NEW HEALTH GROUP PITCHES PROVINCE ON MUSKOKA MEDICAL MODEL
MUSKOKA SEEKS ONTARIO HEALTH TEAM
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com
MUSKOKA — Going to the doctor may soon be as antiquated as a doctor coming to your home.
But keep that thought.
A reorganization of health-care service in Muskoka — underway since 2016 — has been submitted to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to become one of the first regional Ontario Health Teams (OHT).
The submission was successfully sent for approval on May 14, 2019, and is the first step in becoming an integrated health service delivery network.
The announcement was made Tuesday morning.
And if this made-in-Muskoka proposal for a team approach, submitted last week, is accepted then integrated care would replace doctor silos.
An Orillia group has also applied.
“It’s super preliminary,” Muskkoa team spokeperson Janine Janine van den Heuvel told MuskokaTODAY.com.
She’s the executive director of the Algonquin Family Health Team, a medical team in Huntsville, which is one of the partners in application.
She said they hope to find out if they have been accepted in the first phase of the Ford government’s new health model.
They will know June 3 when the ministry announced the first “candidates.”
“It’s not if, but when” it takes place, she said in a phone interview Friday, May 24.
She believes home care could be the backbone of this “new way” of health provision.
Another big proposal is for doctors and health-care providers to share digitalized records and for patients to have access to them also.
Van den Heuvel said the new group’s application follows up the previous three years’ work by MAHST after it “retired” in the midst of government change and the official end of LHINs.
However, she said it was easy to bring back that group for the new application process, which began three months ago with the new call for applications.
And their invaluable due diligence could help the Muskoka application get early approval.
Patients will be a key member of their own medical, lifestyle and mental health team.
A release from van den Heuvel on Tuesday, said the government has confirmed that as OHTs are established, people will continue to be able to choose who provides their care, but will have more care choices available through technology. With safeguards in place to protect personal health information, patients will also have an option to securely access digital health services, such as having access to their electronic health records and options for virtual care.
Local health providers in Muskoka and Parry Sound submitted a readiness assessment in response to the Ford government’s February call for self-assessments – the first step toward the formation of Ontario Health Teams (OHTs).
It is the first step in becoming an integrated health service delivery network.
The planning team, headed by long-time local doctor David Mathies, included those in the Muskoka and Area Health System Transformation (MAHST) project that was initiated in the fall of 2016.
This has been a continuation of the grassroots planning process that engaged patients, health care providers, social service and community stakeholders in the development of a vision and recommendations for implementation of a local health system transformation, says their release.
“That group of individuals and organizations has grown and is proud to come together to demonstrate enthusiasm and readiness to become an Ontario Health Team. There is a shared commitment to the goals and objectives of improving health care access and health care transitions, clinical and fiscal accountability, and to deliver comprehensive and coordinated care within our unique communities.”
After considerable consultation with stakeholders and some public engagement, they are looking to engage patients, families and caregivers further in shaping a Muskoka and Area Ontario Health Team.
Going ahead, they say: “In lock step with patient, family and caregiver advisers identified through the call for participation, the team will continue to plan to advance integrated care in Muskoka and Area. … The team is committed to open engagement and communication with partners, patients, providers and the community at large in the journey from readiness to maturity.”
And they have the support of their MPP, Norm Miller, who said in the release: “I am pleased to see health-care providers in Parry Sound-Muskoka coming together to apply to be an Ontario Health Team. Many of our healthcare professionals already work together collaboratively so I believe our region is well positioned to lead the move towards patient centered care.”
“Patient and family engagement is a critical next step in the Ontario Health Team development process, and something I strongly believe in personally. With the help of local community feedback and guidance, we can work together to build a local health care system that is a reflection of our needs, geography, culture and all of the things that makes us unique in the Muskoka area. We are committed to using the advice we will receive to shape a health care system that looks just like us,” added Gary Froude, a patient advocate.
On Feb. 26, eight months after getting election, the Progressive Conservative government announced comprehensive changes to Ontario’s health care system to improve patient access to services, including:
Providing patients, families and caregivers improved access to integrated care within the public health care system.
Coordinating multiple health and social service agencies and specialized provincial programs into a single Ontario Health Team to provide a central point of accountability and oversight for the health care system.
Enable better quality health care that is responsive to local needs of the patients.
Improving access to secure digital tools, including online health records and providing virtual care options for patients.
Ontario Health Teams (OHT)
And they announced plans to begin organizing health care providers to work as one coordinated Ontario Health Team, focused on patients and specific local needs.
| These teams would support continuous access to care and smooth transitions as patients move between one provider to another, and receive care in different locations or health care settings. Over time, Ontario Health Teams would provide seamless access to various types of health services, which could include:
• Primary care
|
• Hospitals
|
|
• Home and community care
|
• Palliative care
|
|
• Residential long-term care
|
• Mental health and addictions
|
Ontario Health Teams will be funded and held accountable for improving patient experience and people’s health.
