fruition. Members are encouraged to share these documents with the provincial team as they become available so that they can serve as examples for others. The team is also available to help facilitate partnership discussion where this may be of assistance. For a more detailed update and to keep abreast of developments in the QIDS program, please visit https://www.afhto.ca/news-events/news//qids/
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Opportunity for AFHTO members to apply for QIDS Innovation Funding
AFHTO is very pleased to announce the availability of approximately $95,000 in Quality Improvement Decision Support (QIDS) Innovation Funding. It is anticipated that three to five innovative projects will be supported through this fund. Every effort is being made to maintain a simple, yet transparent and open process for the allocation of these funds to make this opportunity serve as a catalyst for collaboration and sector capacity building. All interested members, regardless of current Quality Improvement or EMR sophistication or prior involvement with the QIDS initiative are encouraged to consider applying or joining with peers to submit an application. Please refer to the QIDS Innovation Submission Process and Guidelines on the AFHTO members-only web-site for more detail. Note that this one-time opportunity is very time sensitive! Interested applicants will need to notify Tim Burns, Provincial Lead, QIDS Program (tim.burns@afhto.ca) of their intent to apply by December 6, 2013.
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QIDS Innovation Fund – notice of intent to apply due by Dec. 6
Submission Process and Guidelines Funds available: Approx. $95,000. It is anticipated that three to five projects will be supported. Target: AFHTO member led projects that align with the goals of the QIDS strategy. Funding can be used for new initiatives or to expand the scope of existing projects. General Principles: AFHTO is very pleased that the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care has enabled this opportunity to use provincial QIDS program funding to create value for all of its members. Transparency, equity of access, accountability and value for money are paramount concerns as this initiative relies on public funds allocated for which the AFHTO Board is ultimately accountable. This initiative is intended serve as a catalyst for system capacity building. All members, regardless of their current QI and EMR sophistication or prior involvement in QIDS are encouraged to consider applying or partnering on applications. Although the funding is only available on a one-time basis, preference will be given to projects which promise to create enduring capacity in FHTs. This might be indicated by:
- Strengthened partnerships, collaboration and sharing.
- Spread of tools and capability (across organizations, geography and EMR types).
- Systematic barrier identification and removal.
- The resulting availability of accessible, non-proprietary tools.
- Potential for local cash and in-kind contributions or leverage of other funding sources.
- Potential to build capacity through strategic partnerships with non-FHT actors.
Eligibility criteria: To be considered for funding, projects must demonstrate their ability to accelerate progress in one or more of the following QIDS priority areas:
- Strengthening QIDS program learning and evaluation capacity
- Identification and spread of promising data management tools and techniques
- Development decision support networks and communities of practice
- Implementation of quality and performance measurement frameworks consistent with AFHTO’s Performance-Oriented Model for Primary Care (based on Starfield) for comprehensive primary care and/or HQO’s emerging primary care performance measurement framework. This could include enabling multi-practice baseline analysis and comparability on a sub-set of measures that are local team priorities
- Reducing the cycle (lag) time for analytical data sets
- Validation and documentation of existing data sources and strategies to encourage more rapid uptake
- Accelerate implementation of multi-practice and/or system level performance measurement and feedback
- Common approaches to QIP priorities including patient experience surveys
- Clinician engagement
- Identifying opportunities for patient and public input
- Potential for non-proprietary re-use of technical solutions (queries, API, ETL, data scrubbing, SNOMED conversion)
Terms: To be considered, projects need to be fully underway by the end of January, 2014. Projects, or at least the AFHTO funded portions thereof, will need to achieve substantial completion by March 31, 2014. Brief mid-point and closeout narrative reports will be required. Proponents will agree to contribute to QIDS knowledge exchange events and products to the extent practical. Funding amounts and eligible project costs will be determined at AFHTO’s sole discretion. Proponents and AFHTO will enter in to a formal letter of agreement to enable funding. Application process: The process described below is designed to create the most open opportunity possible for all members while moving very quickly to meet the need to achieve completion within the fiscal year. AFHTO is committed to fairness and transparency. Suggestions to improve this process are most welcome. Step 1. Intent to apply: It is very important to let AFHTO know if you intend to submit a proposal or have a promising project idea and need partners. A target date of December 16 has been set for submissions. Teams considering applying are requested to send a brief email to Tim Burns (tim.burns@afhto.ca) by December 6, 2013 indicating their intent to apply. The e-mail should include:
- A very brief project synopsis
- The players involved (including any to be invited)
- Readiness to start (noting if the proposal is for a new initiative or the expansion to a project already under way)
- A rough (+/-25%) estimate of the support likely to be requested from the AFHTO QIDS fund
- Concerns, if any, regarding a December 16th target date for submissions (see below)
Based on this information, AFHTO and the selection committee will finalize the submission date (as close to the December 16th target date as possible) and communicate this to all who intend to apply. AFHTO may also facilitate joint proposals if projects are similar and proponents are agreeable. Step 2. Project description submissions: Remember, this is all about streamlining. Submissions should be no more than 2-3 pages in length at most! Suggested content:
- Project description including the innovation opportunity and potential benefits
- QIDS priority(ies) being addressed
- Summary of deliverables and timing
- Project partners and organization
- Potential for sharing and collaboration beyond current partners if any
- Progress reporting and evaluation plan
- Knowledge sharing and dissemination
- Role, if any, envisaged for the provincial QIDS team
- Overall budget and where financial support from the AFHTO QIDS fund is required
- Conflict of interest declarations if applicable
- (optional) appendices or links to additional information
Selection process: The review committee will rank all proposals received by December 16 (assuming this date is confirmed through the intent to apply process). Proponents may be requested to participate in a teleconference call to discuss their ideas and address questions from the selection committee. Once the proposals are ranked, up to $30,000 per proposal will be allocated in rank order until all available funding is committed. (It is possible that proposals will get either more or less funding than applied for based on the budget review and given the goal of providing meaningful support to as many projects as possible). Successful proponents will be notified within one week of submission of a final budget allocation so that projects can be initiated as soon as possible.
