Programs

Interprofessional Primary Care Funding – Approach for Round 1 Applications

Dear Primary Care Leaders in Scarborough,

The targeted call for proposals by the Government of Ontario for the Interprofessional Primary Care Teams with six Forward Sortation Areas (FSA) in Scarborough being identified is an incredible opportunity for our community. 

SOHT has been asked to support the submission of five (5) distinct proposals for Interprofessional Primary Care Team (IPCT) expansion – one for each of the FSA designated by Ontario Health. The OHT and Primary Care Network (PCN) are responsible for determining which proposals will be submitted, supporting the development of proposals, and providing a formal attestation along with each proposal. 

As there is a great interest in this opportunity, SOHT has identified factors and processes to help us position our collective ability to serve Scarborough well for Round 1 of targeted call that is due on May 2nd and plan for the upcoming round of funding to be announced in Fall 2025.

Factors: 

1. Time-constraints: Recognizing that the proposals are due on May 2nd for Round 1, we need to prioritize, coordinate, and support organizations/groups that are ready to implement/attach individuals to primary care in the targeted FSAs beginning Summer 2025.
2. Managing conflict of interest: S-OHT will exercise the conflict of interest clause of the Collaboration Decision Making Agreement by establishing a group from its decision-making body that will not be applying for Round 1 to identify applicants that can be prioritized for Round 1. 
3. Selection approach: Use a survey that’s aligned with OH’s expectations for Round 1 (link below) to assist with prioritizing proposals
4. Longer Term opportunities: S-OHT will also work with all interested parties to support their growth and development including those that require longer term conversations (establishing new Family Health Teams, Nurse-Practitioner led clinics, Community Health Centres) for the call for proposals to be announced in September. 

Selection, Submission Approach, and Timeline: 

• April 16-22: Communication will be sent out to all partners, including the survey, requesting all interested parties to submit their responses by 12pm, Tuesday, April 22.
• April 22: To mitigate conflict of interest, SOHT’s Collaboration Council has established a small group from its Council that are not applying for Round 1 (primary care physician leaders, client and family advisory group, and sector table). Mindful of time constraints, these individuals will review the survey responses:
  • To recommend groups/organizations that will be prioritized for Round 1. 
  • To offer recommendations for collaboration and partnerships, where possible to increase potential reach of all applicants interested in attaching people to primary care.
• April 23: SOHT staff will follow-up with all interested groups with an update on the outcomes and engage in critical conversation to support all applicants, including consideration for those who need to be supported for Round 2.
• April 23 – May 1: SOHT staff will provide coordination and any additional support needed by those identified to proceed with Round 1 applications.
• May 2: SOHT will work with Round 1 applicants and submit five applications to OH. 

As an immediate ask of you, if you are interested in this opportunity, please complete this survey (https://forms.office.com/r/peCHAN8EW1) by 12pm, Tuesday, April 22. 

If you have any questions, then please write to me at speerzada@shn.ca or please register for one of these webinars where additional questions that you may have about this approach, timeline, and other considerations can be discussed: 

1. Webinar 1: April 17 – 8:30am to 9am: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/5432a377-88fd-40fa-ae22-9371816961f8@239d3523-d847-433f-9d99-351ef6109122
2. Webinar 2: April 22 – 8:30am to 9am: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/64b86575-761c-4ed9-a1f3-ec190fe39d92@239d3523-d847-433f-9d99-351ef6109122 

We appreciate your cooperation and look forward to working together to enhance our community’s health services.

Thank you for your interest in this incredible opportunity. We look forward to collaborating with you.  

Sincerely,

Surkhab Peerzada
Director, Scarborough Ontario Health Team

Drs. Donna Vlahos and Rosemarie Lall
Co-Chairs, Scarborough Family Physicians Network

Help Shape the Future of Family Medicine in Toronto- Complete the Family Medicine/Primary Care Census

Digital 

Get Your Fully Funded AI Scribe License – Apply Now!.

Scarborough Ontario Health Team and the Department of Family and Community Medicine’s (DFCM) Office of Health System Partnerships, together with health system partners, have been awarded the Health Care Unburdened Grant to support the implementation and evaluation of AutoScribe, a Canadian AI scribe technology for transcribing patient-clinician conversations in real time and enhancing medical record documentation.

