Interprofessional teamwork, by way of family health teams (FHTs), shows promise as a strategy to facilitate optimal primary health care.
Virtual wards are a model pioneered in England. They use the systems, staffing and daily routine of a hospital ward to provide case management to patients in the community but without the walls of the hospital. Patients who are admitted to the SETFHT Virtual Ward receive post-hospital discharge follow-up and interventions by a team of health care professional under the supervision of a physician.
As we draw to the close of 2010, AFHTO salutes the continued progress of the Family Health Teams of Ontario. We are now 200 strong, thanks to your vision, commitment and innovation, proving the value of the FHT model.
New Vision Family Health Team is a busy primary care practice in Kitchener, Ontario. On average, outcomes for patients in the practice who had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes were not meeting clinical best practice guidelines. The team realized it needed to redesign its chronic disease management system to improve care for these patients.
The Athens District Family Health Team (FHT), located within the South East LHIN, serves 3,500 rostered and 300 unrostered patients. In November 2008, the team was experiencing a wait time of 27 days, as measured by the time to the third next available appointment. As a result, the registered nurse had to do telephone triage to fit patients into an already doublebooked schedule or offer telephone advice.