Highlights from AFHTO’s Meeting with the Primary Health Care Branch (PHCB)- June 19, 2019

Highlights from AFHTO’s Meeting with the Primary Health Care Branch (PHCB)

This email was sent to EDs, Lead MDs/NPs and Board Chairs of AFHTO member organizations.

The AFHTO Board had an opportunity to meet with the PHCB on June 19. Below is a synopsis of the discussion.

1. Ontario Health Teams Implementation

• Over 150 submissions were received in May from across Ontario. Timelines for the next round of applications will be announced in the coming weeks.
• The ministry is currently reviewing self-assessments. All applicants will receive an update on the status of their applications in July 2019. Applicants identified to be in the best position to become an OHT will be asked to complete a full application. The first OHT candidates will be announced in Fall 2019.
• The Primary Health Care Branch and the Negotiations Branch are involved in reviewing all applications to ensure the breadth of primary care is looked at, including the number of primary care providers involved, performance, governance and leadership, and rurality.

AFHTO will be developing a suite of tools to support teams in OHT development and will be working with our partners in primary care, acute care, and home care to ensure we can support patients throughout the health care continuum. Are there tools or resources you have identified as high priority that you wish you had? Please let Bryn Hamilton know at bryn.hamilton@afhto.ca.

2. Care Coordination

• The transition of home and community care services to OHTs will enable home and community care services to be better integrated with a patient’s other care needs.
• As OHTs are phased in, the ministry may also want to review interim options for the placement or employment of care coordination staff, including primary care settings. The ministry will need to consider labour relations; the capacity of primary care around the province to incorporate care coordination staff into their teams; the coverage of primary health care teams; and the future state of OHTs.
• The ministry recognizes the importance of integration between home and community and primary care, including the ongoing work to better connect care coordinators in primary care settings through co-location. However, the work in this area is ongoing and a decision or approach has not yet been determined.

What is happening in your region with regards to care coordination and care coordinators? If there is movement in ‘embedding’ care coordinators in your teams or if there are tools being developed, please let us know at info@afhto.ca.

3. Interprofessional Primary Care Team Expansion

• Beginning in 2017/18, $48.8M is being invested to support the creation/expansion of 58 interprofessional primary care teams. Timing of implementation is variable, but good progress is being made. All projects are on track to be implemented by Fall 2019.
• Space challenges are creating longer implementation timelines for some groups.
• There is some deviation from the original plans, as anticipated. It will be important for teams to update the service plan if plans deviate from what was originally proposed.

AFHTO would like to hear from you! How are your IPCT plans progressing? Are there are any tools or resources that you need to meet your timelines? Please let Beth MacKinnon know about your expansion plans at beth.mackinnon@afhto.ca. AFHTO can look at supports where needed and can highlight success stories in our advocacy work.

4. Annual Operating Plan

• With all the changes happening in health care transformation, the AOP for this year has been delayed, but it can be expected soon.
• As in previous years, the 2019-2020 Annual Operating Plan Submission Package continues to focus on integrated service delivery through partnerships and collaboration, increasing patient access, and quality improvement.
• This year there will also be a focus on mental health and addictions, including questions on the provision of mental health services as the government rolls out its provincial psychotherapy clinical training program, which will be made available to providers in the coming months. More information on that will be shared once details are available.

5. Budget Adjustments

• Adjustments were made to 106 family health teams and all NPLCs based on a 3-year line-by-line budget analysis with teams that have chronically underspent (i.e., teams that have sent back money to the ministry each year).
• Thank you to everyone that let us know how these adjustments are going to impact your teams and if there would be impact to frontline delivery of care. A letter articulating your concerns has been sent to the ministry, and we are awaiting a response.
• For those teams who do believe the calculations are incorrect or are going to have a hard time managing within their new allocation, please contact your senior program consultant.
• With your R&R attestation report back to the ministry, please note if your R&R funding will be underspent due to vacancies, individuals not yet at the top of their salary grid, etc. This will ensure the ministry is aware that those funds are earmarked for future use.

We have heard that despite the budget adjustments there are some teams that may be underspent again this year (i.e., Q1 HR vacancies). The ministry is supportive of those funds being reallocated to AFHTO this fiscal year to help support the G&L Program, specifically as it relates to the development of tools and resources for OHTs. Want to be a project sponsor? Please contact Bryn Hamilton at bryn.hamilton@afhto.ca to learn more.