Dear Colleagues,
I hope all of you will be able to take some time off this summer, and don’t forget to turn off your emails! Family doctors have been increasing in-person care and our website has been streamlined to offer concise Considerations for In-Person Care.
Since my last message, the Centre for Effective Practice (CEP) shared these resources – a readiness assessment and operational requirements – to support you and your staff as you gradually increase patient services during the pandemic. Developed with the Provincial Primary Care Advisory Table and other stakeholders, these will be updated regularly as part of the CEP’s COVID resource centre.
As well, UofT Department of Family and Community Medicine, Diabetes Canada and the CEP released this terrific guide on managing Type 2 Diabetes during COVID-19 – what to continue, what to shift and what to delay.
COVID-19 Community of Practice for Ontario Family Physicians
The above guide to managing diabetes is just one of the resources to be shared in our next COVID-19 Community of Practice (CoP) session with the UofT Department of Family and Community Medicine – Friday, July 17, 8-9 a.m. ET. These hour-long sessions are one credit-per-hour, and if you can't make it, you can still access the information (not the credits) on the CoP website. Register for the session, focused on managing chronic conditions during COVID-19 with speakers Dr. Jonathan Bertram, Dr. Alan Kaplan and Dr. Tara Kiran.
Please remind your patients NOT to delay care – that they can see you in different ways, and we're taking precautions to keep them safe when in-person visits are needed. This helpful website from Ontario Health West (Southwest region) has pre-visit tips for communicating with patients. And don’t forget patients who don’t have access to technology. It’s important that our most vulnerable patients can get the care they need.
NEW!! Cancer screening is gradually resuming!
Guidance from Ontario Health (CCO) for resuming breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening can be found here, summarized on pages 3 and 4. We've developed this one-page info sheet that you can share with your patients asking about cancer screening.
Key points for family physicians:
- Screening will resume in a gradual and prioritized manner
- Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario) will advise you when to resume sending requisitions for FIT kits
- For cervical and breast cancer screening, priority is targeted screening for those at the highest risk of cancer. In terms of routine screening:
- Cervical screening can resume for patients at average risk who are due for screening, if otherwise providing an in-person consult and if screening is feasible
- Family physicians together with screening sites can consider gradually expanding to routine breast screening, depending on local context (i.e., site capacity, trends in COVID-19 infections, etc.).
Also, Ontario Health (CCO) has released tips for managing CT and MRI during COVID-19 – see page 3 (referring physicians). It includes a recommendation to speak to radiology directly if there are changes in urgency.
Non-medical use of cannabis
Check out the Cannabis Knowledge Exchange Hub, which includes infographics, guidelines, videos, research summaries, handouts and other resources on non-medical use of cannabis. The OCFP is pleased to partner with CAMH and others in this work.
Our educational offerings – virtual for the time being!
The OCFP’s educational programs are designed BY family physicians and FOR family physicians.
Become involved in your Ontario Health Team development/engagement and earn up to 60 credits through our OHT Planning and Delivery of Integrated Care Program. It is important to connect to your colleagues and community. I wrote about this in Healthy Debate.
Led by Dr. Jocelyn Charles, a group including patients and families, local primary care support teams, and more has developed this OHT road map for coordinated and connected primary care. Among the opportunities – a Community of Practice of primary care OHT initiatives that would enable those of us working in the sector to better identify, harness and share local innovation across OHT regions. Please use and share this excellent document.
And our annual conference (now called the Family Medicine Summit instead of the Annual Scientific Assembly) has been moved to a unique virtual format that will take place in late January/February 2021 instead of our usual November time-frame. More details to come later!
We are submitting feedback next week to the Primary Care Working Group – the arbitrated bilateral table between the OMA and the Ministry of Health. A working group of our Board, which includes FFS and FHO physicians, is consolidating feedback that we have received from members over the years and especially during this pandemic.
The focus of the consultation is on: access and quality; complexity modifiers; walk-in clinics; and GP focused practice designation. If you have any thoughts on these four areas, please email us at [email protected] by July 13.
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We know there have been huge challenges to overcome and that will continue to test your adaptability and clinical courage. We have earned the trust of our patients by being there for them – whether in person, by phone, video or email. The care provided is important, and we need to make sure our patients don’t wait to get the care they need.
I really value hearing from you – please let me know how the OCFP can continue to support you in your professional lives!
Jennifer