Using ‘New Power’ to Spark Change

Ways to free up your time for care

How the system can better support you to care

• Integrate EMRs - Either single or intra-operable EMR / EHR systems that can both push and pull required information. We know that lots needs to be done outside of our scope, but are you using your EMR to its best ability, have you looked to peer-to-peer support from OntarioMD?
• Build the Team within your practice by ensuring all are working to top of their scope. Is your reception enabled to triage, is nursing enabled to manage some patient needs? Is there someone designated in your practice to help with system navigation for patients with more complex needs?
• Patients as Partners – Involving patients more in the way your practice is run, patient portals, education (within your practice and community based) that foster patient self-care or health literacy. Patients are looking for access to their information to allow more shared decision making and accountability.
• Building connections to address the social determinants of health and incorporating Social Prescribing – An easy first step is to ask the Poverty screen “Do you have troubles making ends meet at the end of the month” and, as needed, connect your patients to 211.ca or your regional Thehealthline.ca.
• Alternative Consultation – Such as telephone consultation, virtual care via OTN, eConsult, secure email consultations. Are you connected to OTN?  If not, get your ONE ID and check out how great this service can be – from enabling virtual visits to people with transportation challenges to connecting with hundreds of specialists. 
• Spread Innovation – Our organizations are working on sharing information about what others are doing. RISE (Rapid-Improvement Support and Exchange) is a go-to location for emerging Ontario Health Teams, providing resources for those interested in integration efforts through OHTs.
• Practice Facilitation and Change Management – Get your MyPractice Report sent to you, take advantage of Peer-to-Peer facilitation that already exists through OntarioMD.
• Enhance Personal productivity – What about taking a typing course, or a speed reading course?
• Organize Primary Care – Be part of your ecosystem! Connecting with your community of family physicians is important. Are your local health care organizations (e.g., hospital, FHTs in the area, CHCs) pitching in to support meetings of family physicians? Besides advocating for support for leaders, we also know that there needs to be administrative support for networks of family physicians to meet.  

• Recognize and Support Primary Continuity (the core team) – This core relationship needs to be recognized in any health transformation as continuity of care allows for best outcomes. Changes that erode this are counter-productive. Access to YOU is important!
• No patient or practice left behind– Timely access to health care/social care supports such as mental health counselling, social work for all family physicians. This is a message that we have been consistently bringing to the Ministry because it is not acceptable that team-based care is not equitably available.   
• Clinical Leadership – Ensure that family physicians are at the tables that are talking about health system transformation. Have you joined the meetings in your community about a proposed Ontario Health Team? Do you know who to connect to? We continually reinforce with the government that there be protected time for family physician leadership that is not done off the side of the desk.
• Navigate and Coordinate – Promote a patient navigator role for those more complex patients within your practices now, and on a system level, we need to recognize the importance of this role in any team-based care.  
• Streamline and Reduce Admin – Streamline the referral process to tests, specialists, services that need to be available equitably. Central referral processes have been high on the list of priorities within OHTs.