Advancing the Pillars of the Patient’s Medical Home in Ontario’s Evolving Health System
On May 27, 2016, the Ontario College of Family Physicians (OCFP), with the support of The College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC), sponsored a special symposium on the Patient’s Medical Home (PMH). This successful event allowed family physicians to engage in important discussions to further develop directions to advance the pillars of the PMH in Ontario’s evolving health system. The day-long symposium was grounded in four objectives, which were informed by the McMaster Health Forum Citizen Panel and Stakeholder Dialogue:
- Understand the key challenges and opportunities for family medicine and family physicians in Ontario’s evolving health care system;
- Seek input on directions that will advance the pillars of the PMH;
- Discuss strategies to develop and support family physician leadership to advance the pillars of the PMH at the practice and community levels; and
- Identify priority policy and advocacy directions for the College to support members and bring the family physician voice to ongoing policy and planning tables.
The day was structured so that attendees were able to reflect on the PMH concept, discuss and debate how to advance the pillars in light of ongoing primary care transformation, and identify barriers and—most importantly—opportunities. Participants were divided into small discussion groups for three rounds of discussions focused on the following three themes:
- Equitable and timely access to comprehensive and continuous, person-centred care
- Interdisciplinary, team-based care and education, training, and skills
- Family physician leadership at the practice and community levels
The OCFP plans to take everything they learned from the Citizen Panel, Stakeholder Dialogue, and PMH Symposium, and assess their strategy for PMH advancement in Ontario along with members. Over the coming months, the OCFP will be conducting research on the latest best practices and success stories of PMH implementation across other jurisdictions. Many of these lessons will be relevant to the application of the PMH in other provinces. The CFPC congratulates the OCFP on a successful event and thanks them for their leadership promoting the Patient’s Medical Home in Ontario.
Read the full PMH Symposium Proceedings Report for more information.