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11th Issue
The Voice of Family Physicians in Scarborough
In This Issue
- Ontario Breast Screening Program Expansion to Ages 40-49
- SHN Infection Prevention and Control Hub
- Factsheet: Important Information for the Flu Season
- Digital Health Central Intake
- New Orthopedic Spine Surgeon at SHN
- Peers for Joy in Work: Ontario Family Physicians Supporting Each Other
- Indigenous Cultural Safety Training
- AI Scribe Evaluation Report
- Physicians Accepting New Patients
Ontario Breast Screening Program Expansion to Ages 40- 49
Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario) is pleased to announce that effective October 8, 2024, people over the age of 40 can self-refer for publicly funded mammograms through the Ontario Breast Screening Program (OBSP).
To support this change, the OBSP has developed resources for primary care providers and the public through the OBSP website and provincial primary care associations.
SHN Infection Prevention and Control Hub
Dr. Belhaj and the SHN IPAC hub is offering surge updates for Scarborough Ontario Health Team Partners, including physicians. Sessions will be held on first Friday of the month from 9am to 9:30am. The next session is scheduled on Friday, December 6th, 2024.
Please click on the link below to to register. For more information or technical support, please email ScarboroughOHT@shn.ca
Factsheet: Important Information for the Flu Season
As we approach the flu season, Scarborough Family Physicians Network (SFPN) has compiled a comprehensive factsheet to support you in your practice. This resource includes essential information and guidelines to ensure you are well-prepared. The factsheet covers:
- Referral for Vaccination for Homebound Patients
- PPE Ordering
- Billing Codes and Vaccination Updates
- Free Surge Season Supports
- Vaccine Registration for Your Patients
- Patient Education
Digital Health Central Intake
Toronto Region is streamlining how primary care providers can access and adopt over 15 provincially funded digital health tools with the aim of reducing paper and fax-based workflows. Whether you are an existing user looking for support or interested in learning about other digital health tools, the team at UHN Connected Care will work with you to get the help you need. Tools supported include but are not limited to ConnectingON, DHDR, eConsult, eReferral, HRM, OAB, OLIS, One ID, and PrecribeIT.
Click on the link below to fill out a request form and someone will be in touch within 3 business days to troubleshoot and onboard you and your support staff.
New Orthopedic Spine Surgeon at SHN
We are excited to share that Dr. Jiang Fan has recently opened his practice at SHN, focusing primarily on Orthopedic spine. Dr. Fan has five years of experience, specializing in complex spine surgery.
Dr. Fan's expertise lies in treating a diverse range of spinal conditions spanning the cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and sacral regions. His clinical and research interests focus on cervical myelopathy, degenerative spine, and deformity.
Dr. Fan is now accepting referrals for consultations and surgeries. We encourage you to refer your patients who may benefit from Dr. Fan's expertise.
For more information or to schedule a referral, please click on the link below.
Peers for Joy in Work: Ontario Family Physicians Supporting Each Other
What if being a family physician who appreciates – rather than resents – their clinical work is within reach? If you could, more often, be the kind of doctor you hoped to be?
The Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto has launched an Ontario-wide program to help family physicians mitigate burnout and facilitate finding joy in practice. The program matches you with a trained "Peer Guide" who helps you remember what drove you to become a family physician, and identify ways to create joy in your clinical work again.
You will receive three 1:1, 30-minute sessions. With support from the Ontario Medical Association, an honorarium of $150 for participating and 4.5 Mainpro+ CPD credits.
Indigenous Cultural Safety Training
The Central East Regional Indigenous Cancer program is offering Indigenous cultural safety training to health care providers. Training sessions are available monthly and are in-person. Sessions are 2 days from 10:00am-4:00pm. The next sessions will be held on:
November 28 and 29 at Lakeridge Health Corporate Whitby;
December 19 and 20 at Lakeridge Health- Ajax Pickering.
To register, email Carter Sehn Csehn@lh.ca
AI Scribe Evaluation Report
In Ontario, over 70% of primary care providers (PCPs) report burnout due to increased administrative work and a shortage of healthcare professionals.
AI scribes and robotic process automation (RPA) are potential solutions. The Ministry of Health tasked OntarioMD with evaluating these technologies to help PCPs spend more time with patients and less on paperwork. Funded by Ontario Health (OH), the project included a clinician-informed evaluation, a legal and privacy review, and a spread and scale strategy. A report was released in July to share the findings of the clinical evaluation.
Physicians accepting new patients?
Are you taking new patients?
Scarborough has a high rate of unattached patients. Those mostly impacted are vulnerable populations. Patients that are unattached are at increased risk of poor health outcomes.
SFPN is working on an initiative to improve access to local family doctors. If you would like to take new patients, please click below to complete a short survey to help us learn about your practice and direct patients to you.
