Click here to access the February 2011 edition of “FHT to Print”, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s newsletter for family health teams.
Tag: Members Only
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FHT Leaders’ Response to AFHTO’s Draft Strategic Plan – February 2011 survey results
AFHTO belongs to FHTs and is the voice for FHTs. The AFHTO board of directors therefore engaged FHT leaders in developing a strategic plan, and in finding the way to build AFHTO into a strong and sustainable voice for FHTs. Building on the consensus achieved among 150 FHT leaders in November 2009, the board further developed these ideas into a draft strategic plan. The draft was sent out to all FHTs for consultation via a web meeting in February 2011 with approximately 70 FHTs in attendance to explain the strategic directions of AFHTO. This was followed up with a survey sent to all FHT leaders to invite further feedback, and 127 responded. Click here to see the survey results regarding AFHTO’s vision, mission, principles, values and priority initiatives. Click here to see the survey results regarding FHT engagement and fair and affordable fees.
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How FHT Leaders Interact With One Another – January 2011 survey results
AFHTO’s membership is our strength, and so we have been seeking input from FHT leaders to help determine AFHTO’s path for the next 2-3 years to ensure that it captured and reflected the key priorities shared by FHTs across Ontario. As a first step, we asked FHT leaders to fill out a survey to find out how they were interacting with one another and the media they used to do this. The next step is an AFHTO Strategic Plan Meeting on February 9th, 2011 where we will be asking for feedback from all FHTs. Responses to this initial survey helped us determine the most effective ways to foster and support membership engagement. On January 10th, 2011, an email was sent out to all FHTs in the province inviting them to participate in the survey. By the January 31st deadline, 118 people responded. Click here to see the survey results. Click here to see comments.
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West Queen West FHT: Permanent Family Medicine Practice Opportunity
Overview: The West Queen West Family Health Team (FHT) is a recently approved Wave 5 FHT currently in its physician recruitment and start-up phase. Located in one of the fastest growing neighbourhoods of Toronto, the FHT will service the community at large and incorporate a specialty focus on serving the primary care need of patients with mental health and addiction issues (approximately 25-30% of overall roster). The implementation of the West Queen West FHT is being sponsored by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). Location: West Queen West Family Health Team (Queen St. W and Ossington Ave. area), Toronto Central LHIN. Position Description: Family Physicians in the Queen West Family Health Organization (FHO) will provide medical services to the West Queen West FHT and enjoy working in an interprofessional team. The FHT will adopt best practice in the provision of comprehensive primary care and strategically focus on chronic disease management, illness prevention and health promotion. Call Arrangements: Queen West FHO physicians will participate in an on-call rotation (potentially with other FHOs) and enjoy the benefits of a partnership with Telephone Health Advisory Service (THAS). Practice Hours: 9:00am-5:30pm, 3-5 days per week and occasional evenings until 8:00pm Patient Volume: Each FULL TIME family physician is expected to have approximately 1300 patients rostered to them. This is prorated based on full time equivalency. Compensation: Blended, FHO (Queen West FHO). Blended model typical of FHO arrangements. Income stabilization available to eligible physicians. Inpatient opportunities at CAMH available upon interest. Teaching Opportunity: Through an affiliation with the Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, residents will have an elective opportunity to rotate through this placement. With a goal of increasing the competency and confidence of medical trainees in working with patients with mental health and addictions the West Queen West FHT will serve an important role in building capacity throughout the system. Research Opportunity: Through a partnership with CAMH and affiliations with multiple institutions of higher education, research opportunities abound. Positions Available: 4 Vacation Details: As per eventual FHO Association Agreement, but typically 6 weeks per year. Successful Applicant must speak: English Contact Information: Cara Vaccarino at: cara_vaccarino@camh.net
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2010-11-23 MOHLTC’s Health Care Options campaign to raise awareness of FHTs
As mentioned in the 2010-11-09 Members Only update, “Health Care Options” ads are now running on TV and radio, following up from Premier’s Nov.1 announcement. The ministry has launched a public education campaign to raise awareness of the many health care options available to Ontarians. Their research has shown there are low levels of awareness of new models of care, so the objective is to increase the level of knowledge and understanding of what Family Health Teams, Nurse Practitioner led Clinics, Urgent Care Centres etc. do. The ministry feels it is getting good results so far, with over 3,000 visits a day to the health care options website. The Health Care Options campaign consists of television, newspaper and online advertising. The television advertising will run until early January and the online advertising will appear until the end of March. The call to action in all of the advertising is to visit the Health Care Options website for more information. The website includes short videos and explanations of each of the health care options. A half-page ad appeared Saturday morning (November 20, 2010) on page A22 of the Globe and Mail. In the ministry’s words: We chose to profile Family Health Teams in a very deliberate manner because our quantitative and qualitative research showed very low levels of awareness of this model of primary care amongst Ontarians; this includes people who are enrolled in Family Health Teams. We felt that it was important to educate people about this and other new models of care so that they could get a sense of how the overall health care system is changing to meet people’s needs in the future. A number of AFHTO members noticed that, while the ad drew attention to the different health care professionals brought together in FHTs, doctors were omitted from the list. The ministry assured AFHTO this was an oversight that is being fixed for future ad insertions which will appear in community newspapers. The ministry also welcomed AFHTO’s offer to provide feedback on future advertising about FHTs.
