Ministry of Ontario
The Ontario government is building a connected health care system centered around patients, families and caregivers. These changes will strengthen local services, making it easier for patients to navigate the system and transition between providers.
Ontario Health Teams are being introduced to provide a new way of organizing and delivering care that is more connected to patients in their local communities. There are 54 Ontario Health Teams across the province that have been approved through a standardized intake and assessment process. The goal is to ensure that everyone in Ontario can benefit from better coordinated, more integrated care. At this time, the ministry is supporting the expansion of provider partnerships in existing Ontario Health Teams.
Under Ontario Health Teams, health care providers (including hospitals, doctors, and home and community care providers) work as one coordinated team – no matter where they provide care.
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)
-
acute care (such as in-patient and ambulatory medical and surgical services, including specialist services)
-
home care
-
community support services
-
mental health and addictions services
-
health promotion and disease prevention services
-
rehabilitation and complex care
-
palliative care (such as hospice)
-
residential care and short-term transitional care (such as supportive housing, long-term care homes, or retirement homes)
-
emergency health services
-
laboratory and diagnostic services
-
midwifery services
-
other social and community services and other services, as needed by the population
Support for Ontario Teams
Supports for Ontario Health Teams are for teams at all stages of implementation across various ministry areas and supports partners with expertise in integrated care delivery and population health. The following resources have been developed to support teams in advancing the Ontario Health Teams model:
-
Ontario Health Teams: The Path Forward - New direction for Ontario Health Teams to support their progress towards maturity. This direction promotes greater standardization, informed by lessons learned through Ontario Health Team implementation to date.
-
Ontario Health Teams: Guidance for Health Care Providers and Organizations - This document describes the components of the Ontario Health Teams model, the expectations for Ontario Health Teams at maturity, and readiness criteria to become an Ontario Health Team.
-
Ontario Health Team: Full Application - This revised full application is to be completed by teams invited to complete a full application and can be used by any teams to prepare for future submissions.
-
Patient, Family and Caregiver Partnership and Engagement Strategy: Guidance Document - This document provides guidance to Ontario Health Teams as they work to establish their Patient, Family and Caregiver Partnership and Engagement Strategies. The document outlines core elements including content requirements, guiding principles, relevant examples, key resources, and the process for validation and posting once complete. The ministry undertook consultation with key stakeholders to inform the development of this document, including patients, families and caregivers.
-
Primary Care Communications Protocol: Enabling Success through Connecting Primary Care and Physician Partners - This document provides guidance to Ontario Health Teams as they work to establish their communications protocol to connect primary care and physician partners. The ministry undertook consultation with key stakeholders to inform the development of this document, including primary care associations and representatives.
-
Harmonized Information Management Plan (HIMP) Guidance Document - This document provides guidance to Ontario Health Teams as they develop their Harmonized Information Management Plans.
-
Collaborative Decision-Making Arrangements (CDMAs) Guidance Document - This document provides guidance to Ontario Health Teams as they establish collaborative decision-making arrangements as a team.
-
Ontario Health Teams: Digital Health Playbook - This Playbook can be used by Ontario Health Teams to help them understand how to build their digital health plan to support the delivery of integrated care.
-
Ontario Health Teams: Data Supports Guidance Document – This document is supplementary to the attribution data package distributed to approved Ontario Health Teams to support their ongoing implementation efforts. It is intended to provide an overview of the patient attribution methodology used to identify the networks of patients attributed to Ontario Health Teams, an outline of new data enhancements, as well as clear guidance on how to interpret the information within the attribution data package.
-
Patient, Family and Caregiver Declaration of Values for Ontario (Updated: July 2021) - This document is to articulate patient, family and caregiver expectations of Ontario’s health care system. The Declaration is intended to serve as a compass for the individuals and organizations who are involved in health care and reflects a summary of the principles and values that patients, families and caregivers say are important to them. The Declaration is not intended to establish, alter or affect any legal rights or obligations, and must be interpreted in a manner that is consistent with applicable law. Ontario Health Teams are encouraged to adopt the Patient, Family and Caregiver Declaration of Values for Ontario.