Acting on your concerns

Primary Care Specialist Collaborative

The Primary Care Specialist Collaborative, which launched in May, emerged as a direct response to your requests for enhanced interaction and coordination between primary care and specialists.

The collaborative has welcomed three patient partners into its ranks, amplifying the voices involved in the ongoing efforts. This brings the total membership to six family physicians, six specialists, and three patient partners.

We have devised a comprehensive action plan to guide our endeavors, focusing on prioritizing recommendations from the "Transforming the Way We Work Together" forum, that was held in Oct. 2022. This plan entails identifying opportunities for quick wins and addressing high-priority improvements.[AK1] 

To date, we are actively exploring successful programs like the WCH Referral Management Dashboard and the centralized referral pathways established in Alberta. Our engagement with representatives from Alberta Health Services has allowed us to gain insights into their provincially designed centralized referral pathways, collaboratively developed with input from primary care providers, specialists, and patients across 13 different specialties.

The collaborative is thoroughly examining the conception and implementation of this program to adapt it in Ontario. We are particularly interested in employing the Alberta model to establish a centralized referral system, with an initial focus on Benign Hematology as our pilot specialty. Leveraging the Ocean eServices platform, this program will equip doctors with better guidance on referring patients dealing with specific primary care concerns.

Additionally, the collaborative is delving into enhancing web-based directories at the prominent hospitals of UHN, Sinai Health, and WCH. Through close collaboration with the communications departments of these institutions, we hope to enhance the visibility and accessibility of pertinent contact information for primary care matters.

We are committed to keeping you informed about these developments and milestones as progress unfolds and welcome your input.