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Update on 2014-15 operating plan and budget process
In the course of a meeting of with the Ministry’s FHT Unit yesterday, we learned the target distribution date for the 2014-15 operating plan packages is in early January. FHTs would have two months to complete their plans for submission in early March. This meeting was the next step in our work toward achieving greater flexibility in FHT budgets, as agreed in the most recent quarterly meeting of AFHTO, AOHC and the Ministry’s FHT Unit. (Click here for meeting report.) The purpose was to review:
- Draft criteria to assess readiness to govern and manage a more flexible budget, developed through AFHTO’s ED Advisory Council, and
- The FHT Unit’s initial ideas to move toward more meaningful accountability reporting.
The FHT Unit will do further work on a number of questions raised in the course of the meeting. Over the next number of weeks AFHTO and AOHC will receive drafts of templates for readiness assessment, quarterly reporting and the annual operating plan submission for review and comment. Thank you to the FHT EDs who worked on drafting the readiness criteria, the ED Advisory Council for their comments and support. Thank you as well to those who participated in yesterday’s meeting:
- MOHLTC: Phil Graham (Manager, FHTs and Related Programs), Fernando Tavares (Acting Program Manager), and Johlen Jordens (Acting Senior Program Consultant)
- FHT EDs: Randy Belair (Sunset Country FHT in Kenora), Michelle Karker (East Wellington FHT), Keri Selkirk (Thames Valley FHT in London)
- Association staff: Angie Heydon and Clarys Tirel (Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario), Leah Stephenson (Association of Ontario Health Centres)
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Seeking FHT/NPLC board members to serve as advisors and/or peer facilitators for AFHTO’s Governance and Leadership Program
This notice is e-mailed to current board chairs and EDs, please forward to other past and current members of your board who may be interested. AFHTO has received Ministry funding to support strengthened governance and leadership for our members. This results from AFHTO’s advocacy and the Ministry’s interest in sustaining and spreading the work that began through last spring’s Governing for Quality in Primary Care training program. To guide program development and implementation, AFHTO is seeking current and past FHT and NPLC board members with experience in exemplary governance to serve as:
- Members of the Governance and Leadership Program Advisory Committee; AND/ OR
- Peer facilitators for learning programs and discussion groups.
Members of the Governance and Leadership Program Advisory Committee: The advisory committee’s role is to:
- Provide input and direction for the development of the Governance and Leadership Program for interprofessional primary care organizations.
- Ensure all aspects of the program are relevant to organizations within AFHTO’s membership.
- Ensure the overall program builds and supports on-going capacity for effective governance and leadership of interprofessional primary care organizations, on behalf of the organization’s patients, community and Ontarians.
