AFHTO has a renewed vision, mission and strategic priorities to guide our work on behalf of our members over the next 2 – 3 years. The AFHTO board is pleased to present the Strategic Direction document, and thanks the many members who provided input through webinars and a survey. To move the organization along this direction, the board also approved the 2013-14 operating plan and budget (outlined further below). The early success of AFHTO’s first strategic plan – put in place two years ago – established the foundation to create the strong voice for family health teams. AFHTO’s most recent Annual Report documents the progress made to recruit virtually all FHTs into this one organization, build the infrastructure base, and develop the profile, credibility and key relationships with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and many other stakeholders. AFHTO’s next stage builds on this solid base as the advocate, champion, network and resource for FHTs. The focus is on supporting, measuring, and promoting the value of well-integrated interprofessional primary care, and advocating for its expansion so that more Ontarians can access this high-quality comprehensive care. The webinars and survey also invited members to identify the investment priorities to build AFHTO’s capacity to deliver greater value for members. Last August the Ministry added $2000 per year in base funding for FHTs to pay for an annual membership in their representative association. Members approved a new fee structure at the Annual General Meeting in October; this is expected to increase AFHTO’s annual operating budget by roughly $200,000. Member responses gave clear direction – build capacity in government relations, performance measurement and knowledge transfer. Operationalizing the Strategic Direction In this next fiscal year AFHTO’s ongoing capacity to advocate for and support members will expand as staffing grows from two full-time staff to four. The addition of an Office Manager/Admin Assistant will allow the ED to focus more time in government relations and performance measurement. Continuing the position of Senior Project Lead – Governance, Quality and Operations (currently a short-term contract) significantly expands AFHTO’s ability to engage with members and help FHTs to leverage knowledge. Initiatives to advance each of the six strategic priorities include the following:
- Governing and leading: AFHTO staff continue to support roll-out of the MOHLTC-funded Governing for Quality training program, advocate for additional sessions so that all who are interested can participate, and identify further opportunities to support governance and leadership development, including the Leadership and Governance for Quality stream at the AFHTO 2013 Conference.
- Measuring and improving quality: A number of developments are converging in a way that could significantly accelerate the ability of FHTs to measure and track their own performance. In line with AFHTO’s Recommendations on the Optimal Configuration of the Quality Improvement Decision Support Specialist (QIDSS) positions, the Ministry is considering funding for a small number of provincial-level resources operating under a governance structure representative of all FHTs (QIDSS Steering Committee) to be established and supported by AFHTO. Following from last year’s proposal – Advancing a Performance-Oriented Model for Primary Care – the Ministry has expressed interest and has asked AFHTO to re-fresh and re-submit this proposal. Through AFHTO’s work to bring together the Ontario College of Family Physicians, the Ontario Medical Association and its Section on General and Family Practice, OntarioMD and eHealth Ontario have agreed to establish a joint working group to define requirements and processes to extract EMR data.
- Achieving more seamless integration: AFHTO has been convening bi-weekly teleconferences with the eight FHTs coordinating the first group of Health Links. This is expected to lead to a number of knowledge transfer opportunities, beginning with the sharing of business plans (once MOHLTC-approved) via the AFHTO website and an Improving outcomes for “the 10%” stream at the AFHTO 2013 Conference.
- Recruiting and retaining staff: Building on last year’s report and advocacy initiative, AFHTO is continuing its joint advocacy with AOHC and NPAO for a primary care recruitment and retention strategy. The three organizations commissioned the Hay Group to update a market review of salaries; the results of this work will become the basis for future advocacy.
- Promoting the value/role of family health teams: Under the direction of AFHTO’s Executive Committee of the AFHTO board, AFHTO’s government relations activity will be raised to more strategic, senior levels of government decision-making.
- Engaging with AFHTO members: In addition to the Health Link coordinator network mentioned above, AFHTO has recently launched a network through which PS Solutions EMR users will problem-solve with this EMR vendor. Recruitment for an ED Advisory Council has just begun. Anticipating approval of provincial-level resources to support the new QIDSS positions, a QIDSS Steering Committee (also noted above) is expected to be formed in the next few months.
For sustainability into the future, membership revenue and on-going operating expenses remain fully balanced. One-time expenses for special projects and other contingencies will be funded as needed from the reserves accumulated thanks to expansion of AFHTO conference sponsorships and the one-time voluntary contribution made possible by the Ministry funding increase this year. AFHTO looks forward to keeping members informed of progress in advancing the Strategic Direction.