Funding for this multi-partner initiative to implement AI scribe technology was made possible by the Canadian Medical Association, MD Financial Management Inc. and Scotiabank as part of the Health Care Unburdened Grant.

“In family medicine, the patient-physician relationship is crucial. The need to take notes on a device or look at a screen during appointments can be a barrier to meaningful connections,” says Dr. Rajesh Girdhari, a family doctor at Unity Health Toronto, St. Michael’s Hospital, and Digital Health Lead in DFCM’s Office of Health System Partnerships. “Our goal is to investigate and accelerate the use of AI scribe technology in primary care to benefit family doctors, patients and the health system.”

Although meaningful connections are key, family physicians spend an average of 45% of their clinical hours logging data into a computer. This impacts not only the quality of clinician-patient interactions but also contributes to an increase in clinician burnout, career dissatisfaction and ultimately the shortage of primary care clinicians.
“As a user of AI scribe for over a year, three things are for certain:
My joy of practicing medicine and seeing patients has returned. I can now focus on what I went into medicine for: my patients, their stories and their care; and finally, I am so glad that from this grant we can offer this opportunity and support to our colleagues to also benefit from AI scribe.”
-Dr. Rosemarie Lall, Comprehensive Family Physician, Scarborough Family Physicians Network Co-Chair.

This two-year initiative is led by DFCM’s Office of Health System Partnerships in collaboration with East Toronto Health Partners, East Toronto Family Practice Network, North York Toronto Health Partners, North York Toronto Primary Care Network, Scarborough Ontario Health Team, Scarborough Family Physicians Network, KW4 Ontario Health Team, eHealth Centre of Excellence and Mutuo Health Solutions.

While there is huge interest in AI scribes among primary care clinicians, there has been limited uptake because of system variation, privacy concerns, compatibility issues and lack of change management support. This multi-partner initiative hopes to change that by not just building the tool but also helping to adapt and implement it across a wide variety of practice models and sizes.

In the coming months, the project team will be recruiting primary care clinicians in Ontario to help explore and accelerate the adoption of AI scribe technology across health care settings to benefit clinicians, patients and the Ontario health system.

The Canadian Medical Association, MD Financial Management Inc. and Scotiabank proudly support this program, one of several initiatives that comprise their $115 million commitment to supporting the medical profession and advancing health in Canada.

Find out more and register today!

Scarborough SCOPE (Seamless Care Optimizing Patient Experience)

Scarborough SCOPE (Seamless Care Optimizing Patient Experience) helps primary care providers to navigate a wide range of hospital and community services and resources. Our program is a partnership between Scarborough Health Network (SHN) and Scarborough Centre for Healthy Communities (SCHC) that features an interprofessional team of experts and specialists. Together, we work collaboratively with primary care providers to support, treat and care for patients and families. Since its launch, SCOPE has helped many patients avoid unnecessary emergency department visits and get the care they need sooner.

Scarborough SCOPE has expanded to include diagnostic imaging and mental health

Click here for a full list of services that SCOPE offers and how to register for it.

The need for a unified voice for family physicians was recognized by a group of primary care leaders who came together in October 2019. Fifteen physicians established the interim leadership team of Scarborough Family Physician Network in December 2019.

Since inception, we have been representing family physicians on various local, provincial and Ontario Health Team tables to shape health care in Scarborough for our patients. To view the Scarborough Family Physicians Network’s By-laws, please click here.

Ontario eServices Program
SOHT, SHN, UHN Connected Care and SFPN are working together to support the scale and spread of the Ontario eServices Program to improve equitable and timely access to specialist care and community services through two digital tools, eReferral and eConsult.

If you are a provider set up on TELUS PS Suite, Accuro or Oscar Pro EMRs, eReferral enables you to launch referrals directly from the patient chart in your EMR to destinations already available in the eReferral Network.  We are actively collaborating with partners to grown the number of eReferral destinations in our region.

eConsult provides a secure web-based tool for timely specialist advice, often eliminating the need for a patient visit.

If you are a Specialist practicing in Scarborough (community provider and/or a provider affiliated with SHN), and are interested in learning more about eReferral, eConsult or other digital health tools please click here to register by filling out the survey.

If you are a Primary Care Provider practicing in Scarborough (community provider and/or a provider affiliated with SHN), and are interested in learning more about eReferral, eConsult or other digital health tools  please click here to register by filling out the survey.