(Click here for full terms of reference.) Peer facilitators within the Governance and Leadership Program: AFHTO is looking to develop a cadre of experienced board members to become trained peer facilitators who can be called upon from time to time to support governance and leadership development in FHTs and NPLCs. Between January and March 2014, AFHTO will offer the “Effective Governance for Quality and Patient Safety” workshops developed by the Canadian Patient and Safety Institute (CPSI). In partnership with CPSI, peer facilitators will be trained and supported to lead these learning programs. The peer facilitators will have a unique opportunity to explore evidence-informed approaches to governance and leadership and to share innovative health governance practices, resources and tools. The peer facilitators will be expected to attend a one day “train the trainer session” in January and to support two 1 day workshops (one in February and a second one in March). The peer facilitators will also be expected to meet with the Advisory Committee for one to two teleconferences. An honorarium will be provided to the peer facilitators in recognition of their time and all travel and accommodation expenses will be reimbursed. As AFHTO develops additional components of the Governance and Leadership Program, we hope to have a sufficiently large cadre of trained peer facilitators to draw from to support other learning programs. We would hope that peer leaders be prepared to invest at least 2 days per year to support learning events, discussion groups or other developmental activities. If you are interested in getting involved in the advisory committee and/or as a peer facilitator, please complete the following survey monkey by November 18: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GovAdvisory_Peerfacilitator_application If you have any questions, please contact Clarys Tirel at clarys.tirel@afhto.ca
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AFHTO’s input to OMA’s Negotiations Committee
Just before the AFHTO 2013 Conference, the OMA Negotiations Committee requested input from AFHTO “to identify potential topics or areas of focus that might warrant consideration during Ministry negotiations.” Their deadline for response was November 1, 2013. While the turnaround period was tight, the timing was ideal – two valuable opportunities to solicit membership input were taking place immediately before the AFHTO conference: the FHT Physician Networking Session and the Executive Director Advisory Committee. AFHTO’s response is based on the input received from these groups and approved by the AFHTO board. We are sharing AFHTO’s letter to the OMA’s Negotiations Committee with the board chairs, lead physicians and EDs of our member organizations, as well as about 50 physicians who had signed up for the pre-conference FHT Physician Networking Session. Click here to see AFHTO’s letter to the OMA Negotiations Committee.
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Additions to Interprofessional Health Care Providers in FHTs
Memo to: Executive Directors, Ontario’s Family Health Teams From: Phil Graham, Manager, Family Health Teams & Related Programs, Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Click below for print versions of the memo in English and in French:
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AFHTO 2013 Conference – EMR Users Meetings
EMR Vendors hosted information and knowledge sharing sessions for AFHTO member users with the aim of working towards responding to evolving measurement and reporting requirements. The EMR User Meetings give FHTs the opportunity to develop their skills, knowledge and share best practices for maximizing their use of the EMR system. AFHTO –TELUS Health: PS Suite working group presentations The spreadsheet posted below presents the details of the responses from TELUS Health to the priority items identified by the working group and outlined in the presentation.
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AFHTO Conference 2013 Poster Displays
Theme 1 – Leadership and governance for quality 1 The Role of an Interprofessional, Cross-Sectoral Planning and Priorities Committee in the Successful Function and Evolution of an FHT Theme 2 – Using data to improve care 2 Using EMR as a partner: Can an EMR system make you smarter about Diabetes care? 3 Lifting the Load: Utilizing University Students in Primary Care for Programming and Quality Improvement 4 How Quality Improvement and Decision Support Specialists (QIDSS) can help transform care 5 Laying the Foundation for Primary Care Performance Measurement in Ontario 6 The ABCs of M&M in a Family Health Team 7 Using EMR Data for Self Reflection and Facilitate Change to Enhance Patient Care (poster to follow) 8 Improving the Quality and Efficiency of Post-hospital Admission Visits to the Primary Care Provider 9 Healthy Weight Surveillance Pilot Study Theme 4 – Integration: building the team beyond the FHT 10 Standardization Committee: The Answer to Effective Utilization of Registered Nurses to Full Scope of Practice (poster to follow) 11 Evaluation of the Integration of the Physiotherapy Practitioner into the Toronto Western Hospital Family Health Team 12 Managing Systems Transitions – Integrated Hospital Transition Management Initiative – Poster Presentation 13 INR Clinics: the next step 14 The Nutrition Resource Centre as a Means for Collaboration between Family Health Teams and Public Health 15 Expanding Our QI team to Improve Patient Outcomes and Enhance Provider Engagement and Collaboration: Public Private Collaboration (PPC) (poster to follow) 16 Supporting Caregivers Through Problem Solving Therapy 17 Driving Transformation By Seeing The System Through The Eyes of Patients and Their Families Theme 5 – Advances in health promotion and chronic disease management 18 AFib Innovation Program (poster to follow) 19 Reducing CVD risk factors through Fostering Self-Management Skills using an Interprofessional Team in a Shared Medical Visit Setting 20 Smoking Cessation Program at St. Michael’s Academic Family Health Team (poster to follow) 21 Readiness – A Key Concept in Mental Health Intake Assessments 22 Colon Cancer Screening: A Family Health Team Approach to Improve Patient Awareness and Access (poster to follow) 23 EPIC: Expanding Paramedicine in the Community 24 Exploring Hand Hygiene in Primary Care (poster to follow) 25 Evaluation of a nursing led chronic disease management program 26 Group Visit Implementation and Program Evaluation: Interprofessional Well-Baby Group Visits (poster to follow) 27 Effect of’Beyond the Fork’ program on chronic disease self-management: a pilot RCT 28 Partnering with Patients in the Development of a Trauma Program (poster to follow) 29 Using a Novel Instructional Video on the Fecal Occult Blood Test to improve Rates of Colon Cancer Ccreening in Low Risk Patients: a pilot study at the Toronto Western Hospital Family Health Team 30 Meeting Parental Needs for Infant Feeding Education with Well Baby Group Visits (WBGV) (poster to follow) 31 The 4 Ps of Effective Health Promotion in Family Health Teams: Enhancing Patient Engagement in Community-based Programming. 32 Provider Education Program: Evidence-Based Asthma Knowledge Transfer into Primary Care Practice 33 Improved Cancer Screening Rates with Introduction of an EMR 34 Right Care, Right Time, Right Place: A Lung Health Collaborative in Primary Care (poster to follow) 35 Some Injuries You Can’t Kiss and Make Better: Fall Prevention in Young Children 36 Diabetes Group Visits – A Collaborative & Supportive Approach to Patient Care 37 Progress Beyond The Scale: Using Data Collection to Provide Patient and System Level Feedback in Healthy Weight Management Program 38 Health Coaching for patients with diabetes: impact on interdisciplinary teams 39 The Ontario Renal Network: Reducing the Impact of Chronic Kidney Disease through Early Detection – A Primary Care Innovation (poster to follow) 40 Bridging the Gap: Increasing cancer screening rates through quality improvement 41 Upstream Solutions for Downstream Congestion 42 See the Difference an HgbA1C Onsite Makes (poster to follow) Theme 6 – Improving care for seniors 43 Guelph Family Health Team Cooking Classes: A “Healthy Bite” closer to prevent and manage chronic disease 44 Evaluating a Health and Social Care Innovation; Findings from the Integrated Home-Based Primary Care (IHBPC) Study 45 Safe Medications And Reviews Taskforce (SMART Seniors Project) – An Interprofessional Collaboration at the St Michael’s Academic Family Health Team 46 Health Equity and Geriatric Care in a Rural Practice 47 Prescribing and Deprescribing in Frail Elderly: Use of an interdisciplinary team to enhance safe medication use in frail and homebound older adults. 48 Medication Reviews for Improving Care in Elderly Family Health Team Patients on Multiple Medications (poster to follow) Theme 7 – Innovation in interprofessional collaborative team implementation 49 The Primary Care Asthma Program (PCAP): A Standardized Program Model for Evidence-based Primary Care Asthma Management in Ontario 50 An Interdisciplinary Approach to Increasing Awareness of RD’s Medical Nutrition Therapy Services 51 Making Patient Safety a Priority: Moving from a culture of blame to learning via narrative 52 Improving Patient Access to Care: Removing Barriers to Receiving Assessment and Education by Health Disciplines of the St. Michael’s Hospital Academic Family Health Team 53 The Patient Engagement Project: Lessons Learned 54 The Value of an Optometry-integrated Primary Care Model to Lowering Risk of Blindness and Augment Chronic Disease Management 55 Investigating the role of a NP and a PA in a Family Health Team 56 Strengthening the Circle of Mental Health Care: Social Work and Psychologists in Collaboration: A Panel of Physician/Social Worker and Psychologist 57 The “Missing Link”: The Integration of Registered Kinesiologists in Primary Care 58 Integrating Palliative Care into an Academic Family Health Team 59 Longitudinal Study of Mental Health Services at Summerville Family Health Team 60 “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning”: An Insomnia Reversal Program for Primary Care 61 Primary Health Care: Chiropractic Collaboration (poster to follow) 62 A Collaborative Approach in Integrating Evidence Based Practice in Smoking Cessation- A Paradigm Shift (poster to follow) 63 Evaluation & Lessons Learned from the Interprofessional Memory Clinic: Loyalist Family Health Team – impact on the patients, care partners, health care providers and community partnerships (poster to follow) 70 PAASSPORT: Primary Care Advanced Access Study: Spreading the Practice and Optimizing interprofessional Resources and Treatment Theme 8 – Meaningful use of EMRs 64 Advanced Access – Same Day Next Day Physician Access 65 The McMaster Pain Assistant: The why, what and how of a new EMR tool that teaches. 66 Updating and Standardizing Nutrition Handouts on the EMR 67 Supporting the implementation of the Canadian Guideline for Safe and Effective Use of Opioids for Chronic Non-Cancer Pain in primary care 68 Preventing Clinically Significant Drug/Disease Interactions in Primary Care