Family Health Teams

Family Health Teams

Before the 1980s, health care delivery in Canada could be considered substantial and worked to the satisfaction of Canadian patients. However, at the onset of the 80s, with the rise in popularity of family physicians, the demand for family physicians no longer satisfied the Canadians’ appetite for specialized caregivers. The demand put a strain on the family specialist to the point of stressing the entire Canadian health care system. By then, the family physicians worked on fee-for-service practice and were not as organized as they are today. The mode of compensation, the fee-for-services, however, raised concerns on the quality of health care given by the family physicians. In response to the crisis, some health care reforms were initiated across Canada. This paper seeks to analyze three such models as well as showcase a profound understanding of primary health care.

Family Health Teams

Family Health Teams (FHT) is one of the primary healthcare reforms that were initiated since 2005 to provide better access to comprehensive family health care. It comprises of inter-disciplinarian health practice involving various disciplines from a registered nurse, social workers, family physicians and other healthcare practitioners who join efforts in providing primary healthcare services to the society.

The FHTs have a “basket of service” that they offer to their patients that include but not limited to: primary reproductive care, health assessment, psychological counselling, treatment for chronic disease, supportive care in hospital or home, and support for the terminally ill to mention a few. Further, the model has a comprehensive payment model or compensation model. Through the Blended salary model (BSM), the family physicians are compensated via salary based on the number of patients served while they receive several benefits and bonuses. Also, through the Blended Capitation Model, physicians earn from enrollment fees for the enrolled number of patients plus bonuses and after hours-premiums.

Community Health Centre

Another one of the family practiced model is Community Health Centre. Community health centers (CHC) are organizations that work with individuals and families in communities towards enabling the individual in the community to take care of their health. They provide the resource such as education on health and link the community with other health practitioners that will help the community cope with health problems. The Community Health Center programs provide a plethora of services aimed at improving health knowledge and the standard of the community. To this end, various CHC programs have established to provide counselling on addiction, conflict, and stress management. Further, CHC programs strengthen families through education programs that are aimed at improving healthy child development.

The compensation model for health practitioners in this category varies because of the complexity of the organizations. For the most part, the organizations are a non-profit organization with humanitarian intentions to help raise the health standards of the communities. Health practitioners are mostly compensated through salaries.

Family health group

Another one of the family practiced models is the Family Health Group (FHG). It was established in 2004 and required health practitioners to form groups of a minimum of three practitioners. The model was to provide better access to health services to smaller communities during the after working hours and weekends. Unlike the FHTs, the FHG do not comprise of multidisciplinary fields of health practices. The FHG offer a range of services similar to those of FHT while including services such as chronic disease management and preventive care. Nonetheless, health practitioners in this model are compensated through the enhanced Fee-for-service based on the enrollment of patient plus incentives, premiums and bonuses. Also, the physicians receives comprehensive care capitation monthly based on the number of patient enrolled.

Primary health care is a health care approach that focuses on customized provision of health care services to individual or family preferences. It includes a wide range of administering health services from physical, social and mental health of an individual or family. The ranges of services include prevention, treatment of disease and administering palliative care to patient in every day to day manner.

As previously mentioned, family health team is among the family practice model that involve a plethora of discipline in health that work together to deliver primary health services to communities. FHT differs from the normal physician setting in that FHTs have larger pool of health worker who work jointly to provided health services families and individual in a community. They also differ in terms of payment where normal physician get their primary compensation from salaries as the FHTs get compensation in terms of bonuses and premiums accruing from extra office hours.

Reasons to go to Family health Teams

Firstly, the multidisciplinary nature found in FHTs is the main reason to prefer FHTs to other family practice models such as FHG that do not have a large pool of workers. With the increased complexity in clinical care, a larger team with different specialist increases the chances of better care and services from the team. Secondly, the large pool of health care practitioners reduces chance of error committed by the health care workers thereby increasing the patient’s safety. Thirdly, the teams provide easier environment for communication, this is enhanced by the need to communicate better so as to coordinate their function as team. As a patient, an easy going environment is created where the patient can communicate comprehensively of their various reports. Lastly, due to the availability of the many healthcare practitioners in FHTs, the patient end up receiving better service at a lower cost thereby saving their finances

Part two

Rapids: Family Health Team

“Rapids” is the name of the website of the Family health team located in Sarnia city in Southwestern of Ontario. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic most of the Rapids access point are closed, however they can be reached through (519)-339-8949. Further, rapids have opened another sector called “Coronna office” open from Monday to Thursday 8:00am -4:30pm.

Rapids offer a range of service from senior wellness that specializes on administering health service to the elderly, mental health, nutrition, diabetes education, lung health, children’s health and chiropody. The physicians affiliated with rapids sum up to a total of 48 physicians, however, their specialties are not mentioned by the websites. Rapids has a special section dedicate to information about their various “access to care centre” addressing Medical building situated at 481 London road. Rapids team informs individual about their availability hours, thereby improving access to health care services.

Since Rapids harbors as many physicians as 48, my role as medical office assistance will be vital to them. My typical day would involve scheduling various appointment for patients to meet their relevant physicians, updating patients record, maintaining full presence at the front desk while managing email traffic resulting from the various request by patients. My roles in Rapids would not be any different from other type of healthcare.

I would want to be part of Rapids primarily for diverseness. The many physician translates to higher demands of primary healthcare in Sarnia. Practicing in an area that has high demand will expose me to many challenges that would further my understanding of primary healthcare and my understanding of the duties of medical offices assistance. The many expertise involved in Rapids also translates to access to a larger pool of networks that could proved beneficial in the future. Although, it is hard to deduce the opportunities for professional growth in medical offices assistance, the challenges that I will face will without doubt expand my knowledge base and expertise.

Five Family health teams in Toronto

Tai health institution have recently added Covid-19 screen among their services. Further, Tai offers services extending to skin issues and Naturopathic medicine among others. St Joseph’s, the urban Family health team differs from the rest of FHTs by offering intensive care units services, chemotherapy and breast screening to mention a few. The third one is Bridgepoint health that specializes in therapy pools, chiropody and therapeutic recreation for inpatient. The fourth family health team institution found in Toronto is Toddle Creek FHT. Toddle offers respiratory care, primary care at home as well as pediatric care. Lastly, the South East Toronto FHT offers service ranging from physiotherapy, family therapies and Stress management session to its patients.