AFHTO’s 2024 Pre-Budget Submission
Dear AFHTO Members, On behalf of the Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario, I would like to share our 2024 prebudget submission with you. As you know, AFHTO envisions a health care system where every Ontarian will have access to high-quality, comprehensive, cost effective, integrated interprofessional primary care, leading to better health outcomes for […]
AFHTO’s 2023 Pre-Budget Submission
On February 6, 2023 AFHTO submitted our recommendations to the government for their 2023 budget. Recommendations 1 and 2 of our 2023 pre-budget submission was done in collaboration with partners in the Primary Care Collaborative and recommendation 3 and 4 are two other recommendations AFHTO is advocating for. With primary care at the foundation, our […]
Strengthening mental healthcare delivery in primary care
The OMA and the Primary Care Collaborative have released a joint policy paper with recommendations to strengthen mental healthcare delivery in primary care. The rate of new mental health and addiction diagnoses is increasing, exacerbated by the ongoing impacts of the pandemic. Approximately three-quarters of Canadians rely on their primary care provider to address their […]
AFHTO’s 2022 Pre-Budget Submission
On February 10, AFHTO submitted our recommendations to the government for their 2022 budget. Our 2022 pre-budget submission was done in collaboration with our five partners in the Primary Care Collaborative. With primary care at the foundation, our submission lays out what is needed to help build a province where people can access better care, […]
AFHTO’s 2021 Pre-Budget Submission
AFHTO has submitted recommendations to the Ministry of Finance as part of the 2021 Ontario Pre-Budget Consultations. The submission is entitled “The Heart of Health Care: Delivering Better Primary Care for Ontarians.” This submission was done in collaboration with the Ontario College of Family Physicians, the OMA Section on General & Family Practice, and the Nurse […]
AFHTO’s recommendations to the OMA Negotiations Committee on Physician Services Agreement
AFHTO consulted with physician leaders to provide feedback for consideration in the development of recommendations to the OMA Negotiations Committee on the upcoming Physician Services Agreement. We submitted recommendations in multiple areas on July 30, 2020, including: Increased access to capitated models of PEMs while also increasing access to team-based care Permanent billing codes for virtual care […]
AFHTO’s recommendations to the Physician Services Committee
Originally posted Jul. 24, 2020. Updated Aug. 4, 2020 AFHTO consulted with physician leaders to provide feedback for consideration in the development of recommendations to the Physician Services Committee. We submitted recommendations in the following areas to the Ontario Medical Association Primary Care Working Group and the Ministry of Health on July 15, 2020: 1. Access and Quality […]
Bits & Pieces: members win Future Innovator Awards, AFHTO directors needed & more
Your Weekly News & Updates In This Issue Members win Future Innovator Awards Reminder – nominations to the AFHTO Board of Directors open until July 3, 2020 Governance and leadership tools, resources and supports Updated memo from OH, free phone outreach support for older adults and other updates AFHTO’s Submission on Bill 175 – […]
Connecting People to Home and Community Care Act, 2020 (Bill 175) – AFHTO’s Submission
On June 17, AFHTO presented its submission to the Standing Committee on the Legislative Assembly on Bill 175: Connecting People to Home and Community Care Act, 2020. Our key recommendations are: Delay the passage of Bill 175, Connecting People to Home and Community Care Act, 2020– Delay the passage of Bill 175, Connecting People to […]
AFHTO response to public health modernization
As government undergoes public health modernization, AFHTO is pleased to provide a few recommendations to better align primary care with public health. Together with government, we will build more coordinated, integrated and person-centered health care for the people of Ontario. Strengthen the relationship between primary care and public health to better align with health system […]
Bits & Pieces: novel coronavirus updates, pre-budget submission & more
Your Weekly News & Updates In This Issue Novel coronavirus updates AFHTO’s 2020 pre-budget submission We’re on the move Members’ stories Shortening the diagnostic odyssey: rare disease in primary care, Feb. 12 Managing proton pump inhibitor use in older adults: tool Eliminating red and white cards posters Upcoming events on Advance Care Planning and […]
AFHTO’s 2020 Pre-Budget Submission
AFHTO submitted its recommendations to the Ministry of Finance as part of the 2020 Ontario Pre-Budget Consultations in early January. The submission is entitled “It Takes a Team: Interprofessional Primary Care as the Foundation of Health System Transformation.” Our recommendations are the following: 1. Increase access to interprofessional team-based primary care for Ontarians who need […]
AFHTO’s Submission on Bill 74: The People’s Health Care Act, 2019
On April 2 AFHTO presented its submission to the Standing Committee on Social Policy on Bill 74: The People’s Health Care Act, 2019. Our key recommendations are: 1. That Bill 74 require primary care to be part of an Ontario Health Team (OHT). It is also recommended that primary care teams be the lead of […]
AFHTO’s 2019 Pre-Budget Submission
AFHTO submitted its recommendations to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs as part of the 2019 Ontario Pre-Budget Consultations in January. Our key recommendations are: We need a health system that is truly integrated, one where patients don’t have to move from one part of the system to another part to get their […]
AFHTO’s recommendations re Bill 41, Patients First
“Moving care coordinators from CCACs to LHINs does not remove barriers, it just moves them from one bureaucracy to another. If primary care providers were supported to coordinate care, it would make a significant difference for the health of patients and their experience of care.” With this and other comments, AFHTO presented to the Standing […]
Introducing our new Strategic Plan!
