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Tag: Members Only News

  • Lessons in Leadership from the AFHTO 2013 Conference

    During the AFHTO 2013 conference, nearly 900 participants gathered to learn and explore the theme “Leadership in Healthcare for Ontarians”. Engaging sessions delving into this important theme started with the FHT Leadership session where participants discussed the role primary care leaders could and should play in Ontario’s healthcare system, continued with the opening plenary on inspirational leadership and ended with the closing debate about the affirmation, “Be it resolved that health system transformation must be led by Primary Care”. The resulting report, “Leadership in Healthcare for Ontarians- Learnings from the AFHTO 2013 Conference”, highlights and summarizes key messages from these sessions with insights from both speakers and conference participants. Primary care is built on long term relationships – with patients, within teams and with others in the community to care for these patients. This unique role fosters distinctive strengths that primary care leaders bring to the health system.  As coordinators of care who see the complete range of patient needs and social context impacting these needs, primary care leaders have the skills and drive to develop and lead meaningful partnerships that keep patients at the centre Our report illuminates the importance of primary care leadership and will inform the development of AFHTO’s Governance and Leadership Program. With new initiatives coming in the near future, we look forward to continue providing support for current and future primary care leaders and strengthening their capacity to fulfil their roles within their teams, their community and Ontario as a whole. Thank you to all who participated in the AFHTO 2013 conference.

  • 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.

  • 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)

  • 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

  • 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.

  • 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:

  • QIDs Implementation Update-2013-10-10

    Highlights:

    • Members named to the Quality Improvement Decision Support Steering Committee (QSC)
    • Arrival of the first QIDS Specialists and the Provincial QIDS Team
    • Steps underway to improve information and knowledge exchange with EMR Vendors, including EMR user sessions at the AFHTO 2013 Conference
    • Community of Practice for Decision Support Team Members is being established
    • ACTION REQUESTED: please complete a brief QIDS Implementation Status Survey to help shape priorities and inform the work of QSC and the Provincial QIDS Team. Please complete a brief QIDS Implementation Survey

    The survey will be open until 12 noon on October 17th, 2013. QSC Named: Your Quality Improvement Decision Support Steering Committee (QSC) has been named. It reflects widespread enthusiasm and support for the goals of the QIDS program. According to QSC Chair Ross Kirkconnell, “this is a great opportunity to provide more effective support to the great work FHTs are doing in Quality Improvement, and build greater capacity to tell our story to the rest of the system. I am really looking forward to working with this very talented and committed group.” Membership Chair:    Ross Kirkconnell, Executive Director, Guelph FHT; AFHTO Board Members:

    • Katherine Campbell, Director, Service Quality Integration, Dryden Regional Health Ctr.
    • Gail Czukar, Executive Director, Humber River FHT
    • Sanjeev Goel, Lead Physician, Wise Elephant FHT
    • Karen Hall-Barber, Family Physician and Assistant Professor Dept.  of Family Medicine, Queen’s
    • Monique Hancock, Executive Director STAR FHT
    • Sherry Lynn Harrington, Director, Program Innovation &Evaluation, Peterborough FHT
    • Mary Keith, Executive Director, Garden City FHT
    • Karl Langton, Health Informatics Coordinator Hamilton FHT; Peer Leader OntarioMD
    • Kevin Samson, Physician, East Wellington FHT, Co-Lead AFHTO PSS User Group

    Advisors:

    • Rick Glazier,  Family and Community Medicine, St. Michaels; Sr.  Scientist ICES, AFHTO Board
    • Michelle Griever, North York Family Health Team

    Ex Officio:

    • Elizabeth Keller,  Director Product Management, OntarioMD
    • Ben King, Senior Program Consultant, eHealth Liaison Branch, Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
    • eHealth Ontario (confirmed, rep. TBD)

