Doctors seek input in Ontario’s health-care overhaul
Reforms to the system making physicians accountable to LHINs “must draw on the expertise and ideas of doctors,” says the OMA.

TheStar.com
Dec. 17, 2015
Diana Zlomislic

Get the fine print, stat.

Ontario doctors are concerned the province will push ahead with a new plan to overhaul its “unco-ordinated,” $50-billion health-care system before physicians can get a deeper read of the proposals.

A 24-page “discussion paper” released by the health ministry on Thursday calls for family physicians to be more accountable to government through Local Health Integration Networks, which would release clinics’ performance records to the public. The province also proposes closing down the “cumbersome” Community Care Access Centre program, while improving home-care delivery by adding more at-home nursing services for those who need them, among other initiatives.

“Given the magnitude of the changes being considered and the lack of details provided, Ontario’s doctors have concerns with the timeline laid out for discussion,” said Dr. Mike Toth, president of the Ontario Medical Association.

Senior staff from the OMA met with health ministry officials Thursday morning to be briefed on the report. They were told the consultations would happen over the next few months, spokeswoman Danielle Milley told the Star. She would not say how much time the OMA is looking for.

“Any reform to Ontario’s health-care system must draw on the expertise and ideas of doctors, who are on the front lines providing care to patients every day,” Toth said.

At its board of directors meeting this week, the OMA endorsed the creation of a primary health care advisory group.

The ministry’s paper, “Patients First,” calls for the creation of LHIN sub-regions that would help match unattached patients to primary care providers. These sub-LHINs would allow the ministry to “methodically measure patient outcomes in primary care to help understand the patient experience accessing primary care, including same-day and after-hours care.”

More than half of Ontarians cannot see their family physician within two days of being sick and have trouble accessing care during evenings or weekends.

The proposed changes would help create what Health Minister Eric Hoskins has described as a “front door to our medical system that is open 24/7.”

Of course, it may be easier said than done, particularly in underserviced rural areas where many physicians have neither an electronic record system nor the funds to implement one.

The Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario praised the province’s blueprint for change.

Ontarians “will see faster access and a more co-ordinated approach to their care,” said Doris Grinspun, RNAO’s chief executive officer.

“By removing the structural duplication that exists between CCACs and LHINs, and aligning all the major sectors — public health, primary care, hospitals, home care and long-term care — under one umbrella, LHINs can ensure there are smoother transitions of care for the public and a more efficient and cost-effective health system.”