An Opportunity for Quality: The Need for Better Evaluation of Family Health Teams in Ontario
Article in Healthcare Quarterly 21(4) January 2019 : 28-31.doi:10.12927/hcq.2019.25744
Special Focus on Building Effective Primary Care Systems
Abstract
In the past decade, primary care has undergone significant changes toward system improvement, which has improved patient outcomes and reduced costs. Family health teams (FHTs) were introduced in Ontario as part of primary care renewal. FHTs address a lack of capacity and integration among providers and service inaccessibility experienced by the population. We explore, the potential for positive impact of FHTs and the lack of built-in evaluation strategies to assess performance. We provide four suggestions to better support rigorous evaluation of FHTs. This commentary considers Ontario’s efforts to improve capacity, quality and evaluation in primary care through FHTs.
Authors
- Shannon L. Sibbald, PhD, Assistant Professor, Western University
- Keri Selkirk, MBA, Centre for Organizational Effectiveness
- Avinash Cherla
- Vaidehi Misra, Faculty of Health Sciences, Western University
Full article pdf here.