    Staff:     Tim Burns, Provincial Lead QIDS, AFHTO QIDS Specialists are coming on board: Some QIDS Specialists are now in place. Say hello to Melanie Young (Kenora), Meghan Peters (Sudbury- Val Caron), and Thiv Paramsothy (East GTA). Several more are expected to start within the next few weeks.  Please be sure to put newly appointed QIDS Specialists in touch with Tim Burns (tim.burns@afhto.ca) as they join up.  Employers are also encouraged to send QIDS Specialists to the AFHTO Conference for networking opportunities and a great deal of content that should be really interesting for them and highly relevant to their roles. Provincial QIDS Team Members: AFHTO is also very pleased to welcome Carol Mulder and Jenya Doudareva to the provincial team: Carol Mulder: Quality Improvement Decision Support Specialists Practice Lead Carol comes very well prepared to this role as she has extensive background in teaching and decision support capacity building. In addition to being a trained veterinarian, Carol holds an MSc in Epidemiology and is pursuing a doctorate in Quality improvement Knowledge, Beliefs and Behaviour. She has held senior roles in information management and was most recently the co-lead for the South West Regional Integrated Decision Support strategy.  Carol will be starting on October 21, 2013. Jenya Doudareva: EMR/Technical Lead for QIDS Jenya has an M.A.Sc in Industrial Engineering from the Centre for Research in Healthcare Engineering at the University of Toronto. Jenya has worked on projects including multi-site process improvement in cancer screening and decision support models for orthopedic surgery scheduling. Jenya will be starting on October 16, 2013. EMR Vendor relationships: The QIDS Program will be working with the EMR vendor community to improve information and knowledge exchange and increase value for members. This approach builds on progress made by the Telus/PSS User Group (and thanks to Kevin Sampson, Fok-Jee Leung, Clarys Tirel and the rest of the PSS User Group). Responsibility for vendor relationship strategies is now transferring to the QIDS Program where it will be expanded under the guidance of the QSC. As a first step, EMR Vendor reps and Information and Knowledge Exchange Sessions have been set up for 8:00 to 8:45am on October 22 at the AFHTO conference for Bell, Nightingale, OSCAR, QHR Technologies and Telus. A vendor rep was not available from P&P Data Systems, however there will be an opportunity for users of their EMR to share information. In all, over 320 individuals have registered for these sessions. Thanks to registrants for over40 specific suggestions for topics to be addressed by vendors. These will be shared with vendors this week.  Please contact Tim (tim.burns@afhto.ca) if you have any questions or need information regarding EMR vendor sessions. Community of Practice for Decision Support Team Members: Family Health Teams already have a lot of capacity in analytics and decision support and have a great deal to be proud of in what has already been accomplished. One of Carol Mulder’s primary roles will be to develop a Community of Practice for FHT professionals primarily focused (or interested in) Quality Improvement, Data Management and Analysis or Decision Support. This Community of Practice will help to will create relevant learning and knowledge sharing opportunities for many FHT team members in addition to the QIDS Specialists themselves. To assist us understanding how to identify and plan for this community we request that you take a moment to complete the survey. QIDS Implementation Survey: ACTION REQUESTED Please take a moment to complete the attached survey. It collects information which is of interest to all FHTs and is especially timely as the QSC will be starting its work this month. The information will help to provide QSC with a good snapshot of the program’s overall status and help the provincial team to launch a community of practice that will be open to all FHTs. Please complete a brief QIDS Implementation Survey

    The survey will be open until 12 noon on October 17th, 2013.

  • Quality Improvement tools from CCO and program update from HQO

    Cancer Care Ontario Toolkits: Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) has developed an Advance Care Planning (ACP) toolkit for primary care practices that decide to include ACP as part of their QIP. Please click here for the ACP Toolkit. This new toolkit is in addition to the previously distributed toolkit Cancer Screening toolkit which some FHTs are already using to improve cancer screenings in their practices. Please click here for the Cancer Screening toolkit. Many thanks to Dr. Suzanne Strasberg from the Jane Finch FHT who was part of the development of these toolkits and is supporting the dissemination of these toolkits Update on the Advanced Access, Efficiency, and Chronic Disease Management initiative from HQO: Forwarded on behalf of Susan Taylor, HQO: Health Quality Ontario’s Advanced Access, Efficiency, and Chronic Disease Management initiative will no longer be restricted to a cycle of waves. Their new, more versatile continuous intake model will allow Health Quality Ontario to offer support through:

    • An extensive series of accredited e-learning modules
    • A variety of quality improvement resources and tools
    • Consultations with Primary Care Champions and Quality Improvement Advisors

    In order to engage in the new and improved Advanced Access, Efficiency & Chronic Disease Management initiative, please contact HQO’s quality improvement specialists at: learningcommunityinfo@hqontario.ca.