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Quality in Family Practice project’s book of indicators for quality improvement
The Quality Book of Tools is a comprehensive collection of practice management and clinical care indicators for improving quality in primary care, family practice settings in Ontario. It was initially developed following an international review and modified Delphi process in 2008-2009 and a website launched in 2011 (click here to access). The website allows you to browse our indicators through a navigation tool bar at the top of the page. There is also a Flash version and the web version is accessible on your mobile as a mobile or desktop version. You must register/login as a member to download a free PDF version or purchase a hard copy version through this website. The Quality in Family Practice program team is a collaborative group from McMaster University and the Ontario College of Family Physicians, funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
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FHT Guide to Managing Risk and sample policies
Healthcare risk management is a comprehensive system or process through which risks to a healthcare facility and all who are served by and associated with it, are identified, classified, evaluated, and controlled to predict, limit and reduce future potential risks or losses.
With a Healthy Work Environment Innovation Fund Grant from HealthForce Ontario and contributions from eight family health teams, the South East Toronto led the Creating a Healthy Workplace Culture to Support Organizational Wellness for Interprofessional FHT Members project. A product of this project is A Family Health Team’s Guide to Risk Management, and the accompanying sample policies listed below.
Click on the titles below to open these documents:
A Family Health Team’s Guide to Risk Management
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Web Enabled Reporting System
The Web Enabled Reporting System (WERS) is an internet based application which is used by Family Health Teams (FHTs) to: – submit quarterly financial reports to the Ministry – submit quarterly program and services reports to the Ministry – submit annual audited statement of revenues and expenditures to the Ministry – submit annual audited financial statements to the Ministry For a presentation on completing and submitting reports to the Ministry through WERS, click here.
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Creating Good Governance in FHTs – Survey Results
Creating Good Governance in FHTs – Survey Results In the spring of 2010, AFHTO and QIIP collaborated to find out how FHTs were progressing in developing their governance structures and their understanding of the different roles and responsibilities of individuals that have been charged with the leadership of their FHTs. Governing boards of health care organizations, including Family Health Teams, are accountable for the performance of their organization and to provide oversight on their decisions. On April 20th, 2010, an email was sent out to all FHT leaders in the province inviting them to participate in a survey to inform if there is a need for further education in the field of governance. By the May 14th, 2010 deadline,115 respondents from 59 different FHTs responded. Click here to see the survey results.
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The Virtual Ward
This slide presentation from the AFHTO 2010 conference describes the Virtual Ward – a method of providing the support of a hospital ward but in the patient’s home environment. It provides care to the most medically and socially complex patients in their home setting along with multidisciplinary case management. The SETFHT Virtual Ward is for patients who have been admitted to Toronto East General Hospital for a chronic condition such as heart failure, bronchitis, emphysema or diabetes who are without a family doctor. Patients are offered to be rostered within the FHT and be part of the Virtual Ward. Once patients are at home, they receive follow-up care from various health care providers by phone and home visit as necessary. This may include phone calls to monitor their daily symptoms, answering their questions about medications and ensuring they have the supports to manage. They may also receive equipment that will help them monitor their health condition at home such as a blood pressure cuff, weight scale or a blood sugar monitor. This innovative approach to attaching patients to a family doctor and then providing comprehensive care to them once at home, will hopefully prevent further admissions to hospital and reduce wait times in emergency. It also allows patient to learn how to self manage their condition in order to take care of their own health at home. PRESENTER: Carol Toenjes FHT: South East Toronto Family Health Team Click here to view.
