By January 1st, 2012 Family Health Teams must comply with the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service. The information below is provided for your reference, from MOHLTC's FHT to Print newsletter, Winter 2011 edition.

Family Health Team membership in AFHTO surpassed the 90% mark as of in the last week of September.  171 of Ontario's 186 FHTs have now joined. AFHTO is the voice for Family Health Teams (FHTs) in this province.

The purpose of this AFHTO-OMA collaboration is to inform both associations on the experience of physicians working in this model, and gain insight into their needs, ideas, issues and concerns.  The results will be released as part of a joint OMA/AFHTO presentation and discussion at the AFHTO 2011 Conference on Oct. 26. FHT physicians will receive the link to the on-line survey from the Lead Physician or ED of your FHT. If you have not received this link, please send an e-mail to info@afhto.ca .

Twenty-eight Ontarians who have looked at the inner-workings of the province's health system recommend more collaboration, integration and accountability to help ensure the sustainability of high-quality, accessible and publicly-funded health care. One of these recommendations states, "We urge the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to accelerate the expansion of integrated family health teams throughout the province." The report, released on June 22, 2011, was commissioned by PwC (formerly called PricewaterhouseCoopers).

A number of leading experts from Canada and abroad comment on Ontario's experience in setting up Family Health Teams.  The Annals of Family Medicine has published these responses to an article on FHTs in the March 2011 edition of this American journal. The original article had been written for the benefit of Americans trying to come up with models of their own, by a team led by Walter Rosser of Queen's University. This publication was reported by Canadian Press, and the story picked up in a number of Ontario newspapers.

Apply by December 10 to join QIIP’s Office Practice Redesign Action Group. QIIP (Quality Improvement and Innovation Partnership) is a non-profit organization funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, focused on advancing improvement in primary healthcare in Ontario.

Matt Galloway, host of CBC Radio's Metro Morning interviewed Dr. Jane Philpott, Lead Physician, Health for All Family Health Team to learn how family health teams work and what makes them more effective in providing care. Click here to listen to the interview.