  • Update from AFHTO-PSS working group: report from meeting with TELUS-HEALTH

    The AFHTO – PSS working group continues to meet with the PS Suite team from TELUS-Health to address the FHTs issues with the EMR. Recently, representatives from the working group met with the leadership team at TELUS Health to ensure that the FHT priorities and concerns were being heard by TELUS and would be addressed. Background: The AFHTO- PSS working group has been meeting since February 2012 (click here for the last update). Working within the priorities identified by the FHTs in the June 2012 AFHTO survey, the working group developed a list of actionable items in collaboration with the TELUS PSS team.  These priority actionable items were presented to the TELUS team during the summer. Over this period most of the responses from the TELUS team had not provided as much clarification as expected by the AFHTO working group.  To address some our concerns, representatives from the AFHTO working group met with the TELUS-Health leadership on September 23. Update from the meeting with TELUS Health Leadership Team:

    • TELUS Health Leadership heard and acknowledged the concerns expressed around communications and the non-committal answers to the actionable items. A candid and positive discussion took place with all present at the meeting.
    • TELUS Health stated that they:
      • Remain committed to PS Suite and the FHT users.
      • Plan to invest in PS Suite along with the two other EMR platforms that it supports.
      • Do not expect users to change their EMRs and users can expect improvements to the functionality over time.
    • TELUS Health Leadership and AFTHO agreed on the following next steps:
      • TELUS PS Suite clarified that the responses to the priority action items were “initial” and that there would be updates. TELUS PS Suite will review each item with their team and provide more specific responses prior to the AFHTO conference. AFHTO requested, where possible, to be provided a point person for items and an indication when there would be a status update.
      • TELUS team will work closely with the AFHTO working group on communication to FHT users.  TELUS is committed to improve communication with FHT users.
      • AFHTO and TELUS will establish regular leadership meetings to ensure accountability for the agreed processes and outcomes.

    Present at the TELUS-AFHTO meeting: Ron Sparks, Head of Sales, TELUS Physician;  Shawn Vincent, Director, R&D; Charles Funk, Manager, Product Management;  Ken Piaggio, Director, Client Services; Shannon Jackson, Manager, Health business consulting; Manon Greer, Senior Product manager; Jeremy Gordon, Client Services manager; and  Fok-Jee Leung (Bruyere FHT); Kevin Samson (East Wellington FHT); Tim Burns (AFHTO); Clarys Tirel (AFHTO). PS Suite User Session at AFHTO conference: About 200 people have registered for the PS Suite User session. The AFHTO PSS user group will give an update on the work that they have completed and on the responses from TELUS Health to our priority action items. TELUS Health Leaders will be at the session and will outline the next steps in our collaboration to ensure that FHT PS Suite users’ needs are heard and, where possible, met. Please send an email to Clarys Tirel (clarys.tirel@afhto.ca) with any specific questions that you want answered at the session.  We will make time for questions, but given that the tight timeframe, we want to plan ahead as much as possible.

  • Report from quarterly meeting with MOHLTC FHT unit – September 18, 2013

    FHT Directors representing AFHTO and AOHC members met with the FHT Unit on Wednesday. To access the full report, please click here. The main focus of the meeting was the discussion on budget flexibility and accountability. The FHTs presented the position proposed by the Executive Director Advisory Council at their meeting of August 28, which was to achieve:

    • A global budget divided into two envelopes, one for HR and the other for operations, such that:

    The EDAC position was approved by the AFHTO board and is supported by the AOHC C-FHT Executive Directors. (To access the briefing note on this position, please click here.) The MOHLTC FHT unit agrees that, given the current fiscal constraints and the stage of development of some of the FHTs, moving towards increased budget flexibility and reviewing the accountability framework is the right direction.  All parties agreed that a staged approach that would be developed with a goal of moving a number of FHTs to a hybrid global budget for the next fiscal year, contingent on final ministry decisions. All have committed to collaborate on the first two steps to move this forward:

    1. Readiness assessment: Through EDAC, AFHTO will prepare initial draft of criteria for assessing FHTs in terms of their readiness to govern and manage a more flexible budget.
    2. More meaningful accountability reporting:  MOHLTC will share their initial work to review the reporting structure as a starting point for further discussion on changing the accountability framework.

    There remains the need to find ways to ensure decisions about the size of budgets can remain consistent with changing demands and conditions over time. The meeting also provided the opportunity to review with the Ministry the process to address current budget pressures. The Ministry re-affirmed its commitment to ensure that the budget reductions do not impact negatively on patient care.  The Ministry coordinators have been instructed to be flexible and to work with FHTs on a case-by-case basis to free up funds within the approved FHT budget, or if necessary consider other measures. The Ministry provided updates on a number of issues identified by EDAC:

    • Status of the BSM review
    • Sessional fees
    • Transfer of rostered patients
    • Quality Improvement Plans
    • QIDSS Program
    • IHPS in non-FHT models
    • Physiotherapy in FHTs