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Introduced in 2019, Ontario Health Teams (OHTs) are a model of integrated care delivery where groups of health care providers and organizations work together as a team to deliver a full and coordinated continuum of care for patients, even if they are not in the same organization or physical location.
OHTs exist to help streamline your health and wellness journey, making it easier for you to get the care you need when you need it.
KW4 stands for the areas that make up our Ontario Health Team and the regions we serve. The KW4 Ontario Health Team is a collaboration of health care partners from all sectors in Kitchener, Waterloo, Wellesley, Wilmot, Woolwich, including primary care, hospital care, long-term care, community health services, and social service groups, who are working together with a goal of providing coordinated care for patients.
The Quintuple Aim is a framework to guide the redesign of health care systems and the transition to population health that is centered on five overarching goals:
Equal opportunity to attain full health potential.
Improved Patient Experience
Acess/Timeliness
Integration
Patient-Centeredness
Better Health Outcomes
Population Hleaht
Effectiveness
Safety
Improved Staff Experience
Engagement
Improved Workflow
Improved Ability to Work to Scope of Practice
Lower Cost of Care
Costs
Efficiency
Appropriate Resources
Across Ontario groups of local community health and wellness organizations have come together to create teams and then applied to be an Ontario Health Team. Providers and organizations eligible to become an Ontario Health Team include, but are not limited to, those that provide:
primary care (including inter-professional primary care and physicians)
secondary care (e.g., in-patient and ambulatory medical and surgical services (includes specialist services)
home care
community support services
mental health and addictions services
health promotion and disease prevention services
rehabilitation and complex care
palliative care (e.g., hospice)
residential care and short-term transitional care (e.g., in supportive housing, long-term care homes, retirement homes)
long-term care home placement
emergency health services
laboratory and diagnostic services
midwifery services, and
other social and community services and other services, as needed by the population
The Ministry of Health has a detailed readiness assessment process and full application to determine which teams would be selected to be an Ontario Health Team. Details on the criteria for the readiness assessment and application can be found in the Ministry’s Guiding document.
Currently, teams are being invited to complete full applications to become an approved Ontario Health Team on a case-by-case basis. At the same time, the ministry is continuing to support the expansion of provider partnerships in existing Ontario Health Teams.
You can view the KW4’s full application here.
There are a series of expectations that the components of the Ontario Health Teams model will look like once they reach maturity. At mature state, each Ontario Health Team will:
Provide a full and coordinated continuum of care for a defined population within a geographic region;
Offer patients 24/7 access to coordination of care and system navigation services and work to ensure patients experience seamless transitions throughout their care journey;
Improve performance across a range of outcomes linked to the ‘Quadruple Aim’: better patient and population health outcomes; better patient, family and caregiver experience; better provider experience; and better value
Be measured and reported against a standardized performance framework aligned to the Quadruple Aim;
Operate within a single, clear accountability framework;
Be funded through an integrated funding envelope;
Reinvest into front line care; and
Take a digital first approach, in alignment with provincial digital health policies and standards, including the provision of digital choices for patients to access care and health information and the use of digital tools to communicate and share information among providers
You can read more about the expectations for OHTs in the Ministry of Health’s Guiding Document.
No you won’t lose your doctor. As Ontario Health Teams are established, people’s choice of providers would continue. Patients who are supported by providers who become part of an Ontario Health Team will not need to sign up or undertake any administrative processes. They will experience greater access to care and support from a broader network of other physicians and inter-professional providers, working together as a team to improve their care.
Improvements in integrated care through Ontario Health Teams will fundamentally change how patients, families, and caregivers experience the health care system. As Ontario Health Teams are formed - which will be an ongoing process over several years until provincial coverage is achieved - patients will be able to more easily access and navigate the system and be better supported as they transition from one health care provider or setting to another.
If you have any questions regarding the KW4 OHT or Ontario Health Teams in general, don’t hesitate to reach out!
We can be reached by email at info@kw4oht.com.