There are groups of providers and organizations in Ontario that have already partnered and collectively demonstrate key capabilities, positioning them to begin implementation of the model. These groups will be identified through a rigorous assessment process to become Ontario Health Team Candidates.
It is important to note that the ministry has confirmed that Ontario Health Teams are not a pilot project. It says that through a readiness assessment process, groups of providers and organizations will be confirmed as OHT ‘Candidates’ and will begin implementation. Other teams may discover through the assessment process that, while not yet equipped to begin implementation, with tailored supports and over time they will achieve full readiness. These groups will be identified as ‘In Development’ and will be supported to progress toward readiness.
The first Ontario Health Team Candidates and those ‘In Development’ will help demonstrate the impact of the model on quality of care, patient and provider experience, and cost, and will provide important lessons for implementing the model across the rest of the province.
Both Ontario Health Team Candidates and teams ‘In Development’ will benefit from access to tailored supports to advance their progression towards maturity and will be prioritized to receive provincial digital health services to help them meet their specific needs. To enable rapid cycle learning, the first Ontario Health Team Candidates will be monitored and evaluated by a third party to generate learnings that will enable and guide other groups on the path to becoming Ontario Health Teams.
As the first step toward the creation of the new Ontario Health Teams, the province opened the call for self-assessments by groups interested in forming an OHT on April 3.
The following key dates have been established:
| Assessment Process | Dates |
| Open call for self-assessments | April 3, 2019 |
| Deadline to submit self-assessments | May 15, 2019 |
| Selected groups will be invited to submit a full application | June 3, 2019 |
| Deadline to submit full applications | July 12, 2019 |
| Announce Ontario Health Teams | Fall 2019 |
MAHST BACKGROUND:
Muskoka and Area Health Care Transformation
The MAHST report was titled Charting the Course for Muskoka and Area Health Care Transformation — A Community Plan for System Integration and Sustainability. The report set out a locally-designed health care system it said is responsive to local needs and places the responsibility and accountability for health system decisions in the hands of the community it serves.
The MAHST recommendations from two years ago are very much aligned with the Ontario Health Team framework established by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and have paved the way for many providers in Muskoka and Area for system collaboration and integration. Accordingly, the health care leaders in the Muskoka and Area OHT proposal are building on a foundation of readiness for system transformation.
The following are partnering to pursue development of the Muskoka and Area Ontario Health Team:
Primary Care:
- Cottage Country Family Health Team; 2. Algonquin Family Health Team; 3. Family physicians in Gravenhurst, Bracebridge and Huntsville; 4. Midwives of Muskoka; 5. North Muskoka Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic.
Home and Community Care:
- Closing the Gap Health Care; 2. North Simcoe Muskoka Home and Community Care (can’t be a signatory); 3. CarePartners Muskoka; 4. North East Home and Community Care (can’t be a signatory)
Acute Care:
Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare (two acute care sites Bracebridge and Huntsville); 2. MAHC Medical Staff
Community Care:
- District of Muskoka (Paramedics, Health Links, The Pines Long-Term Care); 2. Alzheimer’s Society of Muskoka
Mental Health and Addictions:
- HandsTheFamilyHealthNetwork.ca
Patient Representation:
Patients have been engaged in the development of this submission and will be integral in the preparation of our full submission.
The planning team has provided an invitation to providers in the area and provides updates and information to all those interested. The planning team welcomes others to join in the development of the OHT.
The following organizations have expressed an initial interest in aligning and collaborating:
- CMHA Muskoka Parry Sound; 2. West Parry Sound Health Centre; 3. Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital ; 4. Fairvern Long-Term Care Facility; 5. Burk’s Falls Family Health Team; 6. Bayshore Healthcare; 7. Home Care Oxygen (Medigas).
About Dr. David Mathies
The development of an integrated health system, inclusive of primary care, has been a priority for Muskoka and Area.
Working under the guidance of the North Simcoe Muskoka LHIN’s Vice President, Clinical, Dr. David Mathies was appointed as the local Clinical Lead for the Muskoka sub-region to support the design and implementation of the LHIN’s primary care strategy.
Mathies has lived in Huntsville for the past 38 years, arriving straight out of a residency in Family Medicine at Western University. His scope of practice has included Obstetrics, Emergency Department, Hospitalist, Nursing Home, as well as a large office practice.
He served a term as President of the Ontario College of Family Physicians and continues to serve on the Finance Committee of the College of Family Physicians of Canada. Through his work with the Ministry of Health, he saw the initiation of Family Practice group funding through rostering, and Family Health Teams. He was a founder of the Family Health Team in Huntsville as part of the first provincial rollout of these teams, and serves on its board of directors.
Dr. Mathies served for 17 years as the Chief of Staff of Algonquin Health Services, and then at Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare following the amalgamation.
He is the lead of the Huntsville Family Health Organization.