AFHTO is pleased to share its 2017-2020 Strategic Plan. This plan builds on our experience which shows that team-based comprehensive primary care is delivering better health and better value to patients. In the last few years AFHTO and its members have worked hard in supporting, measuring, and promoting the value of well-integrated interprofessional primary care, and advocating for […]
Primary care recruitment and retention strategy for Ontario
Evidence from around the world, and Ontario, demonstrates that the introduction of primary care teams is providing patients with better care, at the best value. But one of interprofessional primary care’s biggest barriers is to attract and keep skilled providers. The key issue? Inability to offer competitive compensation to the non-physician health professionals and administrative […]
Primary care must lead care coordination
We assert the role of primary care providers to lead care coordination. The Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario (AFHTO) endorses and embraces this position statement adopted with our colleagues in the Ontario Primary Care Council in November 2015. Primary care providers work to ensure access to interprofessional care for patients and identify a single […]
AFHTO’s response to Patients First Discussion Paper
Click here to read AFHTO’s overall response to the ministry’s Patients First: A Proposal to Strengthen Patient-Centred Health Care in Ontario discussion paper, approved by the AFHTO board and submitted on March 3rd, 2016. An initial response was issued with a statement from Dr. Sean Blaine, AFHTO President and Clinical Lead, STAR Family Health Team […]
AFHTO’s initial response to Patients First Discussion Paper
On December 17, 2015, Ontario’s Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care released its discussion paper Patients First: A Proposal to Strengthen Patient-Centred Health Care in Ontario. On its release, AFHTO issued the statement below from Dr. Sean Blaine, AFHTO President and Clinical Lead, STAR Family Health Team in Stratford ON. This was published in various newspapers including […]
Primary care teams in a population-based health system
Population-based primary care is about effective management of the health of defined groups of people. It ensures all within this group are attached to a regular primary care provider and can access the appropriate care when they need it. The province’s Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care convened an Expert Advisory Committee to recommend how […]
Optimizing value of and access to team-based primary care
Evidence tells us that, with a team-based approach to primary care, patients experience more timely access to care, better care coordination and improved management of their chronic diseases. At present, about 25-30% of Ontarians can access team-based primary care. The logical question is – how do we expand access to primary care teams and get […]
Valuing comprehensive primary care: The Starfield Principles
There is a compelling association between comprehensive primary care and system efficiency and effectiveness. The lifelong work of the late Barbara Starfield observed that an investment in primary care was associated with improved system quality, equity and efficiency (reduced cost)[i],[ii],[iii] ,[iv]. In British Columbia this efficiency was quantified by Marcus Hollander. The total cost of […]
Governance principles for primary care teams
Family Health Teams and Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinics have matured over the 5 – 9 years that each organization has been in existence. Contracts between MOHLTC and FHTs expire on March 31, 2016, with this comes the opportunity to develop a much more mature and meaningful approach to governing these organizations, from the Ministry and through […]
AFHTO calls for quick action on government’s Primary Care Guarantee
800 Primary Care Providers meet in Toronto to share best practices and push for enhanced primary care. Toronto, ON (October 16, 2014): The Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario (AFHTO) called for the Wynne government to take quick action to implement one of its election commitments: a guarantee that every Ontarian has access to […]
AFHTO’s submission to Drummond Commission on Broader Public Sector Reform
AFHTO was invited to present to the Commission on Broader Public Sector Reform, chaired by economist Don Drummond and announced in the 2011 Ontario Budget speech last spring. The Commission is to report in early 2012, in time to inform development of Government’s 2012-13 Budget, on its mandate to examine long-term, fundamental changes to the […]